ExplOregon Ride 9: Springwater Corridor

View Larger Map

As the summer winds down, ExplOregon is heating up. The second ride in two weeks had me traveling up to the Rose City for a trip along the 23-mile long Springwater Corridor Trail. Coupled with a trip to the zoo and some baseball, this ride was part of a larger trip up to Portland. It was a lot of fun and offered another glimpse into the state.

My girlfriend and I started our ride at Union Station on the outskirts of downtown Portland. We crossed the massive Steel Bridge over the Willamette River to the Eastside of Portland. The Steel Bridge carries not only bike and pedestrians, it carries four lanes of auto traffic, the MAX light rail line and the main north-south line of the Union Pacific into Union Station. It is one of the busiest multi-modal bridges in the world, which is extraordinary considering that it was built in1912.

After crossing to the Eastside, we made our way south along the Vera Katz Esplanade. This floating walkway offers up an amazing panorama of downtown Portland. We had to dodge, however, the participants of a triathalon who were running right at us. This made for some slow going, but with the incredible vista, it was well-worth the stop-and-go traffic. 

The Portland Skyline

After heading south along the river underneath the other bridges and OMSI, we took a sharp turn east towards Gresham and Boring which delineated the beginning of the Springwater Corridor. A rails-to-trails, the Springwater Corridor parallels Johnson Creek at the Southern edge of Portland and Gresham before swinging southeast into Boring. It meanders its way through urban riparian habitat in the Johnson Creek watershed, swinging around Powell Butte and Mt. Scott, and giving riders a straight-ahead view of Mt. Hood in many places. It is part of Portland's grand "40-mile loop" for bicyclists that encircles the city.

At the beginning of the trail

While all of this is exciting on paper, I was rather disappointed with my ride. I was expecting some urban cycling within the city, but the route really stuck to the open areas. Looking at bushes and wetlands after a few miles really started to get old. The views of Mt. Hood were nice, but with the meandering nature of the trail, the view came and went entirely too much.

This particular day we decided to ride was the same day as the Portland Century ride. As a result, we had to share the trail with hundreds of "spandex bandidos." Who are they, you might ask? They are the riders on $4,000 bikes wearing all the spandex. I am not one as I prefer to wear shorts and a tank top on all my rides, but these riders are of the racing and deathly serious type. They tend to take up the whole trail, come up behind you without giving a verbal warning, and go way too fast. I would much rather fight a brutal headwind or climb the steepest hill than deal with these characters.

We reached the Linneman Station around milepost 18 after about three hours on the trail. My girlfriend stopped to rest at the station while I decided to continue the final push into Boring. Surprisingly, about two miles before Boring, the pavement on the trail ended. A dirt path continued, likely to Boring, but I was puzzled as to why the pavement stopped so close to the end and in a random place. I thought about continuing down the dirt path (my bike does have fat tires for some limited off-roading), but I kind of had enough of this particular ride. I rode back to the station and my girlfriend and I rode north a few blocks to catch a MAX light rail train back into Portland.

I wanted to get a Portland bike ride in for ExplOregon. I thought this would do it, but I disagree. Sure, this ride adds to the allure of ExplOregon, but if I wanted a Portland ride, I should've stuck with the Esplanade and Bike Boulevards. I would've gotten a better taste of the city, maybe ridden a little longer in mileage and seen a heck of a lot more.

I'm taking next weekend off. I'm re-gathering myself and taking a breath. These last two rides have exhausted me and my psyche is taxed. I need a weekend where I do nothing and relax.

ExplOregon by Bike Ride 9: Springwater Corridor Summary
Total Miles for Ride-20.9 miles
Total Time on Bike- 3 hours
Weather-Mid 80's with Clear Skies
Miles Traveled Overall in ExplOregon- 443.5 miles
Time Spent on Bike Overall- 38 hours