Evening Latte

The Banks-Vernonia State Trail is a “rails-to-trails” path that was built on a retired railroad line. It’s one of the more popular rides in the area, and I’ve been wanting to do it for years. However, I was hesitant to do a solo ride that long/remote without the gear and expertise to fix a flat, and I had a conflict every time one of my friends organized a group ride. I happened to take care of the former when I was forced to deal with the first flat of my cycling life a few weeks ago, then a friend (the one in the video below) organized a group ride I could finally attend. Even in chilly/damp weather, it was very fun.

• Except for a couple fairly short sections, the grade was reasonable for casual riders. See the elevation chart below (out and back).
• It was beautiful. There was a great mix of PNW deep green and lots of color from trees that were turning. There was mature growth all around the trail, the sections where the path was elevated above the surrounding ground were unique, and the view from the trestle bridge was great.
• This was my longest recorded ride by over 10 miles, so I was a little nervous. But the casual group pace, a few snack/bathroom breaks, and a ~15 minute rest at the turnaround meant fitness wasn’t an issue. If I ever do it solo, I’ll need to limit my early pace to avoid burning out.
• The turnaround was a large pond that had several nice places to take a break. It also featured an abandoned building with lots of graffiti art on the walls.
• The quality of the path varied significantly. Most of it was pretty standard multi-use path: good with lots of small bumps, root ridges, and holes. But some sections had gaps large enough that I was a little nervous with my 32mm tires. Thankfully, most bumps/holes were marked, so they were pretty easy to avoid unless they were covered by fallen leaves. There were a handful of gravel road crossings.
• The bridges were mostly fine, but on a particularly slippery one, a person had their back tire slide out from under them, and another had to put their foot down.

I have a handlebar camera for evidence in the event of an accident. But during this ride, I realized I was recording some pretty nice scenery, so I used it an excuse to learn (very) basic video editing so I could share what the trail looked like that day. Since the original audio was just wind noise/shifting clicks, and silence is weird, I put a couple tracks over it. It was a pleasant surprise to see his cadence at the start matched the beat pretty well.

This was near the end of the ride on a slight downhill grade. We wanted to go faster, but between the wet pavement and the fallen leaves, we opted for a safer approach. It was recorded in 4K, so turn up the quality to see details.