events - The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning,

Columbia Center for the Arts, on June 27th, presents the cycling film Rising from Ashes, a feature length documentary about the first Rwandan National Cycling Team and their six year journey to the Olympic Games in London. It’s not about the bike. It’s about second chances, how our past doesn’t have to define our future, and the triumph of the human spirit over one of the world’s most devastating genocides. The story is told by Forrest Whitaker and follows Team Rwanda. Producer, director and Editor T.C. Johnstone will be on hand to talk about the film. The team’s top rider Adrien Niyonshuti rode in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic and will be riding in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. There will be a reception in the lobby at 7:00. with the film beginning at 7:30.

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Well, at least my garden and your garden are happy this morning! At 7:30am, it was raining .28”/hour, and with .11” of rain already today, we’re on track to beat the June 23rd record for rainfall: .25”. The rather heavy rain should continue through noon or so, before tapering off and finally quitting around 5pm. Tonight looks dry. Tomorrow brings a few sprinkles in the afternoon. You can stay updated on rainfall totals at Hood River Weather.

Keep an eye on the sky today for clouds coming in from the east and surface wind from the west. This make for difficult forecasting for Gorge winds, especially with the rain showers swinging through at random times. That said, we’ll see west wind today. It’ll be in the teens at time, and in the low twenties at other times, all the way from Stevenson out to Arlington. If you’re a kiter, swing by the spit today for free Slingshot demos from 10am to 5pm, brought to you by Windance.

Tomorrow looks similar, but with a little help from high pressure off Vancouver Island, we’ll go from westerlies at 10-15 in the morning to 23-26 in the afternoon. However, it’s only going to be windy for a brief period of time. On Monday west wind at 15-18 in the morning picks up to the upper twenties in the afternoon.

For you mountain bikers, head up to Family Man in Post Canyon to check out the new beginner-friendly skills features, which really won’t be all that beginner-friendly if they’re drenched by pouring rain. Thanks to Matt Klee and the Hood River Area Trail Stewards. In other Post Canyon news, the 140 is now open from Blue Car up to Riorden Hill Road, so you can ride singletrack most of the way from the bottom of Post to the top. You must have legs of steel to accomplish this feat: 140 is steep. I hiked my bike up a good portion of it yesterday.

For fun today, Sternwheeler days all day in Cascade Locks, featuring soaking wet mountain men and women, and Blues and Brews from noon to 10pm in Stevenson. Speaking of music, if you weren’t at Cebu last night, you missed Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers (check them out on YouTube, because there’s no way in hell that band is playing in a bar ever again – they’re awesome). Tonight, catch my friends Smudgepot at Sawtooth (it should be a great crowd of fun and deviant Meadows employees, just like me.)

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

Good morning,

In the wind forecast today, we’re looking at another one of those days when you’ll want to get to the garbage cans right after the garbage guy takes your trash. The gradients are downright huge this morning: .15 Portland to The Dalles and another .15 from The Dalles to Pasco, along with .33 north/south.

With those numbers, I’m surprised we’re not seeing more than 10-20 from Stevenson to The Dalles, but that’s what we’re seeing this morning. At Arlington, it’s already in the upper twenties. The models think we’ll see 35+ at Arlington today. I think we’ll see gusty 30-35 by 11am, holding through 4pm and then fading. In the western Gorge, we should see the wind pick up to gusty 21-24, but the far east is definitely the call today. At the Wall, I’d be surprised to see the wind blow in the right direction. There’s also the problem of an exiting upper level low that may give us clouds and possibly a few thunderstorms out in the desert. Definitely a bit of a wrench in the system today, which will make things a bit gusty and hard to predict (that’s my excuse if I f**k up the forecast today).

Tomorrow brings gusty west wind at 21-24 along with a few more rain showers, and Sunday starts off with light wind, picking up to 23-26 in the afternoon.

If you want to give back to your trail system today or tomorrow, WTA is hosting work parties at Beacon Rock. There’s another work party up at Family Man in Post Canyon this morning, so be on the lookout for new features at Family Man. If you like what’s new, head to your local trail organization’s website at HRATS.org and make a donation.

For the rest of the weekend, you’ve got Sternwheeler Days in Cascade Locks with the star attraction, real live mountain men doing mountain man things (I have no idea what that means, so I’m tempted to go check it out), and a tour of the Hood River County Tree Farm through Hood River Community Ed with forest manager Doug Thiesies (my favorite forest manager on the whole planet). Also this weekend, the Pacific Crest Triathlon in Sun River. Best of luck to Mark, Clint, Rutger, Patrick, Trish, and Dru from the Gorge.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira