Permanent #1894 -- Irma Pince

• Distance: 205K
• Elevation: 9,265 feet according to RideWithGPS
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Surprisingly, my 19th registered RUSA permanent is my first which comes close to be a "true" 200K that both starts and ends in Portland.

Also surprisingly, none of the previous eighteen routes took advantage of perhaps my single-favorite stretch of road in the greater Portland area -- Pumpkin Ridge to Smoke Ranch, as seen here from a ride report a while ago.

As you can see, the best parts of the ride are unpaved; on this route, about 20 total miles on either gravel or dirt. You can certainly navigate everything on a road bike with narrow tires, but you'll have a better time with some wider rubber between your legs.

It's also a damn hilly route, with a handful of climbs competing for the title of "best part of the ride". Going up a furlong (which I learned was an eighth-mile at bar trivia yesterday) of loose gravel at 12% on Pumpkin Ridge might be a good pick, or there's a similar stretch on the paved Mountain View Road which is particularly painful since it comes just two miles after a quick control stop in Scappoose.

After Canaan Rd spits you out on Highway 30 at the Deer Island mini-market, your last 45 miles of the day will all be dead-flat. A loop around the east backside of Scappoose gives you some lovely quiet miles instead of the usual bustle of 30 (and is needed to put the route over 200K), but then it's back on the highway and returning to SE Portland.

Permanent #1707 -- Gellert Grindenwald

• Distance: 224K
• Elevation: 7,705 feet according to RideWithGPS
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If a bird flew due west from Sellwood, it'd hit Netarts in right around sixty miles. Taking Highway 6 along the Wilson River makes it about eighty. Going the super-long caret-shaped (i.e, the symbol above the "6" on your keyboard) for this scenic route makes it just under a hundred and forty.

To get towards Birkenfeld, you have two options, and I chose to use Highway 30 and Scappoose-Vernonia Road rather than misc roads through the west hills and North Plains. This way is a good bit shorter, slightly flatter, and offers you a chance to ride on the Crown-Zellerbach dirt road which parallels the S-V. The high point there is around 1300 feet, so check snow levels and road conditions if you want to ride in wintertime.

After a well-traveled stretch of 47 & 202, Birkenfeld falls almost exactly at the 100km point. The little general store there recently stopped selling liquor, so you can't grab a mid-ride pull of Bulleit, but they make great hot sandwiches and have the usual market fare (chips, soda, candy).

A bit later, you get to ride the entire 9-mile duration of Highway 103, and there's another market available once you come out on 26. You do spend about three downhill miles on the rather busy and narrow-shouldered 26, but it's certainly survivable.

From there, it's maybe five miles from 26 to Henry Rierson (at mile 97), and then the gravel fun begins. The conclusion is obviously the same as #1706 -- Foss to Miami-Foley to 101 to Tillamook to Netarts. Fun stuff!

Permanent #1613 -- Elphias Doge

• Distance: 239K
• Elevation: 9,546 feet according to RideWithGPS
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I've got a big soft spot in my heart for the state on the other side of the Columbia River. My first two 100K routes both head up into Washington, and I feel Portland roadies in general do themselves a disservice by rarely riding north for their adventures.

This particular permanent was inspired by my experiences on this spring's flèche, as seen here and here, and I set out looking for a way to turn a 400+ mile Eugene-Olympia-Portland extravaganza into a more manageable Portland-based route.

The result is what you see -- north through La Center, Kalama, and Kelso, over the Lewis & Clark Bridge (still yucky), then up Apiary Road before ending up back in familiar randonneur territory in Vernonia.

The first thirty miles or so are exactly the same as on my Luna Lovegood populaire, and for good reason -- in Google Maps, you might see that stretch of road and think bah outer Vancouver sprawl crap, but it's actually an awesome stretch of farmland with some fairly robust rollers to get your legs ready for this super-sized course.

When we rode Olympia-Portland after the flèche, we climbed the entirety of Green Mountain Road south of Kalama, all the way up to 1700 feet with several stretches graded above 10%. This way, though, cuts off about half that elevation, and instead cuts back towards I-5. RWGPS suggests there's a 14% portion of the climb near the top, though, so it'll certainly still make you work.

After that, you can regain some energy in beautiful downtown Kalama then ride the last ten or so miles of the day on the Washington side of the river on relatively low-traffic old roads paralleling the interstate.

There's nothing particularly exciting in Rainier or Longview, but plenty of options for refueling. There is a stretch of almost exactly thirty miles between Rainier and Vernonia without any stores (there is a campground roughly halfway, not sure what's inside), so plan accordingly.

Coming from the north, Apiary Road is a little unkind -- two false summits, including the unpleasant experience of climbing up to 1000 feet, feeling like you're done as you drop down to 600, then turning a corner and going up towards Camp Wilkerson at 1200.

After that, though, most of your day's climbing is done, and the Shell Station in Vernonia is always there to provide friendly service and hot fried food. Depending on your start time, season, and weather, you'll probably get onto the Banks-Vernonia trail in pleasant low-traffic hours, then take Zion Church and some back roads east to find the big Forest Grove-Hillsboro-Beaverton sprawl. The last 20 miles is a straightforward series of well-traveled west side bike commuter routes, finally dumping you into Portland city limits via the Highway 26 bike path.

239km, 148 miles, just under sixteen hours upper time limit. Ride it!

Permanent #1585 -- Filius Flitwick

• Distance: 211K
• Elevation: 10,140 feet according to RideWithGPS
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This one is a bit of a challenge -- starts off quickly by taking you up through Washington Park and past the zoo, then almost all the way north on Skyline before dropping back down into North Plains via Moreland/Solberger (3K feet of elevation in first 28 miles). The next stretch is quite a bit more mild, though, taking familiar OR Randonneurs roads through Forest Grove then south to Carlton (mile 65).

You'll probably want to stock up on snacks and water here, since there's no services available for the next 45 miles, and you'll be tackling one of the tougher coast range passes in northern Oregon. Main Street becomes Meadow Lake Road as you go west out of town. You get a few flat miles before the real fun begins -- from ~350 feet of elevation at milepoint 70, all the way up to just under 2,000 feet by mile 79.

At about that point, you go by McGuire Reservior (it'll look damn tempting for a dip on a hot summer day, but the big tall chainlink fence around it tells you otherwise) and start to follow Nestucca River Road for most of the way until you reach Highway 101. There's a few campgrounds along the way (may or may not have toilets or potable water), and one three-mile stretch of gravel around mile 90 that's, in my experience, fairly hard-packed but also pothole-y.

You rejoin civilization of sorts in the lovely town of Beaver, OR. A Shell station/market is probably your best bet for any supplies you might need for the last twenty miles of the day (there's a few other businesses, but the Shell is the only one I've seen be consistently open for business).

Three-ish miles north on 101, then left onto Sandlake Road... which means, of course, a climb over Cape Lookout. Not too hard, but it's enough to push your day's total elevation gain over 10K so it might not be too enjoyable. From there, a descent down to Netarts Bay, then six flat waterfront miles into the endpoint in Netarts, OR.