Aroundegon Day One: Portland to St. Paul


The ferris wheel at the St. Paul Rodeo. Kjerstine and Claudia and Frank are up there somewhere.

Distance: 32 miles
Elevation gain: 1,600 feet

Here we go! Gordy, my father-in-law, decided to join me for the first part of my journey. Before we left, I used a luggage scale to weigh my stuff and my bike. Everything came to 65 pounds: 26 for my gear, 35 for the bike (including racks, and fenders), and 4 pounds of water.

We left around 7:45 a.m. and began the short trip southwest to St. Paul, where my sister lives with her family. I'd taken this ride a week earlier as a test run and was pleasantly surprised to find it a little easier the second time around. We took the Fanno Creek Trail out of Portland, then Scholls Ferry to Scholls, and then Highway 219 up Chehalem Mountain. The sun was bright and hot, but not debilitating. Once we reached the top, Gordy headed back to Portland and I continued into St. Paul with a brief stop in Newberg to get a cheeseburger from Burgerville and chat with Rachael on the phone.

Once in Newberg, Kjerstine and I took her three kids Claudia, Frank, and Henry to the fairgrounds of the St. Paul Rodeo to ride the rides. I ate a corn dog. It was delicious.

I'm here for the next two days and will head out to Albany on Sunday.

This post is part of a series on my bicycle tour around Oregon. You can find my other posts here.