I’ve been eyeing the Hood to Coast course (197 mile run relay course from Mount Hood to Oregon coast) for a few years now, as a really fun bike ride. I’m wondering whether or not it would be acceptable and/or enoyable to ride the run course, just ahead of the runners. Leaving before they got started so as to not interfere with the race; but still getting to see the scenery and maybe take advantage of some closed roads and increased civilian awareness (ie, increased safety on those narrow, curvy mountain roads.)
Also, I’ve driven parts of this course, but am wondering if it would be a fun ride having such an intense elevation drop; or if I’d just be burning through a set of brake pads.
I believe for the most part the roads are actually open for the hood to coast; I’ve only done the Portland to Coast version but the majority of the roads we ran on were open, just with light traffic. I don’t see anyone stopping you from riding just ahead of the runners, most of the people working the event are volunteers anyway and I don’t think they’d care.
I’ve ran in the Hood to Coast relay 12 times, most recently in 2003 with the Naked Lizards. Riding the course is a beautiful route and one I’d highly recommend, just not during race weekend. There are no closed roads. The entire route is open to regular traffic, plus an additional 2,000 vans. Obviously, you’d be ahead of most, unless you have a mishap and are delayed for any amount of time. Then you’d be dealing with exchange stations filled with runners and traffic every 5-6 miles. Once you get through Portland and head north, the route detours off of paved roads and onto logging roads for many miles - certainly not conducive to a road bike. Once you arrive, there is a party atmosphere to be sure (though it has lost much of its original energy in the last several years), but, depending on your itinerary, you either have no room at the inn or a horrible traffic jam getting back out of town. As for added civilian awareness, I wouldn’t count on it. Every year there are numerous close-calls with runners.
Definitely do the route, but I believe you’d have a better experience on a different weekend. And find an alternative detour for the logging roads over the final miles before Seaside.
I seem to remember a particular stretch of road that I ran in the middle of the night that was loose stones / gravel… (talk about dust everywhere!!) - doubt if that section would be too enjoyable on a road bike…
But, I fully agree with your thoughts - riding the course just prior to the race would not be a good idea…
Did the relay back in either '99 or 2000 - awesome experience!
It’s a reasonable ride but there are plenty of more interesting routes around here. If you want to ride it just to say you did, pick another weekend. You would risk getting stuck in the middle of 2000 minivans, 12000 runners, plus the walk teams, the high school teams, the volunteers, race organizers, and locals trying to get all their driving in before the spectacle comes through. And, yes, you will have a 7 mile climb on a dusty dirt road. Pretend you are in the Giro D’italia and that part won’t be so bad.
And, yes, you will have a 7 mile climb on a dusty dirt road. Pretend you are in the Giro D’italia and that part won’t be so bad.
Won’t be so bad? My best biking memories are riding that kind of roads on my 12.5 lb road bike! Plus the 4WD crowd really seem to respect you when you are out in the middle of nowhere riding a road bike up 10 miles of loose gravel. Kind of like seeing an alien landing for them I guess.
There is very little traffic to worry about once you get off main roads in the mountains. The only worry is if you are riding alone and have a serious crash cell phones rarely work in those areas it may be a very long time before potential help drives by. Only a couple vehicles a day some places.