The Birds and the Bees (and the Bikes)

Distance: 211 km (132 miles)

Total climb: estimating 5ooo to 6000 feet, I will update after the inaugural ride

Short description: Cross the coast range twice, along the Little Nestucca River and the Upper Nestucca River. The route is a loop that can be done either way, so you can choose to do a tough climb from Carlton up to the top of the Upper Nestucca, or the long, gradual climb followed by the steep descent into Carlton.

Bikely: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Upper-Nestucca-Little-Nestucca-Loop

Map of the Nestucca Rivers permenent

Elevation profile (counterclockwise direction)

Long Description: The ride starts in Newberg (parking available next to the library), and heads along familiar roads to Dayton, Amity, Ballston, Sheridan, Willamina, and Grand Ronde. After crossing the Coast Range at Sourgrass Summit (not much of a climb), the road descends along the Little Nestucca River, then heads to Hebo and Beaver. From Beaver, the road climbs along the Upper Nestucca River for quite a while. There are some sections of gravel road here (most of them on the uphill lane), and the road surface is poor in several places. On the plus side, there is little to no traffic along this road, and it is quite scenic. After reaching the summit, you have a steep descent into Carlton, and from there you head back to the start in Newberg.

The route is reversible, so you can choose to ride it counterclockwise. While the roads are the same, it will feel like a totally different ride. As you can see from the elevation profile above, the climb out of Carlton to the Upper Nestucca is steep and relatively long, followed by a neverending gradual descent to Beaver.

Wind can be an issue on this ride. The prevailing winds are from the coast, which means that you may fight a headwind heading out towards Sourgrass, or get slowed down on the long gradual downhill along the Upper Nestucca (depending on your direction).

The top of the Upper Nestucca gets a lot of snow in the winter, so this permanent is only available from late April to late October.