Bike Ride - Frenchman's Bar

Today was one of the first sunny days this year so decided to take my first bike ride of 2023!

Columbia River at Frenchman's Bar Regional Park, WA

Columbia River at Frenchman's Bar Regional Park, WA

Mt. Hood from Frenchman's Bar Regional Park, WA

Bike Ride - Frenchman's Bar

Frenchman's Bar Bike Ride - Sept 23, 2021

Video of one of my favorite local bike rides to Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park taken on September 23, 2021. The ride usually takes about 60 minutes round trip but the video has been sped up 5X and lasts about 12 minutes. The first half of the ride follows local roads which eventually connect to a paved trail that ends at Frenchman's Bar Regional Park. The park is located about 5 miles down river from Fort Vancouver on the Washington side of the Columbia River and was named after Frenchman Paul Hauray who, in 1915 purchased the land in hopes of making money in the salmon fishing industry.Video was shot using an iPhone mounted on the bike handlebars and edited with the Videoshop iPhone app.

Frenchman's Bar - Bicycle Ride

Frenchman's Bar Regional Park

One of my favorite bike rides is a 14 mile round trip ride to Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park.The Park is a 120 acre Regional Park located on the Columbia River about 8 miles west of downtown Vancouver, WA. The park was established in 1997 and is a great place for picnicking, swimming, volleyball and bird watching. Large ships are commonly visible right off shore headed for ports in Portland or Vancouver. Today’s ride was rewarded with several flocks of sandhill cranes, large cargo ship and beautiful sunset.

Bike Ride - Pedal the Pinchot

On August 1999, I transferred jobs from the Six Rivers National Forest in northwest California to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington. I was looking forward to exploring my new surroundings. So on August 2000, I decided I would ride on the (now discontinued) "Pedal the Pinchot" bicycle ride. The event included four separate rides -- two for road bikes and two for mountain bikes. I decided to try the easier mountain bike ride which was described as "32 miles of moderate mountain biking with over 1,000-foot elevation gain on the Lewis River Trail to the Lower Falls". I loaded my mountain bike into the back of my trusty Isuzu Rodeo and drove about 2 hours to Curly Creek Falls trailhead where the ride was supposed to begin. I wasn't sure how many people would be there but based on other rides I'd been on, I expected there would be a fair number. Surprisingly, no one was there. I began to wonder if I'd gotten my dates wrong or was in the wrong place. So, I double checked and as far as I could tell, it was the right date and place. I unloaded my bike and prepared to ride. I wasn't sure what to expect and was happy to discover the trail was fairly level and followed the Lewis River through beautiful old-growth Douglas Fir / Western Red Cedar / Hemlock forest. Eventually however, the trail got steep and rougher with some major butt-clenching drop offs. I kept riding, hoping to see other riders. But none appeared. At several places with sharp drop-offs, I wondered if anyone would ever find my body if I fell over the side. I eventually arrived at the Lower Lewis River Falls campground and was delighted and amazed to see several people sitting at a table with food, waiting to greet riders. They asked me which ride I did and when I told them, they seemed surprised. After chatting a bit, one of them sheepishly said a biker had recently fallen off the trail and died! They gave me a “Pedal the Pinchot” T-shirt and I helped myself to some food and water while resting up for the return ride. I had originally planned on riding my bike back to my car on the trail. But after a little reflection and considering there was a road that paralleled the trail (90FR), I wisely decided to ride back on the road.