Permanent #2600 -- Fred Weasley Populaire

• Distance: 122K
• Elevation: 2600 feet according to RideWithGPS
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If you have time to do one day of biking in or around Yakima, this might be your best bet -- WA-821 a.k.a. Canyon Road offers some of the best riding and scenery in the area.

It's a simple out-and-back, through Selah to the turnaround in Ellensburg. The 821 follows the Yakima River for most of its 25-mile duration and is generally flat, with one hill near the southern end of the route that climbs up about 350 feet.

The canyon has several parks/campsites/rec areas, though as far as I know there's no drinking water available at any of them. In the summer, it'll be quite hot, and you'll quickly go through two bottles' worth of water -- a lesson I learned the hard way the first time I traveled this stretch in near triple-degree heat. So, leave Ellensburg with an extra little bottle of water in the summer, and you'll be totally fine.

While it's not at all drinkable, the Yakima River does provide some great cooling spots. Most of the parks along the river have boat launches, so you can bike right down to the river and dip your toes... ankles... knees... well, as much cooling as you'd want.

The worst traffic is from around the truck stop/fast food options for your turnaround in Ellensburg. The canyon itself is generally great for riding -- hardly silent or remote, but with plenty of shoulder space and a light mix of commercial traffic, local travelers, and all sorts of recreational visitors (fishers, birdwatchers, boaters, campers, and more!)

Permanent #1876 -- Kingsley Shacklebolt

• Distance: 410K
• Elevation: 12,179 feet according to RideWithGPS
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Ever thought to yourself, "Hey, I want to go to Seattle for a weekend, but I'm tired of riding the traditional STP route and don't want to pay for Amtrak fare?" Well, here's one for you!

This basically pieces together two of the brevets I did last year -- ORR's Olney Gothic Logger 300 and the last hundred or so miles of SIR's spring 400K.

You start in Portland and end in Bremerton. Assuming you want to get across the water to Seattle itself, you'll need to plan the ride so you can finish and hop on the ferry, which runs roughly once an hour between 6am and 11pm. Of course, this route can also be used in reverse, though I haven't yet written out a cue sheet for that way.

If you go north, you'll get the ride's only two semi-tough climbs out of the way in the first third of the ride. Highway 30 to Scappoose is, of course, totally flat, before heading over a lumpy Scappoose-Vernonia Highway that goes up to about 1,400 feet. There's also a great dirt path/trail/road which parallels this that I'd highly recommend as an alternative routing with the exact same distance.

From there, it's pretty familiar Oregon Randonneur territory -- out OR-47 then continue on OR-202, past the Birkenfeld store and towards Astoria. You do get back up to 1,200 feet or so when you go over the coast range, but it's a pretty relaxed climb, and on a backroads area with very little traffic.

After descending all the way down to just 70 feet and rolling through lovely Olney, OR, you continue into Astoria, where the rather terrible Astoria-Megler bridge awaits. It's long, nearly shoulderless, and usually windy. It's also well-signed for bicycles. Ride it, wait for it to be over, then enjoy continuing the rest of your ride on solid and wide roads.

Head north on WA-4, then meet back up with 101, which you'll take for a full fifty miles before turning inland at Montesano. Unfortunately you don't get many actual ocean coast miles, but it's still a nice semi-remote highway.

From Montesano, you roughly follow alongside -- but thankfully not on -- WA-12, on backroads through towns like Brady, Satsop, Elma, and McCleary. At mile 209 in Kamilche, you rejoin 101 (which is much busier here) briefly, heading for Shelton then WA-3 which takes you most of the way to the ferry.

After the Oregon Coast range, you never go back up over 500 feet of elevation. As is one of the perks of one-way rides, you can plan your trip and hope to get about 200 miles of tailwind riding (usually out of the south in winter/early spring, out of the north for summer/early fall).

Do keep in mind service options and availability for late-night riding -- there's a convenient 24-hour Safeway in Shelton at mile 216, but otherwise you might face long stretches without food available.

Permanent #1706 -- Ludo Bagman

After our success -- in some sick sense of the word -- on the 712K two weeks ago, I was resolved to use Foss Road a hell of a lot more, and that led to two new permanent submissions. First, a simple out-and-back ride from Netarts; second, a Portland-to-Netarts commute that goes through Birkenfeld and is my third such one-way perm between those two points, along with a Nestucca River trip and the most direct Highway 6 route.

• Distance: 157K
• Elevation: 5,763 feet according to RideWithGPS
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Foss... it'll definitely keep you on your toes.

On the 700K, we hit this right at sunrise, at mile ~330 on two hours of sleep, and it was like manna from heaven. No drifting off to sleep when you're darting (and, once or twice bunnyhopping) basketball-sized potholes and chunks of dying pavement. Lots of darting up and down 30 or 50 or 100 feet at a time, one nigh unrideable wall that seemed like a 20% grade, then a more mellow stretch to get to Henry Rierson campground, which'll be the turnaround for this 157K.

The campsite has drinkable water and some pit toilets, though I can't 100% guarantee that either will be in service year-round. There's another campground much earlier on Foss -- mile 34 on my cue sheet -- which claims to have drinking water, but I've been burnt before by relying on never-updated county and state park websites, so... I'll assume it's not there 'til I can roll by and inspect in-person.

To get to the awesometastic gravel stretch, it's a really simple route -- Netarts into Tillamook, north on 101, then inland for Miami-Foley Road. Pavement ends right after the recently reopened bridge over the Nehalem River (though the washed-away railroad in the same spot has not been repaired), seven miles after you turn off Miami-Foley.

Bring plenty of snacks and water, some wide-ish tires (David rode this on Nomad 28s and was quite happy), and you'll love it.

Permanent #1612 -- Nicolas Flamel

• Distance: 103K
• Elevation: 2,370 feet according to RideWithGPS
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Here's a simple, straightforward, and easy one -- a Sandy-and-back populaire, using Marine Drive and the Springwater Corridor for plenty of no-traffic, bike lane fun.

The idea is to use Joe's Donuts as a turnaround, but if you're doing an afternoon start then Sparky's is a great alternative for a huge, delicious $2 slice of cheese (or, plain depending on your regional pizza dialect). Plenty of other options in Sandy, too, like a little Mexican place whose name I can never remember that's a few blocks away from Joe's on 26.

This route is mercifully flat, but that also means you get from Troutdale to Sandy via the relatively dull stretch of 257th/Kane/Orient through Gresham. When the alternative is Bull Run, though, it's sometimes nice to go for a suburban cruise.

After your Sandy snack stop of choice, Kelso Road takes you back towards Boring then onto the east end of the Springwater. Sixteen miles later, you're done!

The Internet suggests this route has about 2K feet of climbing, which is probably a generous number. The only steep section of note is the first mile of 257th out of Troutdale... otherwise, it's all right around a 2% grade taking you up to downtown Sandy's just-under-1000-feet elevation.

All-in-all, a fine way to spend four or five hours on a bike.

[addendum: if you reverse the loop, most of your climbing is done at <1% grades on the Springwater, then you get to zip through the Gresham stretch on a mostly downhill stretch. Fun and faster!]