Our Sunset Falls camping trip is FULL! In just about four days we filled up the fifteen available spots. If you are still interested in going, despair not! There is a WAITING LIST on our Eventbrite page. Please sign up on the waiting list if you are interested. If you sign up for the waiting list and a spot becomes available, whether due to a cancellation or us getting another cabin, you will be notified and will have 48 hours to register and pay to secure a spot.
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 Sunset campground. UPDATE 3/20: This trip is now FULL, but there is a waiting list. Please reserve a spot on the waiting list via Eventbrite. Hello, Friends! Please join us on Cycle Wild’s next overnight bicycle camping excursion to Sunset Falls campground in Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Clark County, WA) on Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14! We’ll be riding out from near the airport the morning of Saturday April 13. The ride itself is approximately 40 miles. The first four miles is all I-205 Bike Path, the next ten suburban roads, either busier roads with bike lanes or low traffic neighborhood streets. The rest will be low traffic rural roads with no special bike provisions (other than a couple mile bike path between Lucia and Moulton Falls.) The last fifteen miles of the ride closely follows the East Fork of the Lewis River, which is very pretty and scenic. We’ll make stops at Lucia Falls and Moulton Falls. We’ll also make a grocery stop en-route. Because of the distance (40 miles) and the climbing, we’re listing this ride as moderately difficult. Folks should have some experience with distance cycling, and should have bike camped previously. Here is the route. (If the map doesn’t show up, click here.) Please note: There is no potable water at the campground, despite what their website says. Please be prepared to either haul some water in from Heisson (there is water at Lucia Falls Park, but frankly, it tastes nasty), filter water from the river at the campround, or boil water. Pit toilets are available. Campsites are $12 a night. We can probably fit a couple tents per site, which will lower the per-person rate. Firewood also available. We are capping the ridership to 15 people. Advance registration is required. Please register via our Eventbrite page here. No advance payment required; you’ll pay for your spot at the campground. Please Note: While we are asking for registration, Sunset Falls Campground is a first-come, first-served campground. It’s pretty unlikely that it will be full. (We went around the same time last year, and no one else was there.) Please let us know if you have any questions. And hope to see you on the ride!  Sunset Falls. Photo: Andy Schmidt
We’d like to camp in the Gorge as this was our only trip out there for the year. However, pretty much every other site in the Gorge that can be reached in a day is first come, first served. This makes it difficult for a bicycle camping trip. Do any of you fine folk have a suggestion? It should be moderate in length and ability (say 40 miles or so from Portland). And it needs to be a destination we aren’t already going to. Please see our current schedule here. UPDATE! Well, that was fast! On the advice of Maria Schur, we’ve picked the Panther Creek campground on Wind River Road in Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington) for our August 10-11 destination.
We’ve already made reservations. Details about the ride/event will come in the summer. It’s approximately 50 miles one-way, which puts this ride in the “Challenging” category. Estimated cost per person is $10 plus buy-your-own food.
 Cabin 15, Battle Ground Lake State Park Saturday February 9th. April and I awoke dang early to a chilly morning, 37F/3C. (Can’t complain after seeing the 3 feet of snow they got Back East.) We had a good, filling breakfast at Paradox Cafe. Then off to our main destination: the cabins at Battle Ground Lake State Park. Cycle Wild had two trips to Battle Ground Lake in 2012, once in February (cabins), and once in August (tents.) These last two accounts go into good detail about Battle Ground Lake, so you should read those first in case you haven’t yet already. Anyways, what were the differences with this trip? Well, this time we rented all four cabins at Battle Ground Lake, meaning a total of twenty people could fit. And we had twenty, plus two extra who braved the cold temps (highs in the mid-40s F or 7C, low around freezing. Compare this temp to our August trip, when the high was 102F/39C.) We met at Cascades MAX station by the airport and departed around 10:45 AM on Saturday morning.  Waiting for the flat to be fixed. No major issues on the 25 mile (40 km) ride to the park, beside a flat on the I-205 bridge. But with 22 riders, the odds are good that someone would get a flat. We had a supermarket and lunch stop around noon, and reached the campground around 3 pm. Everyone settled into their cabins, board games got pulled out, firewood stacked for the evening blaze. Most everyone took a good walk around the lake, as did April and myself. We managed to spot an otter in the water, and a bald eagle attempting to fish. (Even though I did bring binoculars, I forgot them back in the cabin.) During the dark hours, folks alternated between playing games in the cabins or hanging out by the fire. Morning came, and people slowly awoke. Food got made and things packed up. We departed around noon, and most of us took lunch at Laurelwood Brewery in Battle Ground. Most of the group got back to the Cascades MAX station around 4 pm and went their separate ways home.  The view of the lake from the cabin. For more photos, go here.  Hammock at Cape Lookout, Labor Day 2012. Photo by Andy Schmidt. On Tuesday night we hashed out the majority of dates for camping over the course of 2013. We’ll have full details for each event about a month before each trip. Please note that there are a couple trips we haven’t figured out final dates for yet: our June one to Stub Stewart (it will fall during Pedalpalooza so we want to see how that calendar looks), and December to Champoeg (just too far away right now.) The list below does not contain dates for Annual Trip(s), the Kidical Mass summer camping trip, or any mid-week trips. Those will be added to the calendar as the year progresses.
 Nice marmot. Hello, friends! We’ve managed to fill all twenty available slots for this weekend’s Battle Ground Lake cabin camping this weekend (Feb 9-10). But if you are chomping at the bit to get some bike camping action soon, you can come along and bring a tent!
The tent spots at Battle Ground Lake cannot be reserved during the off-season, but the chances that all tent spots will be full in February are pretty slim. The tent spots in the main loop, the same loop where the cabins are, are $22 a night. You can go cheaper by using one of the walk in sites which are only $12 a night, but you’ll be further away from the cabins. If you decide to come along and bring your tent, please be advised that you are on your own regarding payment.
The weather for this weekend is good: highs in the mid-to-upper 40s, lows in the mid 30s. A very slight chance of sprinkles early Saturday, but otherwise dry. Yeah, it would be awesome if it was 60, but what the hey. The main group of riders for Battle Ground Lake will be meeting at 10 am Saturday February 9th at the Cascades MAX stop on the Red Line. The ride is approximately 25 miles one-way. See below for the route info to/from Battle Ground Lake. If you choose to come along, you are responsible for printing out the cue sheet.
If you think you might come along with your tent, or would like more information, please email me before Friday evening: urbanadventureleague@gmail.com
Bike Camping at Sunset Campground, Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Wash.) While February is still “winter” around these parts, it’s a short month preceding the start of spring. And spring means longer days and better weather. A perfect time to think about bike camping and touring! And we’ll be having TWO great workshops in March, both workshops led by Cycle Wild board members Shawn Granton and Ed Groth! First we’ll be having our Bike Camping 101 workshop on Tuesday, March 12th. We’ll be talking about the basics of two-wheeled camping: gear, where to camp, finding others to camp with, and many other tips. There won’t be much talk about touring, but if you are interested in both camping and touring, please take this one first!
And then we’ll be having the Bicycle Touring Workshop on Thursday, March 28th. This will go over the things more specific to touring, like planning, and cost as well as day-to-day life on the road. (Please note: this workshop is technically an Urban Adventure League workshop, not a Cycle Wild one, if that really makes any difference to ya.)
BOTH workshops are free. BOTH workshops start at 6:30 pm on their respective dates. BOTH workshops will take place at Velo Cult, 1969 NE 42nd Ave in the historic Hollywood District.
Please let us know if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!
Quick Update: We added another cabin to Battleground, so there are still 1 or 2 slots available. The Stub Stewart cabin camping trip for January is CANCELLED – we put out feelers for participants for the weekend of Jan 26th, but did not get enough interested parties to warrant grabbing a cabin for that weekend. Battle Ground Lake is FULL! In just under two days we filled up the fifteen available spots. If you are still interested in going, despair not! There is a WAITING LIST on our Eventbrite page. Please sign up on the waiting list if you are interested. If we get enough demand, we can reserve another (and the final) cabin. THE SOONER YOU SIGN UP, the better, because we don’t know how long the final cabin will be available! If you sign up for the waiting list and a spot becomes available, whether due to a cancellation or us getting another cabin, you will be notified and will have 48 hours to register and pay to secure a spot.  Cabin at Battle Ground Lake For our February overnight camping trip, we’ll be traversing the wilds of Clark County, Washington to head to the cabins at Battle Ground Lake State Park! The ride will leave Portland from the Cascades MAX Station on Saturday, February 9th. We’ll ride about 25 miles to Battle Ground Lake, using a mix of shoulderless rural roads with low traffic, bike lanes, bike routes through residential neighborhoods, and bike paths. There will be a few small hills that can be steep for short distances, but nothing major. Cycle Wild classifies this as an “Easy” route, but remember there are a couple hills and some busy stretches. The route from Cascades MAX to Battle Ground Lake: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1435630 The route back: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/933890 We’ll be “camping” in Battle Ground Lake’s rustic cabins! Cabins feature electric light, heat, and power outlets. Each cabin sleeps five, three in the bunk bed (one on the top, two on the bottom bunk) and two on the foldout futon. (Couples get priority, but singles may end up sharing a bed depending on how it all works out.) All you need to bring is bedding: sleeping bag and “pillow”. If you choose to cook, you’ll need to bring your own stove. (Please note: cooking is NOT allowed in the cabin, but you can cook on the picnic table in front of the cabin.)
There are showers. As with any Washington State Park campgrounds that has a shower, they require quarters. Bring about $2.50 in quarters with you if you like long showers.We’ll meet at Cascade Station MAX Stop (Red Line) at 10am Saturday morning (Feb 9). We leave the MAX station at 10:30am. Estimated riding time to the park is 3 hours, plus a 30-45 minute stop at Safeway in east Vancouver to grab food for the trip. (There is also other restaurant options near Safeway, including a Burgerville.)
We’ll return to Portland during the day on Sunday February 10. It’s become customary for some riders to stop in the town of Battle Ground and have lunch at the Laurelwood Brewery. We are doing this trip differently than past trips, so please READ CAREFULLY:
UPDATE 1/10/13: Battle Ground Lake is FULL! In just under two days we filled up the fifteen available spots.
If you are still interested in going, despair not! There is a WAITING LIST on our Eventbrite page.
Please sign up on the waiting list if you are interested. If we get enough demand, we can reserve another (and the final) cabin. THE SOONER YOU SIGN UP, the better, because we don’t know how long the final cabin will be available!
If you sign up for the waiting list and a spot becomes available, whether due to a cancellation or us getting another cabin, you will be notified and will have 48 hours to register and pay to secure a spot.
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Hello friends! Unfortunately we WON’T be camping at the Eagle Creek Group Camp (USFS) in the Columbia Gorge in August, as the group site is already reserved (and reserved for pretty much every weekend this summer.) We are currently looking for an alternate destination for August 10 and 11.