I submitted this route back in March, #4660 Around Mt. Hood. I've ridden completely around Hood once before, but this started/ended in Sandy to make it 200k.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42124195
12k feet climbing over 125 miles. Left pinky and ring finger are still numb from PBP, and my rear isn't 100% healed. The west side of Hood is beautiful, wooded, crisscrossed with streams, with stunning views of Hood, foothills, and Mt Adams. It's pretty much all national forest. The climb up this side over Lolo Pass is twisty, with occasional sharp climbs and short flats and descents. The roads on the east side are mostly narrow forest roads with very few cars, as people head to/from the trailhead or campsites. Hard, but chill. Maybe 10 miles of gravel. On the north side, the route bombs down to flat open land comprised of fruit orchards. The east side is wide open, exposed to full sun, and the climbing is long, straight, and monotonous. Much of the east side is shoulder riding on busy SR 35. The high point is Bennett Pass, 4500ft, at mile 85. Fast highway downhill from there, one or two climbs, then Government Camp. From there it's 6 miles of 6% down to Rhododendron, again shoulder riding on SR 26. That downhill from Govy always seems to have crosswinds, reducing the fun somewhat as the shoulder is a bit narrow in places. Eventually the route exits SR46 for Marmot Rd, which is peaceful. There are active wildfires in the area, and the firefighter camp was on Marmot Road, generating some truck traffic. At this point in the route, there are two climbs of note. On the route profile they look like absolutely nothing compared to the two mountain passes, but both Marmot Road climb and even more the Ten Eyck Rd climb are tough at this point in the ride. Ten Eyck, in particular, is relentless, climbing that doesn't stop until you're 0.3 mi from the finish.
Tough tough ride for me. Finished in 11:30, just before dark. Beautiful, but tough.
https://www.strava.com/activities/9818293311