2010 RAO Route
General Route Description:
Download the RAO 2010 Route Book Here
The 2010 Race Across Oregon route travels 520 miles from The Best Western Hood River Inn through eastern Oregon and finishes at the Best Western Hotel Hood River Inn.
We will keep the 2009 route mostly unchanged for 2010 – it’s a killer! The RAO route feels incredibly remote. In some ways we think the course is now more difficult for a solo racer – there are more rolling hills, steeper grades and a greater sense of isolation throughout the route. After a 1 mile neutral start the race gets underway with a 35 mile 4,700 foot climb up Mt. Hood. After descending to the Deschutes River Valley, riders cross the Deschutes at Sherar’s Falls and ascend a breathtakingly steep climb to Grass Valley. The route follows backroads to Moro and then heads east to Condon. The climbs are unrelenting and the scenery unchanging as the route travels through Ruggs and Heppner and then heads south down 395. The scenery through Battle Mountain is beautiful but you’ll most likely be traveling through this section during darkness. The course exits 395 near Long Creek and RT 402. Riders will follow 402 back toward Hamilton, Monument and Kimberly. After a lovely ride alongside the John Day River they’ll turn and head toward Spray. If you’ve ridden RAO in the past you’re now on familiar territory though going in a different direction then before as the course travels through Spray, Service Creek, Fossil, Clarno, Antelope, Shaniko, Bakeoven, Maupin, Dufur and Forest Road 44. A 25 mile descent on highway 35 will take riders to back to the start hotel on the banks of the beautiful Columbia River – the best the gorge has to offer!