Harris Road Gravel Ride

Weekend Wanderings

Saturday, Nov. 7
On Saturday Ron and I joined a group of friends to do our usual Saturday bicycle ride. Weather was looking a bit iffy, and the air was down right cold. It was spitting rain at the start. Some of us opted for rain jackets, others decided to take a chance they wouldn't need theirs. I brought one along, but didn't wear it for the first part of the ride. I did put it on later when the rain picked up. Overall it was a nice ride. A little cold, and a little wet, but mostly nice. The fall colors were really nice. 




Helmick State Park
A little bit of bike porn...


Thar be Dragons


Sunday, Nov. 9
On Sunday we wanted a short, easy gravel ride and that is what we found. Harris Road outside of Corvallis. This is a great route if you’re looking for something relatively easy without the crazy climbing so often found on gravel rides. 

The ride starts out on pavement but soon turns to gravel. Perfect gravel. The kind of gravel I love. Not too thick, nor loose. A little bit damp and tacky. I had 36mm tires, but you could easily go narrower. Ron had his mountain bike with wide tires. 

Harris Road going under highway 20
Pavement ends! 

Harris Bridge, 1936
sweet perfect gravel







Light through the leaves
Castle house

I love this cool castle house. Ron spoke with the woman who lives there. Her husband did all the design work. A hobby that he loves. Fun things outside the house too. 



Right now there is plenty of great color in the trees. I did a lot of stopping for photos, so it was definitely a dawdler Ride. 

There are options to make this a longer ride, and I think it’s part of the Corvallis to Coast route. We only saw three cars the whole ride. 

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/58822740



Comments

  1. RichardM11/10/20, 3:36 PM

    Beautiful fall colors!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bluekat11/11/20, 9:46 PM

    I think it might be the last of our nice fall weather.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SonjaM11/12/20, 7:54 AM

    Lovely pics, Kari. Stunning colour capture. I like the masked sculptures. Are they part of a roadside exhibition (you get that quite a lot in Germany)?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bluekat11/12/20, 11:38 AM

    Yes they were fun to see. They were one of several pieces of art near the homeowner’s mailbox, I assume created by the owner. I’m not sure what you mean by roadside exhibitions? Public or private? but it sounds like a wonderful thing to come across. As far as I know, around here any art you come across is what is done by local folks on their own property. It seems we have some wonderful artists hidden away on the backroads.

    ReplyDelete
  5. redlegsrides11/12/20, 5:50 PM

    Now that there is some nice Fall Colors in your pics!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bluekat11/13/20, 7:47 PM

      Thanks Dom. Stormy this weekend. Leaves will all be blown away.

      Delete
  6. Troubadour11/14/20, 5:06 PM

    One of my favorite motorcycle loops, up Woods Creek and down to Harris covered bridge, been past that castle house several times, never considered it on a bicycle though. Nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bluekat11/15/20, 8:57 PM

      Woods Creek is on my ride list, and some others in the area. I bet they’re great on the motorcycle! Especially going uphill!

      Delete

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