Permanent #1893 -- Stan Shunpike

• Distance: 133K
• Elevation: 6,050 feet according to RideWithGPS
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Sometimes a 100K is too short of a ride, but a 200K is too long. Oh no!

Thanks to years of hard science research, I've unearthed a solution -- an in-between distance!

This one is 133K, or 82 miles. About 35 of them are on the Springwater Corridor, so if you do this ride on a sunny weekend afternoon, expect a variety of dogs, bikes, and walkers as company.

The real heart of it, though, comes from two hilly loops east of Estacada and south of Sandy. The first takes you out on Wildcat Mountain Rd -- a lovely road which continues into the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness south of Mt Hood -- on mostly sustained medium-low grades until a final little 10% kicker gets you to the info control at 452nd Ave.

From there, you get to rip down the Kitzmiller Rd descent into Eagle Fern Park. Southeast of there you make a loop of George / Clausen Rd, with a 1300-foot climb in about seven miles.

Once you leave Boring, the route is minimally serviced -- Eagle Fern Park should have running water, although I've been bitten too many times by unreliable parks dept. maintenance.

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!]

Permanent #1595 -- Pomona Sprout

• Distance: 101K
• Elevation: 4,339 feet according to RideWithGPS
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This... is a fairly hard one. The raw mileage/elevation doesn't really do it justice -- the vast majority of elevation is crammed into the middle 35 miles, and the course has a nasty habit of punching you in the stomach with a series of damn steep ramps.

I did an inaugural ride of the route yesterday with David Parsons, who as usual has a nice set of photos available here.

The start point is again right near my house on SE Holgate, and the first ten miles are easy enough -- over the Bybee rail bridge and onto Springwater Corridor. From there, you have a somewhat unpleasant stretch on Foster and Tillstrom (moderate traffic, minimal shoulder), but they're a necessary evil to find the start of Borges Road.

The fact that Borges -- if you have no idea how to pronounce Spanish -- rhymes with gorgeous is quite apt. This is a wonderfully remote and shaded stretch of three miles, and you'll completely forget about all the greater Portland area suburban sprawl just a few miles away in any direction.

Of course, Borges is also the first climb of the day -- the peak is actually the ride's highest point, but it's relatively moderate and pleasant. Or, perhaps it just felt that way since I had relatively fresh legs. As a bonus, I stopped halfway up to gawk at a trio of turkey vultures which had just landed in the branches above our heads.

Speaking of apt names, Sunshine Valley Road is next. It's still nice and quiet, a little lumpy but never gaining or losing more than 150 feet of elevation at a time.

After a quick stop in Boring, you're back familiar OR Rando territory by taking Richey Rd to Kelso and then Amisigger, which drops you down to the Clackamas River via an awesome 2-mile descent. No shoulder, but the pavement is even and the turns are gradual so you'll have no problem hitting 35 and taking the full lane.

Take Bakers Ferry Road over the river, then a left onto Eaden for four more awesome quiet countryside miles... followed by a short stretch of 10% grade before ending up on Fischers Mill, followed by a fairly mild stretch through Redland which connects you to...

Maplelane Road! It's a great short, lazy s-shaped sweeping descent, followed by a hellish half-mile climb that's 12% at its worst spot. Oh, and there's a camel at roadside, too.

Thankfully, once you turn off Maplelane, there's only one notable climb left for the last 25 miles. You drop down almost all the way into Oregon City, but back out again via Holcomb and then onto Front Ave. Front becomes Forsythe, then -- unsurprisingly -- goes up, up, up. On paper, it's nothing too serious, but you will almost certainly be feeling the ill effects of the day's previous hills at this point.

You're rewarded, though, with a fantastic descent on Gronlund, back down to the banks of the Clackamas to turn back west for Oregon City, then River Road through Milwaukie and back into SE Portland.

David and I finished in 5:38, including about a 20-minute Taco Bell visit with nine miles remaining but no other significant on-course stops. Could probably do a 4:45ish finish on another day, with no Taco Bell and a more masochistic approach to the hills... or I could pack some more snacks and take the full 6:44 maximum time limit. It'd be a great ride either way.