The Gorge is my Gym

You have just three days left to vote yes for the gas tax. Why? Because driving on unplowed roads sucks. Why else? Because riding your bike on unswept streets sucks. You still aren’t convinced? Look, it’s $30 a year or so. We’re replacing timber money. If you’d rather we get that money the old way, maybe we can just reopen logging on all those beautiful trails you like to ride (the City and County can’t do that, but that’s where the money used to come from… just making a point here). So, clearcuts or $.03/gallon gas tax? Snow-covered roads or unplowed streets? Road riding through gravel, or road riding on nice, clean streets? I thought so. Vote yes.

End of rant. Beginning of forecast.

East winds continue today under sunny skies. There’s not as much gradient as yesterday morning – we were only at .08 at 6am – but it’s still enough for some light easterlies, 15-19 or so, if we’re lucky, today. You can count on the east winds holding until noon, but prepare for them to die rapidly.

Cool air starts pushing into Portland sometime this afternoon, dropping gradients. By midnight or so, gradients should be flat, I’m not suggesting you should go waterskiing at midnight or anything… I’m just saying we’ll see west gradients by early tomorrow morning.

If you’re not keen on easterlies, and you are keen on surfing, head to the coast for 8 feet at 13 seconds – that’s a west swell – with less than 15 knots of wind.

With overnight desert temps in the 50’s tonight, I don’t think we’ll see dawn patrol tomorrow. However, with the thermal trough over the desert and weak high pressure building at the coast, west gradients are going to be substantial tomorrow. I think we’ll see 24-27 in the corridor by tomorrow afternoon, with a slight chance of 30+ if everything works out perfectly.

It’s looking like the westerlies will stick around Monday, giving you a chance for crowd-free water time.

In other news, today is the CGKA end-of-summer party on the Sandbar in Hood River. There’s music and BBQ and, hey, bring a potluck item to share! It’s also the Fluidride Scotty Graham Memorial Super D, today and tomorrow, from Timberline to Skibowl. There’s a bunch of other stuff going on this weekend, but you’ll have to go to https://thegorgeismygym.com to check it out.

Have a great day today!

East winds pick up today as high pressure intensifies over the desert. With pre-dawn gradients at .12, it’s going to be a great day for kiting or windsurfing in Stevenson or at Rooster. I’m thinking we’ll see 20-24 today, or this morning at least, with winds fading this afternoon.

Personally, I think you should go ride Plains of Abraham on St. Helens. Half of Hood River rode it yesterday, so the other half of you might as well head up there today. There’s still a little snow from last week’s early storm, so the views are pretty amazing up there. I think this is the most beautiful ride around (with one of the best downhills around), so if you haven’t ever been there, now’s your chance.

Tomorrow is looking pretty light as a weak marine push cools off the coast. Most likely we’ll see light east winds switching to light westerlies by late afternoon.

At this point, it looks like the marine layer will make its way into Portland on Sunday, setting up a decent west wind day in the central gorge. I think it’s going to be a little cold in the desert on Saturday night for dawn patrol Sunday, but I think we’ll see winds in the mid-twenties at some point Sunday.

If you like surfing, you’re probably already on your way to the coast. If not, you should know that it’s 6.5 feet at 13 seconds today and sunny, and 11 feet at 14 seconds tomorrow, with more sunshine and almost no wind. Magic Seaweed’s giving it four stars both days, so throw your surfboard in the car and head west!

In other news, mark you calendar for a Cook’s Meadow work party this Sunday. Dirty fingers is calling this one the “Jimmy T and Me work party,” named for Ranger Jim, without whom we wouldn’t have many of the trails around here. This is your chance to help build a new trail off the 44 road, as well as increase your mountain biking karma.

Speaking of biking. One final note on the Hood River gas tax. If you enjoy having gravel-free roads (yes, you do like the street sweeper, you road biker, you), please vote for the gas tax.