Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Knebal Springs and Five Mile Butte in Hood River Area

This will be a short report because the drive back into town is short.

We didn’t get to Hood River until past 10am and went to Bette’s Place for a brunch (excellent Dungeness Crab omelet and free Wifi). Some more time was passed in a couple of bikeshops. By the time we started riding, it was 2:11pm. Where did the time go???

The first loop we went for was called Knebal Springs. It was supposed to be 9.3 miles long. But by the time we finished the loop, I had 12.8 miles on my GPS. We missed one turn off and was lost for a while. If you stay on the right trails, this loop is mostly singletrack. I’d say probably 90% singletrack.

The second loop may be called Five Mile Butte or Eight Mile Loop (as the signs show) is a 6.2 mile smooth 100% singletrack.

P.S. Okay, I’m now showered ($2 at the Hood River Aquatic Center at 17th & May, and they have Wifi) and am ready to eat Mount Hood, but Erik is talking bikes with his buddy on the phone. I can understand. Maybe I’ll just research into tomorrow’s ride. I hope we will start earlier than 2:11pm.

P.P.S. Wow, while working on my computer at the Aquatic Center, I got to learn that the front desk girl started riding at 9 and is the 5th in the Nation for cyclocrossing. Of course, she races mountain and road too. I’m talking to an expert here!

Link to a few photos.