Route help needed Portland OR to Reno NV

[chipg]

I want to ride from Portland Oregon to Reno Nevada with a stop over in Kalamath Falls.  

The ride will be done sometime this summer or maybe early fall.  Will be camping, if that matters.  Does anyone have any information about the roads and what route would be best to take?

Thanks,
Chip

[wanderingwheel]

I can't help you much on specific roads in Oregon, but I'd planon heading south through the Willamette Valley, more or less parallelling I-5, before jumping over the Cascades and into Klamath Falls.  The Trans-Am route from Salem to Eugene may help for that section.

From here, though, I'd enter California at Hatfield and take Route 139 through Canby and Adin, all the way to Susanville.  In Susanville, I'd get on Highway 395 and take that into Nevada.  Once in Nevada, 395 turns into a limited-access road.  Bikes are still allowed on it, but a better choice is to take the frontage road which eventually turns into Virgina Street heading to the center of Reno.  If you're headed to a different part of the city, you can take the ring road McCarren Blvd until you're close.

Except for a few miles right at the Oregon border and another small section a little south of Susanville, I've ridden all of these roads in California and Nevada.  You don't have too many other choices, but they are not bad cycling roads, and there are adequate services along them.  The weather through here can be very hot in the summer, so plan on carrying plenty of water.

Sean

[chipg]

Sean,

Thanks for the info.  Can you let me know what the terrain is like. I am assuming that it is rolling hills, any huge hills? Any comment about available services?
Chip

[wanderingwheel]

Once you're in California, the terrain is fairly mild.  Even though it looks like you're in the middle of the Sierras, you're actually in the high desert just east of the Sierras.  Off the top of my head, there more significant climbs are just north of Adin, and just north of Susanville. 

Until you reach Susanville and 395, you will be passing through a very sparsly populated area with suffficient, but minimal, service.  The towns called out on the map will usually have little more than a small store, and possibly a cafe.  If you come in late, the stores may be closed.  Gas stations are very infrequent. 

The stretch between Adin and Susanville will probably be the biggest challenge in terms of services, but there are CDF Fire stations (forest firefighters) that you can stop at if you need to refill you bottles.  You can also detour around the west of Eagle Lake to find services there, but a slightly hillier route as well.

South of Susanville on 395, services are more frequent and shouldn't be an issue.

Sean

[cyclepdx]

Last May, my brother and I took a 12 ride day between Portland and Carson Pass (south of Lake Tahoe).  The individual days' routes are public on bikely.com and can be searched for with the my "handle" of cyclepdx.  We stayed at motels each night, but camping can be arranged, as well.  There are campgrounds in the Willamette Valley, along the N. Umpqua and around Crater Lake, and again just south of Adin, CA and then along CA State 89 from Lake Almanor to Lake Tahoe.

I had planned our trip to end prior to Memorial Day to avoid any RVs, and largely succeeded, fewer than 10.  The high gas prices helped, too.  The only real truck traffic was between Lake Almanor and Quincy, as there was a salvage logging operation going on from after a forest fire.

We also faced the downside of going that early, there was snow on the forest service road between the Row River (east of Cottage Grove) and the N. Umpqua River (at Steamboat) and that the Crater Lake roads had not yet been plowed.

The route includes routes gleaned from the bicycle maps of Albany, Eugene, and Klamath Falls as well as the Willamette Valley bikeway that the state initiated a couple years ago.

We had a good time, hope you do to!  good luck

[Westinghouse]

I am not too sure about this because I have not read this book in a long time, but you might find information for cycling in that region in the book "Outings on Wheels." I believe it was put out by the Sierra Club.