Roadtrip: Hood River - Surveyor's Ridge

as recapped by the wifer:

The next day we got up early to ride Surveyor’s Ridge/Dog River north to south, at the recommendation of the bike shop owner.  He had warned us that the first 2.5 miles up (with 2,000 ft of vertical gain) the trail OakRidge were not fun and definitely had lots of hike-a-bike, but said that there was more (albeit more gradual) descending when done in this direction, and it was in his opinion a better ride.  It took over an hour to do this first little section!  I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish the ride it took so much out of me, but after we got up on top of the ridge, the views of Mt. Hood were unbelievable.  The trail along the top is eight miles of up and down, but not steep, and very enjoyable riding.  There is also enough of the ride in the trees where you do not get overheated in the sun, which is also nice, but the trail pops you out for these spectacular viewpoints along the way. 

The descent on Dog River surprised us both in the sense that it started out with a small climb, but after gaining 3500 feet of elevation we knew the downhill had to come.  It was beautiful flowing downhill, with only a few sections of steep rock and a few tight switchbacks.  It drops you onto Hwy 35, and after a few miles of pedaling downhill you are back at the car.  A little over 4 hours of riding and 4000 feet of elevation for the whole ride, we definitely earned our downhill today. 

We took the dogs to the beach again and the plan was for me to buy a paddleboard (Tiago’s gift for my birthday), but I decided to hold on that for this year since I don’t really know how much I would use it yet, and since I haven’t tried it and don’t have any personal experience with them, figured maybe I should wait a little while and try some different ones out first.  It looks super fun, and I definitely want to pursue it in the future.

Since it was so hot we could not leave the dogs in the Airstream and so I ordered takeout from Mitchacoan, a Mexican restaurant in Odell (a nearby very small town) that came recommended from the Vischla owner.  The food did not disappoint- excellent fish tacos in a homemade tortilla and a burrito with carne asada.  Spicy but in a flavorful way.  Delish!  As we recounted the excellent ride we decided that we were content calling it a trip and planned to head out the next morning and not ride, but rather take our time going home and stopping to get some fresh produce on the way.