Near the end of September, it looked like I was getting pretty close to 5000 rando kilometers for the year (for which RUSA gives out medals of recognition). In fact I figured I'd be 150 kilometers short if I kept doing a monthly 200k for the remainder of the year. Hence, I decided to ride the "Woodburn Heartbun 150k" on September 25 from Forest Grove to Woodburn and back.
It's a nice distance that's not commonly done ... longer than a populaire ... but shorter than the monthly requirement for an R-12. Since I managed to complete the SIR Northern Cascades 600k earlier in the month, 150k seemed just the ticket, especially since it included a number of close-in roads I hadn't been on before.
I left the McMennanmin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove at 8:30, and proceeded down foggy yet familiar Spring Hill and North Valley Roads. Made a brief coffee stop in Newberg, then proceeded on Champoeg, Butteville and Crosby Roads towards Woodburn. Stopped to get a few pictures of freshly-harvested hop fields before crossing I-5, then headed directly to the far (East) side of Woodburn for a contrôle receipt at a local bank ATM. I then returned to Woodburn's quaintish "downtown" area lined with a large variety of small Mexican eating establishments (quite a contrast to the Factory Stores along I-5). I surmised it was probably here that this 150k acquired its "heartburn" moniker. I ate relatively lightly, though (soda and an fish taco), before heading back towards the start.
I had to backtrack a mile or so to correctly answer the contrôle question along Butteville Road, then proceeded to Wilsonville, where the route used the I-5 bridge to cross the Willamette River. From there, a newish (to me) selection of back roads took me to Sherwood. Crossing Hwy 99 and then onto Roy Rodgers Road, I was now back on relatively familiar territory ... except that I missed the left turn onto SR 210 (Scholls Ferry Rd), because there was no Hwy 210 sign. Once over Bull Mountain and onto Farmington Road, territory once again became again familiar (Rood Bridge, Burkhalter, Tongue, Golf Course, Lafollett and Geiger Roads) for the trek back to Forest Grove.
Once at McMennamin's Grand Lodge, I purchased a bottle of Hammerhead Ale (for the final contrôle receipt), which I enjoyed that evening with a lovely Amy-prepared meal.
Half a dozen photos from the ride are here on Flickr.
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