2019-07-09 Dalles Lollipop Loop

There might have been some foilable wind in Stevenson this morning, but after sailing for three days straight, Louise told me that today was a biking day!

Planning a bike trip is a very complicated task.  Not only do you have to look at the temperature, wind direction, distance and elevation gain, but apparently you also have to consider the local events and Vineyards.

The Mosier Farmers Market is only open on Sundays from 9am to 2pm.

The Garnier Vineyard Tasting room is only open Fri/Sat/Sunday from Noon to 4pm.

Plotting those two events on a map, and cross-referencing with "Road Riding in the Columbia River Gorge", by Clint Bogard, and you end up with the Dalles Lollipop Loop.

To quote Clint, "At 43 Miles and 3000+ feet of climbing this ride has some teeth to it!''

We left the condo at about 9:00am (hoping to miss most of the heat of the day, at +27) and rode to Mosier where the Farmers Market was just setting up.  It looked like they would have some great music, but the singer was just getting started, and we didn't want to wait.

Louise at the Mosier Farmers Market

We continued on up towards Rowena Lookout, but took the Marsh Cut-Off where we climbed for what seemed forever to the Seven-Mile Hill.  You may think that an E-Bike makes it easy, and I don't argue that it takes some of the sting out of the hills, but at 8% and 9% in our bottom gear I can tell you that Louise and I were both working hard!

On the way up, we had some beautiful views of Mount Hood, and even some wildlife. Some of the views were spectacular (although at times we were working too hard to notice).

We finally made the Summit (they conveniently posted a sign), and then we got to coast down the Seven-Mile Hill into the Dalles.  We went an extra few kilometres out of our way to find a spot for lunch and settled on KFC (because it was the closest - other than a Shell Food Store).

After lunch we road the Old Columbia Highway back to the Rowena Lookout.  We were worried about the climb back to the lookout, but after the climb up to the Seven-Mile Hill, it was a walk in the park, with maximum gradients of only 5-6%. 

We stopped briefly at the lookout and then enjoyed the ride downhill to the Garnier Vineyards.

We enjoyed a wine tasting, along with some cheese, crackers and sausage that we had brought along - while looking out over the vineyard and the Columbia River.  We purchased a bottle of wine to enjoy back at the condo, and I put it in my left saddle bag.. We probably stayed too long and got a bit too comfortable, because it was difficult to get up and leave.  Getting out of the parking lot was a hard climb.....

It is all downhill from the Vineyard to Mosier, and then there is one last long climb before coasting down to Hood River.  Our odometers were showing 76 km when we got home.

I had an embarrassing moment when we were in Hood River - I got ahead of Louise and pulled over to wait for her.  I pulled my right foot out of the clip, looked back to see her coming, and then promptly fell over to my left.  Ouch!  But mostly just embarrassed..... (that's one tough bottle of
wine ;)

We got home and cleaned up.  I cooked a ham steak with baked potatoes and fresh asparagus & mushrooms (from the farmers market) for supper!  We ate it on Ross and Karen's deck, looking out over the river and Mount Adams.  What a wonderful view, the perfect temperature (after 7:30 when the sun was going down), and no bugs!!!

Great day!  There is no wind in the forecast for tomorrow so looking forward to another cycling adventure.

Louise - almost at the Rowena Lookout!

Rowena Lookout - looks like an intimidating climb!