Riding the Columbia River

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

1. Which direction does the wind through the cascades blow. I hear it
can be quite windy but get conflicting word on direction.

What time of year? I have had it blow both ways during STP, which may be why
you've had conflicting words on direction.

Quoted message said:

2. Do we need mountain bikes to ride the Iron Horse Trail? I have a
recumbent and my companion has a touring bike both with 1.5 inch tires.

The Iron Horse from North Bend to Snoqualmie Pass does not require knobbies.
It's hard-packed dirt/gravel. After the tunnel, it gets much rougher, and
you might want to do that section on Hwy 10 instead.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Quoted message said:

I and a riding buddy are planning a loop ride from Seattle to Portland
(rough version of STP Route). Then along the Columbia River to Walla
Walla. If we have tie we'd like to ride up the Coeur D'Alaine Trail.
Then back along the Centennial Trail through Spokane and pick up the
Iron Horse Trail as we ride back to Seattle.

A few questions:

1. Which direction does the wind through the cascades blow. I hear it
can be quite windy but get conflicting word on direction.

I used to live on the west side of the Columbia Gorge, by the Portland
Airport. It seemed like it always came from the east.

Quoted message said:

2. Do we need mountain bikes to ride the Iron Horse Trail? I have a
recumbent and my companion has a touring bike both with 1.5 inch tires.

Any other suggestions will be appreciated.

We sould be near Portland by July 12th, this year.

Thanks for the information on the Iron Horse Trail.

Quoted message said:

I and a riding buddy are planning a loop ride from Seattle to Portland
(rough version of STP Route). Then along the Columbia River to Walla
Walla. If we have tie we'd like to ride up the Coeur D'Alaine Trail.
Then back along the Centennial Trail through Spokane and pick up the
Iron Horse Trail as we ride back to Seattle.

A few questions:

1. Which direction does the wind through the cascades blow. I hear it
can be quite windy but get conflicting word on direction.

2. Do we need mountain bikes to ride the Iron Horse Trail? I have a
recumbent and my companion has a touring bike both with 1.5 inch tires.

Any other suggestions will be appreciated.

In the Columbia Gorge in summertime, it's from the west.

www.atmos.washington.edu/~justin/documents/Climo_Pre_Preprint.pdf

(The wind roses are in Figure 2 on page 42) You want to look at the
summertime wind rose, and keep in mind the KPDX rose is at the western end
of the gorge so the winds are sort of funneling SE along the curve of the
gorge. If you went farther east the rose would point in a more easterly
direction.

You can also figure the wind will be from the west going back over the
Cascades as well. The southerly route back through the cascades is ok, but
since you're riding so far anyway, a detour north over Highway 2 or Highway
20 instead of I-90 would be a little more scenic (with 20 preferred over 2
from a scenery perspective).

--
Bill Asher

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

1. Which direction does the wind through the cascades blow. I hear it
can be quite windy but get conflicting word on direction.

Planning for my own bike trip this year I found this site:

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/climate/windrose.html

You can choose from hundreds of cities in the US and can see a
wind rose for each month. (That's a graphic that shows how often,
or how strong, the winds have been from each direction.)

Also useful: a text listing of similar data:
http://www5.ncdc.noaa.gov/documentlibrary/pdf/wind1996.pdf

Today's winds:
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface/
Winds and other weather predictions for 4-7 days into the future:
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/5km_grids/5km_gridsbody.html

dave

Wow, it is great to see data. Incredible response.

That is very useful planning tool, thanks.

I am unabahedly going to steal this and share with others. But I will
give you credit ... smile

Quoted message said:

That is very useful planning tool, thanks.

I am unabahedly going to steal this and share with others. But I will
give you credit ... smile

What are you talking about? Are you referring to a previous message?

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
*****************************

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We should be near Portland by July 12th, this year.

FYI, the STP this year is July 15 - 16, so if you're riding north from
Portland up to Seattle that weekend, you'll see about, oh, 8000 people
riding the other way.

If you need a place to sleep in the greater Seattle area and you're here for
that weekend of July 15 - 16, you could house-sit for us during STP. You
know, collect the mail, feed the guinea pig, but then get free lodging, do
laundry, etc. Email me if you're interested.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire

Thanks for the offer but we plan on dropping our bike boxes off in
Renton at my riding partner's brother's house on the 6th of July and to
be in Portland well before the STP. From there it is down the Columbia
River and back to Seattle by 7/28.

Roland
Dover, NH
e-Bent.com

Dave

I posted your note in my blog at www.ebent.wordpress.com and it has
gotten a lot of attention. It got picked up on www.crankk.com , a Digg
Type of Site for Bicycling, and it seems popular.

Thanks ..... Roland

Dover, NH
e-bent.com

Quoted message said:

Dave

I posted your note in my blog at www.ebent.wordpress.com and it has
gotten a lot of attention. It got picked up on www.crankk.com , a Digg
Type of Site for Bicycling, and it seems popular.

Thanks ..... Roland

Dover, NH
e-bent.com

This is not personally aimed at you. It just seems like an epidemic
lately. More and more Google Groups users posts every day - with no
quoted text from previous messages.

When you use Google Groups to post to Usenet news groups, a simple click
on Reply does not include any quoted text from the message you are
replying to. This is very confusing to people using normal Usenet news
readers as your comments appear all alone - totally out of context - and
they often make no sense without that context.

(Google has shanghaied Usenet for their own purposes, and they display
messages in a very different manner than what was intended for Usenet
news groups.)

When using Google Groups, in order to make your messages more relevant,
you should click on Show Options - then on Reply. That way you can quote
the relevant parts of previous message(s), giving your comments context.

http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
*****************************