Bicycling McCall to the Salmon's South Fork & Return

"I can always hitchhike", I thought when I read Scott's e-mail revising the route details to show 31,786 ft of elevation gain in 149 miles of mostly forest service roads. Foolish me, the only traffic on these roads was a few ATV's and a few hunters- not good sources to hitchhike out! Sean & Carol must have figured this out as they took in a foreign ex-change student this weekend escaping the ride, and leaving Scott, Jen, Doug and I to complete it. Fortunately, the estimate on elevation gain proved wrong, but the route would still provide plenty of climbing over four days. Another positive, the weather forecast turned out wrong! The storm that was supposed to be here 15 & 16 Sep left the roads damp and dustless, but the storm was entirely spent by the time we started riding under blue skies on 16 Sep.

16 Sep 2011
McCall to Shiefer Campground
59.2 miles, riding time 6:17, elevation gained 3,169 ft
After a big breakfast at McCall's Pancake House we dropped off the automobiles at the cabin of a friend of Jen's, and rode along Payette Lake, climbed to Upper Payette Lake, and on up to the first pass of the day on paved roads with little traffic. A rapid descent on pavement to the intersection took us within 2 miles of Burgdorff where the pavement ended and the smooth hardpan began.

Jen along Payette Lake - Photo by Doug

Reading about the 1994 fire while observing the damage from repeated fires - Photo by Doug

Over another pass and on the other side we passed through Warren, an old mining settlement surrounded with dredge tailings. The smooth hardpan had deteriorated to a more typical decomposed granite for the ride over Warren Pass followed by a rapid fall into the canyon of the Salmon River's South Fork where we'd camp at Shiefer Campgrounds. The South Fork was warm enough for a short but pleasant after ride swim.

Looking back across the bride that took us into Shiefer Campgrounds

17 Sep 2011 
Shiefer Campground to camp at edge of the road
29.0 miles, riding time 6:17, elevation gained 6,184 ft

We had all evening to stare at the steep canyon walls we'd have to climb first thing in the morning. After a short steep section we rode along a bench, saw a small cemetery, and then the climb up Elk Creek really started! I like staying in my 23" gear, but much of the hill forced me to ride in a 19" gear (my Granny-one). Doug likes a higher gear and standing, but it was too steep for that style riding. It wasn't long and Scott, Jen, and Doug were all pushing though all are stronger riders than I. My early introduction to road biking taught me to "gear down" and peddle saving energy while maintaining a slightly faster speed. The climb took most of the day. By the time we reached the top, I was still only pleasantly tired. We hoped to reach Yellow Pine, where we could eat in the cafe and snack in the grocery store.

Steve catches Scott on Elk Creek Climb - Photo by Doug

Scott and Jen enjoy their PB&J lunch

We've reached the top, or have we?

As expected we started down steeply after reaching the top, but after a mile or so of descent, we started back up! Now, you may look at the daily mileage of 29.0 and think this was an easy day, but you'd be wrong! Temps fell rapidly at the first peak from 52 to 48, and then down to 46. I was cold and ready for a 2nd lunch when I finally put on my lobster gloves and windbreaker. Somewhere along this section I abandoned my idea of riding every part of the ride, and with a slightly aching lower back began pushing my bike up the steepest section! We were now in the Middle Forks' drainage area, and Yellow Pine lay over another pass back on the South Fork, so we abandoned the plan of steak dinner with pie for dessert!

When we reached Big Creek, our 2nd choice of a "campground", we saw a campground with 1 occupied spot; the rest was under construction, no tables, no parking, no spot for tents. We considered putting up our tents in the center of the "under construction" road, but we decided to ride on. Doug's quick eyes spotted a turn off into the forest and a small clearing. As soon as the tents were up, Scott started dinner, and doubled the portions since everyone was hungry. We were all in bed by nightfall.

During the night a few big drops of rain fell, so Scott put up this cover for the breakfast cooking.  The sky cleared by the time we were back on the road

18 Sep 2011
Roadside camp to Ponderosa Campground (not the state park)
41 miles, 4:42 riding time, 2,229 ft elevation gain

Being overly tired, I slept soundly- a leg cramp in the middle of the night barely woke me long enough to stretch it out. Jen wasn't so lucky. Her's was more severe, and she was afraid she'd awoke the entire camp as she fought to get rid of it. Though we were all in our tents by nightfall, I wasn't really ready to get out of the tent 10 hours later! I awoke still tired from the prior day's ride. Immediately, we headed up another mountain and the effort brought me to full alterness. Down the other side lay Yellow Pine where the only grocery store and cafe of the trip lay. Hamburgers and fries for the entire group that's close to health nuts! Then we were off to the grocery store, but on Sundays it opens late, closes early, and closes when the employee decides it's lunch time which happened just as we finished our lunch, so we missed this restocking opportunity.

Scott had mapped two versions of the trip. The group was still a bit tired, so we switched to the shorter route as we left. The locals were amazed we were taking the washboard version when the other route was mostly paved and only 17 miles longer. Is a 17 mile shortcut on washboards worth it? The ride down the South Fork on pavement and then decomposed granite was speedy and scenic- maybe the best of the ride. Then the route turned up the Secesh River, a moderate side stream, where the washboards the locals warned us of began. Soon we were shifting from the right side of the road to the wrong side or even the middle looking for the least bounce. We were all ready for an early end of the day, so the roughly 3:00 arrival at Ponderosa Campground on the Secesh River was appreciated. I swam while the others took bird baths at the campground's faucet.

19 Sep 2011
Ponderosa Campground (not the state park by that name) to McCall, Idaho
29.3 miles, 4:06 riding time, 3249 ft elevation gain

One last pass to climb today as we crossed back into the Payette River System. The forest and the mountains were beautiful. The severe washboards continued as did our bouncing from side to side of the road trying to avoid them until we hit a few miles of construction just before the pavement. The entire time in the Salmon drainage was characterized by rapidly flowing small rivers with crystal clear water. Back in the Payette drainage they were slow moving quite waters as would be expected in mid Sep.

Scott, Jen, & Doug climbing out of the Salmon River Drainage

This was another great trip though I admit the climb on Elk Creek took a lot out of me, and despite the ideal weather, I was actually glad to be done with the ride- an unusual reaction for me. With one day back at work though, my tiredness is finally gone!

Check out Doug's Blog and photos

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, & transportation

Steve

Air Reconnaissance Leads Us Astray on Willow Creek

Willow Creek Trail 4.4 Miles Riding Time 2:11

Pilots LT Klein and Chief Winn have been flying over the motorcycle trails 15 to 20 miles east of Boise for years and wanting to ride them. The LT was supposed to invite the Chief, but he was off having a wreck elsewhere. So, on Sunday 26 Jun, the LT and I set off for Willow Creek- in the LT's pickup.

Two views of the trail that captured the Pilots' interest





The LT's plan had been to ride the Willow Creek Trail in a counter clockwise direction, but we missed the trail that left immediately up the hill from the parking lot. This had us riding up the creek, what the LT thought would be the easy section. The trail crossed the creek every 100 yards or so, and the crossings were typically 18" deep or so- too deep to ride. There were also deep holes that might be good for swimming once the snow melt is gone and creek warms up.


Steve puts his shoes back on after one of the many crossings of Willow Creek

Progress up the steam was slow, the tail was often in the creek's flood bed with large round rocks surrounded by sand which made a terrible road bed. The LT suggested we hike to the top of the canyon. The streambed being what it was, I was glad to leave it. The canyon walls were too steep to get the bikes up, but the view from the top was good. Unfortunately, we found another canyon between us and our desired location on the trail on top of the ridge, so we returned to our bikes and continued riding and pushing up the stream bed. Finally, the trail forked, and we headed to the ridge. The uphill has too steep to ride. It was generally decomposed granite- tightly compressed but with a small amount of loose decomposed granite that made it difficult to walk up without sliding down on the loose stuff.

Eventually we reached the canyon's top and then started down into another draw. The motorcycles had dug a deep rut into the hillside, that I decided I must escape. I got the front wheel out of the rut, the rear wheel didn't follow, and I did an endo. The LT said from behind it looked like I did a perfect tuck and roll. However, my right hand just barely left the handlebars, and I punched the earth breaking my 4th metatarsal before that otherwise good tuck and roll.


The LT with the best riding in the background


Will carried a good first aid kit, so Steve's broken hand was wrapped


Will enjoys the descent, but Steve is awkwardly pushing after breaking his hand


The LT always has time to climb, and Steve didn't mind this break


Nearing the bottom where Steve eagerly anticipates returning to the Pickup

So, that's how we took 2:11 to do a 4.4 mile ride! The doctor says I'll be back on the bike by the end of July!

Happy Cycling for Fun, Fitness, and Transportation

Steve

Utah Cliffs- an Early Summer Alternative

Doug, Scott, & Jen (from my former home in Lewiston) make excellent adventurous cycling companions, so when I got an invite to join them for Utah Cliffs, my only question was “may my National Guard Cycling friends also join the trip?” That was approved with the only qualification being the obvious- they must be in shape and have enough pannier space to carry their share of group gear. LT Klein did just that and joined us for the first three cycling days.

The drive from Boise to St. George is about 10 hours, but the LT and I had to divert to Duck Creek Village where he’d leave his car and ride in my car to St. George. The LT couldn’t arrange a full week off, so he’d bicycle with us to Duck Creek Village getting in nearly all the climbing and drive home on 1 June as we started sailing downhill for 3 days, or so we planned.


The group: Scott, Will the LT, Steve, Jen, & Doug

29 May 11 40.4 miles 5:05 Riding Time 5,200 ft of gain
St. George, UT to Pine Valley, UT
Temple View RV Park seems the obvious place to stay in downtown St. George, with its thick luxurious grass to sleep on, but the tent area is well lighted, and noisy kid’s sneaked into the nearly pool at 0300 hours, so not all the group was happy there. I don’t like testing out new equipment on tour, but I was trying out my Old Man Mountain Cold Springs front rack- a “high rider” rack for a road tourist who’s been a fan of “low rider” racks since they were invented. On the 2 mile trip to breakfast my bike’s front end seemed to shake all over the place, and the bike seemed difficult to move. I wondered how I’d do on tour and if this rack would work. That short two mile ride had some kind of optical illusion- though it looked flat it was actually fairly steep into a stiff headwind. During the real ride the “high rider” rack never gave me any issues. Much to my surprise I’d recommend it for off road touring. Low riders balance the weight better, but low riding panniers are an easy target for passing rocks..


The group departing St. George on its bike path


the spokes on Jen's new rear wheel begin to loosen, giving wheel builder Scott something to do besides bicycle


Doug and the LT are eager to cross this rapidly flowing creek

When we arrived at the above creek, Doug and the LT seemed eager for the challenge of crossing the fast moving water. Scott, Jen, & I weren’t so sure and nearly went back to the highway. After talking the LT into the trip, I didn’t want to be a stick-in-the-mud, so I followed, and Jen and Scott were right behind me. Doug and the LT had braved this bare footed. Jen & I needed shoes for our tender feet.

Within minutes of the stream crossing, Doug’s Shimano chain broke. He’s well prepared and had another chain with him, so we were going in a few minutes. Amazing how quickly a mechanical guy can slap on a new chain with a master link.

Pine Valley is slightly off route, but we’d planned to spend the night in its nearby campground. The temps fell rapidly as we entered town- down 4 degrees as we crossed the narrow valley. Was our 3:00 meal lunch or dinner? As we ordered one meal and planned on returning for another, unknown to us the staff was preparing for their routine Sunday afternoon shutdown though Monday’s Memorial Day. A light mist fell, with some of the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen. The forecast was now revised to predict a low of 20 that night. We decided to seek out shelter at the grill across the street. Management and its staff seemed caught off guard by the arrival of Memorial Day. The owner had gone to town for more supplies leaving two teenagers to run the place, and the cold weather was filling their few cabins with last minute guests. We were in luck someone had vacated a cabin that we could have, a teenage employee was assigned the job of cleaning a just vacated cabin which would be ready in about two hours. Our wet shoes made the cold seem worse.


The LT is a master of ropes- like a sailor from the days of wooden ships and iron men. He devised this shoe drying rack which worked very well. We were all glad to put dry shoes on the next morning

30 May 11 58.9 miles 6:07 Riding Time 3,576 ft of gain
Pine Valley, UT to Cedar City, UT
We were glad for our shelter the next morning as we saw the forecast was wrong. The skies hadn’t cleared and the temps hadn’t drop to 20 degrees, but we did get wet snow that then froze hard, the skies were still dark with clouds, and it was still freezing as we ate our breakfast huddled in our cabin. It was 34 by the time we rode out. The snow hadn’t stuck to the road, our route was uphill, and we all had dry shoes, so no one suffered with the cold.


Steve's snow covered bike the next morning which made the "campers" happy they'd found shelter in the cabin

I mentioned I was uncomfortable with new untested equipment on the ride. Jen was riding a brand new bike with 2 accumulated miles on it as she headed out on day one. She and Scott made a couple of small adjustments that day (if I may call tightening all 32 spokes on the rear wheel "minor"), but as we were climbing the road out of Pine Valley, her Shimano 10 speed chain broke. Unfortunately, no one was carrying a spare one of those. Scott shortened the chain by a link; we considered returning downhill to St. George but continued on toward Cedar City where Jen hoped to buy a new chain that would let her use all 30 of her gears. The mountains were beautiful, and we had a tail wind as we did the day before, and the skies were clearing.

The LT figured it was his time for mechanical issues while in the mountains. I believe the sequence of events was: he lost left rear rack bolt which let the rack weave causing the right rear rack boss to pop off the frame. That created such vibration the LT stopped to declare the lost bolt. Scott had several of those, but while we were examining the bike, someone noticed the boss just off the seat post was no longer attached. Scott carries lots of spare parts, and came up with the below repair which had us going as soon as we’d eaten our PB&J sandwiches.


Will's rear rack boss comes off the frame


Scott's well done repair

We dropped out of the forest and into the grass by New Harmony. Enjoying our moderate tailwind and a down hill, we made good time to a freeway convenience store. No one even noticed LT Klein was 50 to 100 feet behind us. Scott and Jen were suffering almost identical allergy symptoms swollen watery eyes. Doug was wheezing but didn’t seek out the same allergy medications that brought some relief to Scott and Jen. As we prepared to leave, the LT took off like a shot. I had to struggle to catch him, and asked why he was riding ahead of everyone. “You guys about dropped me back there, and I’m doing my best to see it doesn’t happen again” was his reply. It seems the Mike Simpson approach, “If I drop you, you can’t drop me” isn’t entirely gone! We regrouped just before the turn off that would return us to dirt roads and a 1,400 climb up above Cedar City. It turns out that the neither the allergenic group nor the LT who was concerned about being dropped had any interest in completing what I thought was the challenge of the day, so we headed into town on the freeway frontage road.

The LT and I had spotted a KOA in Cedar City as we passed through on our way to Duck Creek Village, so we headed directly there as the bike shops weren’t opened on Memorial Day. Doug, Scott, and Jen had what they described as poor pizza delivered to the KOA. The LT and I walked 1/4 mile for a Mexican dinner. Cedar City has an interesting downtown, but we stayed in the strip mall section this evening.

31 May 11 33.4 miles 4:51 Riding Time 4,450 ft of gain
Cedar City, UT to Duck Creek Village, UT
Cedar Cycle opens at 9:00 instead of 10:00, so we headed there directly after our restaurant breakfast. Brian was able to replace the chain and cannibalize one of his bikes for a 10 speed shifter that was also needed to get Jen's new bike going with all 30 gears. Still we were out of there in just over an hour. Thanks Brian & Cedar Cycles!

Scott's big smile as Brian has Jen's bike in operable condition again

The climb out of Cedar City is steep, long, and beautiful, but Highway 14 was also full of trucks of every kind but especially dump trucks which combined with the severe head wind gave the ride an unpleasant side. We struggled with strong headwinds all day. Toward the top as the winds relentlessly tossed us, Doug yelled, “I curse you, wind gods!” As we rounded the next corner which cut through the mountain's flank, Doug, Scott, Jen, and I were blown off the road! Four of us were blown onto a pull out, but Scott was blown into a ditch. After straightening his handlebars we pushed the 50 yards to the top because of the wind. The LT was ahead of us for that blast, and only joined in the pushing to be social. At the top Adventure Cycling’s route turns back onto dirt roads that were covered in 2 to 5 feet of snow, so we stayed on Highway 14. Several of the hoped for campsites were buried in the snow. The last one had mostly melted snow, but flowing water was everywhere making it equally useless. Duck Creek Village was just ahead. Maybe this would be another night inside. We rented a cabin with two upstairs bedrooms, a nice kitchen, and living area for $100. We also had the best ice cream of the trip while in Duck Creek Village.

Will near the top of Coal Creek on Hwy 14

Will, Jen, and Steve just after 4 of the 5 were blown off the highway

Lost without the LT
1 Jun 11 64.9 miles 8:21 Riding Time
Duck Creek Village, UT to campground outside of Zion National Park
The LT had ridden to the highest point of the trip thinking he’d be there for most of the adventure and miss the easy coasting back downhill to St. George. He had to leave us this morning after breakfast- leaving us four to contemplate the “Red Flag Warning” with forecast wind speeds of 60 MPH which could lead to a layover day. The cabin was great for the 5 of us, but we didn’t want to spend a day in the nearly vacant Duck Creek Village, so we headed out into the wind but down the highway. Highway 14 is too busy to really enjoy, but Adventure Cycling’s route was still snow covered, so we turned off on the first alternative, Strawberry Creek, which we hoped to follow up to the ridge line, drop off the mountain, and rejoin the route. Good plan, but the top of Strawberry Ridge was snow covered with trees down everywhere. Getting to Strawberry Ridge represented 7 miles into a stiff headwind, and then reversing course because of downed trees, mud, and snow, but at least the return had a great tail wind.


Jen and Scott toward the top of Strawberry Ridge


The tree falls and snows that forced our turn around on Strawberry Ridge

The next draw over was Swain’s Creek. We met a seasonal resident & mountain biker who highly recommended this route. Then Jen & I met the assistant County Assessor who also highly recommended the route but warned of a 100 foot mud wallow to cross. Doug then joined us and asked about downed trees and possible snow/mud as he was concerned this would be another out onto the ridge top and back. The assistant assessor agreed it was possible we'd find those things. We turned around riding back out to Highway 14 where we again met the mountain biker (in his car). He didn’t know the current condition of the road but stated a weird winter storm had taken down a lot of tress above 8,500 ft, that this route would stay below that elevation, and reiterated that this was his favorite route in this area. I asked if he were in the area only one time and had a chance to see the canyon/vista or ride county #1 which way he’d go. He diplomatically avoided that question.

Now, Scott and Doug are generally of one mind, but in this instance Doug wanted to ride down Highway 14 to the lower country route #1 and proceed into the valley avoiding any chance of ruining his sprocket on down trees and back-tracking again. Scott wanted to see the dramatic scenery of this canyon. Jen somehow stayed out of the discussion. I saw both sides of the issue- not relishing another 7 miles into the head winds just to turn around, and not wanting to miss the best scenery of the trip. Asked to cast a deciding vote, I went for Swain Creek. So, we turned around and backtracked again.

The Assistant Assessor knew more than he realized. We arrived at the mud slough, and sure enough it was 100 to 150 feet long with no way around it. Doug was the first across. Scott seemed to abandon all caution and walked through the worst section, but when we were all across he was the cleanest. Jen won the contest for dirtiest.


The 100 to 150 ft of mud the Assistant County Assessor had predicted. Doug, Steve, & Jen. Photo by Scott.

It wasn’t many feet of climbing to the ridge top, and we never reached an elevation high enough for all the down trees. Views from the top were great, but soon we were confused. There were a spider web of roads going down. We selected what seemed the road most traveled, but soon it wasn’t so well traveled. Jen prayed for signs of civilization and soon two ATV’s showed up with three pleasant but non-local riders. They recommended a route down that would end at a private fence. We found a hand painted sign that read “Zion”, but it was very steep, and we decided to follow the advice of the ATVer’s. That road may have been steeper. We had to push down parts which reminded me of Crystal Creek that leads from North of Winchester into Mission Creek; rocky with wash outs- not really suitable for loaded touring bikes, so we pushed down sections. We were almost relieved when we saw the private property sign on the dilapidated gate an old dog could have jumped. Scott’s GPS finally picked up a signal that showed we were about 4 miles off AC’s route. The road was little used but discernible though no more than a cow trail. Soon we reached another fence- no gate- and no discernible trail- not even a cow trail as we crossed it and continued down hill trying to avoid the marsh like bottom lands. This is an area Corrie would have hated, but unfortunately, he’s apparently sworn off traveling with this adventurous group! I was thinking about the tall grass and not running over rattlesnakes that I’d have never seen! The LT would have loved this day.


This is a route? Jen with Doug in the background. Photo by Scott

The marshy area to our left and the fences and hillside to our right kept us in a narrow area that soon led to an abandoned cattle camp. The hired men’s shack was obviously abandoned. The old cattleman’s house looked empty. We walked our bikes quickly pass, and within 1/4 mile heard the roar of a motor. A newer king cab pickup with Colorado plates was buried up to its frame in the mud. A pleasant young family watched as the father and a heavier man with Utah plates on his pickup worked at pulling out the larger pickup. We apologized profusely for crossing the private land. The CO couple said it was OK, but the guy with UT plates seemed grumpy about it. We took no photos and hurried off though once their ordeal was over, they might have enjoyed a photo e-mailed to them.

The road soon became solid and led to a fence- clearly marked “No trespassing” from the other side. We were relieved to be back on public roads, and soon on route. When I look at the AC maps from the comfort of my home easy chair, I think I see how we got lost! Back on route as we crossed the E fork of the Virgin River, it was 5:00 p.m. Seeing a nice patch of flat green grass near the pleasant river, where I could have swum and we could have filtered water, I asked about camping. “We have only 10 miles to reach a hot shower” was Scott’s reply. I was pleasantly tired, and 5:00 is a great time to end a day’s travel especially when going to a non-developed camp, but I was sure I could handle 10 more miles no matter how many ridges it crossed. It crossed a lot of ridges, and, Scott, it was alot farther than 10 miles! This was my day to tire out first. It seemed we’d never quit crossing ridges, up and down. At 8:15 or so Doug started talking nightfall. We’re within 3 weeks of mid-summer’s day, so we had another hour, but I was tired, and was the last member of the pack to make it up each ridge, but the others also said they were tired. Somehow, we'd forgotten to eat lunch which, doubtless, made for more tiredness. When we reached Highway 9, we were all ready to camp and hoping we wouldn’t have to set up camp, cook, and clean up in the dark! Just a couple miles down the road, there was a sign “Pizza”- not my idea of the perfect food to sleep on, but it beat cooking and clean up after dark! We’d arrived about 8:40 p.m. at an RV Park just outside the park. Dusk was ending by the time we’d eaten a great pizza (no salads or fruits available to go with it- only some high-fat cookies and candy bars that I refrained from), and the quick tent erectors had their tents up without the use of lights. A sound sleep awaited us all after a good hot shower.


2 Jun 11 46.1 miles 4:34 Riding Time
Campground outside of Zion to Hurricane, UT
I awoke still tired from the previous day’s events. The pizza parlour didn’t serve breakfast, so we had instant oatmeal. It was downhill into and through the park with some great scenery. The National Park doesn’t allow bicycles to ride through its tunnel, so we were reduced to hitch-hiking. They were painting cross walks at the tunnel’s entrance so stopped traffic which made our hitch-hiking somewhat easier with stopped vehicles to make our pleadings to. Jen soon found a ride with 3 elderly people in an SUV though she wasn’t too happy about crossing alone. That turned out to be a good choice as when we eventually found a ride from a park service truck, it barely held the other 3 of us. Having made it though the tunnel we’d met one of the ride’s non-cycling challenges.


Scott, Doug, and Jen in Zion's NP

The park offers some beautiful vistas from the seat of a bicycle. Soon we were through the park and in Rockville with a bike shop. As we started up the dirt hill out of town, Scott’s wheel wobbling became a problem. Jen threaten not to continue riding until he had taken care of it. One of his 32 spokes was pulling through the wheel. He loosened the problem spoke and tightened the adjacent spokes, gave the tent to Jen, and continued on. A new 36 spoke touring wheel is the likely fix that will be taken later. Soon we reached what the AC maps call “the worst hill you’ll ever see”. By the time Scott’s GPS showed an 18% grade we were all pushing.


With loaded touring bikes it may be the worst hill we'd ever seen

We rode by the turn off to “Gooseberry Mesa” which I had planned to visit before yesterday's travel tired me. AC’s info says of it, “In this region of striking beauty and startling contrast, you can ride world-class slickrock in places like Gooseberry Mesa”. I should have at least seen it!

The route into Hurricane is a bit odd. It looks like the county road AC's route had us on had been abandoned to a new golf course. We rode into the course, felt lost, and found highway 59 with all its truck traffic, but with a steep speedy down hill grade into Hurricane.

We arrived in Hurricane planning to camp, but found only an RV park only for RV’s and a Good Sam Campground that despite all it’s grass had no room for non-member drop-ins. They recommended a couple of campgrounds 10 miles off route, but 10 miles off route means 20 extra miles. We ended up at a Motel 8 for less than $50- an option I need to keep in mind when I’m wanting to camp and the campgrounds are either too expensive or full.

3 Jun 11 32.8 miles 3:10 Riding Time
Hurricane UT to St. George, UT
We had a quick “continental breakfast” of cereal and English muffins before leaving the hotel which was adequate for this day’s short ride through the high desert. We were in St. George by noon. Doug had pleasant memories of the “Bear Paw” café we enjoyed on the way out of town, so we returned there for the final meal of the trip.

Summary: This is a great route that Adventure Cycling recommends for the fall. Every ride works well in early summer 3 weeks from Midsummer’s Day with all this light and little heat. The heavy snows forced us to divert onto more busy highways than we would have liked and probably caused our getting lost. Our route totaled 276 miles verses AC published route of 287. Keep in mind the early summer snow pack, but otherwise the route works in early summer. Getting water for our filters would have been no problem.

Check out Doug’s blog. He’s a great photographer, and his blog takes the opposite approach of mine- it’s mostly photos with a few descriptions.

A Mile of Climbing

With this as our last training ride before next week's Utah Cliffs we decided on an endurance ride into the snow covered mountains working more on strength than a century on the relative flat would provide. Since the LT's first century, he has been out-riding me, so I let him decide though Bogus is still obviously snow covered. Ever since our first adventure of a couple years ago which took us over Aldape Summit, I'd wanted to ride to Aldape Summit and catch a ridge road that would take us to Bogus. He suggested that same ride but in reverse, so we wouldn't have to descend the paved Bogus Basin road. "In reverse" makes finding the route more difficult; there's a spider web of unmarked roads leading off the top of Bogus which I didn't think I could navigate, but pilots have excellent map reading skills, and the LT had carefully printed the maps, so I agreed.

As we neared the top, we had a brief discussion about turning right, but the map reader decided the details were wrong, so we continued on. In about a mile we turned around- back to that dirt road which had been plowed but didn't quite match the map. For the rest of the ascent we'd be on mostly dry dirt despite about 2 feet of snow everywhere else. The LT had a flat, and as he changed it, I ate lunch as he warned we had some 800 feet more to climb. I did feel that lunch in my tummy in the next 800 ft climb. We hoped to find our turn off back to Aldape Summit before reaching the top at Doe Point, but that's where our turn out was - snow covered and unplowed. With 2 to 3 feet of snow covering our planned route and unsure how far we'd have to push down through the snow, we reversed course. We'd climbed about 4000 feet. That would be adequate, and our planned route was all downhill from here.


,

The LT Descends from Deer Point on the plowed road

The LT still didn't want to descent on the pavement, so those pilot eyes of his caught an unmarked jeep road that descended in our general direction. "You can see the trail there at the bottom of the canyon, it has to lead back to Boise" the LT assured me as we discussed following this obvious shortcut back to Boise. Sure enough, it was a great trail that wound steeply down through the forest with a few short sand traps, some wash outs to make it more interesting, and with no problem rocks- my favorite kind of trail. We were at the canyon's bottom ready to descend trails back to Boise when we started climbing, climbing, and more climbing that required granny 2 or 3 and that occasionally forced a shift to granny 1. Uhm, despite the pilot's map reading skills we'd now climbed over 5,000 feet! "Well, maybe we'll get in our first climb of over a mile" the LT observed. "I guess that's a meaningful goal" I replied, but my legs were still beginning to burn as the LT hoped to get me to climb another 280 feet. At least I'd brought plenty of food. It was time for a snickers.



The LT in front of the Boise Valley just before we'd climbed back to Bogus Basin Road

There was another fork in the road just where the above photo was taken. "Maybe that's the route that takes us back to Boise", the LT observed. He may be right, and I suspect we'll return to that trail later this year to explore, but I had a 6:00 dinner appointment and someone may have been getting too tired for exploration. The descent on Bogus Basin Rd has a couple of climbs at the bottom that brought us to 5351 feet of climbing in about 42 miles of riding. We'll save that exploration for Chief Winn, SGT Bullard and SGT Schumacher, who need to work on their hill climbing abilities.




The LT's altimeter shows 5,351 feet of climbing for the day

First Century for the LT

I'd written the perfect training plan for the LT with 45/50 mile evening rides plus longer weeekend rides so LT Klein would be ready for his first century before we leave for Utah Cliffs later this month. Two problems ruined the plan; April and May weather have so far been like a long continuation of March- wind, rain, or both most days, and the LT has allowed his work to disrupt my training plan for him!

Despite the weather issues, we'd worked our way up to 56 miles last Saturday as we rode to "Pearl" a defunct ghost town which even the ghost has left- only a couple of mine shafts remain of this old mining town. Getting there involves climbing on dirt roads which I believe the LT's altimeter showed 4,000 ft of climbing, so with that success I thought he'd be ready for 75 to 80 miles on the pavement this Saturday as we revised our weekend to eliminate the weekend outing in the Owyhee Mountains due to more bad weather. The revised plan was, he'd meet me about 10 miles from the city center giving him about 80 miles and me just over a century. We'd bring rain gear and tolerate the predicted drizzle. As we were making final plans to meet, he announced the planning was too complicated; he'd start from his home. Well, that would be a ride of about 92 or 93 miles which was just beyond what I thought his training supported. I don't like to set guys up for failure- regardless of what Corrie may say- they might not ride with me again, huh Corrie? But neither do I like to limit their adventures, so with a weather forecast of drizzle throughout the day with breezes of 2 or 3 MPH, we headed out on the wet pavement thankful for our fenders! I threw out the idea that if he made it to the finish he might want to do his first century, and if his odometer showed he'd crossed the 100.0 mile mark, I'd buy dinner.

Within an hour the pavement was dry, and the predicted 2 or 3 MPH winds had grown to steady 10 to 15 MPH winds- consistently in our faces no matter what direction we turned as we headed generally Northwest. At the old country store of Letha, we turn to ride generally southeast. In a rare act of weather justice, the winds were now at our tail no matter how we turned on the return to Boise. The sun was out most of the time, and the predicted drizzle didn't happen. I thought climbing Old Freezeout Grade at about mile 60 might zap the LT's strength, but I was wrong. We sped down the other side with our friendly trailwind and bright sunshine.

I hadn't noticed the LT tiring, but when we reached the city, at about mile 85 the LT wanted to finish on the "flat" bike path which follows the river rather than Hill Rd which has a couple small rises in it that he was now calling hills. The trees along the river reduced the benefit of the tailwind, and the LT temporarily allowed his speed to drop into the single digits until I complained- we'd set 10 MPH as the minimum speed for the finish although the LT may say I set that minimum speed! A small detour up onto the Bench and a ride on up to Broadway Bridge before the return to the LT's apt brought his total to 100.2 miles- we took the photo in a more scenic spot just before reaching his apt. Oh, dinner on me was at the Outback Steak House.

Scott & Doug, I submit that the LT is ready for an adventure on the Utah Cliffs!

LT Klein Finishes his First Century

Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation

Steve

The Young are Tough

SGT Bullard surprised me crawling out of his Jeep wearing his fashionably long baggy shorts, no socks, and some high-tech version of a sweatshirt. He had a skullcap, but nothing over his face. The forecast night low was in the upper teens which had sent me from work to home for my balaclava, a 2nd pair of socks, and my lobster gloves, but the young are tough. I'd failed to note that his full fingered gloves were the lightest kind- like I enjoy riding in the mid-40's. At 1800 the sun was still brightly shining as I asked him if he really wanted to go in that get-up. He assured me "yes", so we took off riding the trails that were never muddy- the mud and therefore the trails were firmly frozen. I thought we'd stick to the lower foothills close-by, so when he got cold, we could return early, but all my bicycling friends know my ego doesn't allow me to be the one to say "that's too far or too difficult" though it seems to have no problem with "that's too fast".

When we crossed Sunset Peak Rd, I asked the SGT if he wanted to turn around because of the cold. "No way" was the response. I think to further impress me that we weren't turning around, we turned up Lower Hulls Gulch- a rockier route than I like to descend. Ascending it is OK, but it would be a significant winter's night ride, maybe my longest- but the MiNewt 250 could handle it. Shortly we reached the only turn off, the SGT's better sense kicked in, and we followed it, turning to climb steeply. About 1800 on the dark side of this hill, I turned on my light; the SGT waited a few minutes until he hit a hole before turning his on. We both appreciate the growing daylight!

For all the grumbling about cycles tearing up muddy trails I saw no hint of that. Pedestrians, however, have trampled what felt like sheep or goat hoof prints all over making the steep frozen trials nearly unrideable. If you've ever ridden over trails where horse hoof prints were left in muddy clay trails that then dried, you know what it was like though the pedestrian hoofs don't carry quite so much weight and aren't as deep- meaning they may flatten easier this spring, but for now they're just as rough with their sharp icy edges. Daytime cyclists have smoothed out the every edge- about 3" wide- of the trail on the steep sidehill, but that rideable strip was too narrow for me at night, so I ended up pushing in a couple spots. The cold SGT has more technical skills than I and a full suspension bike, so he rode right up, but this left him momentarily waiting for me at the top where I think he decided he was cold though the tough don't easily admit that.

The descent on The Freeway was smooth and fast. Then there was more smooth down hill on Introduction to Mountain Biking. My sweatpants weren't keeping my legs as warm as I might like. How were the SGT's bare legs? When we stopped back at Sunset Park Rd to discuss route, it was his hands he was complaining about. Do the tough complain? I suggested going up one little hill that might help warm him, but he found the value of that climb questionable. I suspect there's one soldier, though though he be, who will wear more clothes on the next night ride, a night ride that will have noticeably more minutes of light in it!

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!

Steve

Less Than A Century and a First Snowshoeing

Having missed "Corrie's Challenge" (a century each calendar month) last year, I was eager to get back on track to meet the challenge in 2011. Not having ridden a century since 10 Oct and with a total of 41 road miles in Nov and -0- in Dec my confidence in my ability to complete one was suffering, but the weather forecast was finally positive- sunny with high's in the mid 40's.

A light fog and 38 degrees were a bit disappointing as I rode off at 0800, but it was above freezing and I was counting on that mid 40's high. The fog got thicker as I dropped to downtown. With about 10 miles of city riding in, I thought I was on track to meet the LT out in Middleton at 1030. I leaned into E. Hill Rd turn off Castle Dr and turned, the bike continued straight, fish-tailing, and wobbling. I thought I'd go down on ice at about 12 MPH in the middle of a significant intersection, but decided to try straightening out the wheel, ending the lean, and darting between two cars stopped at the stop sign. If that sounds like I had the situation under control, it's a poor description. Fortunately, the maneuver worked- but it was not classy maneuver. My fear slowed me down as I moved toward Middleton. I pushed the bike up the steep hill into Dry Creek Cemetery when I felt the first useless spin of the wheel. My eyes continued to study every passing puddle for water or ice, and I could not force myself to speed even on the flattest spots.

I arrived in Middleton about 15 minutes late to see the LT standing beside the Bianchi in the fog awaiting my late arrival. He said the morning forecast predicted the fog would lift shortly, and he thought we should proceed with his first road bike ride. There was no more spinning or visible ice, so my confidence began to build. The fog made the climb into the Emmett Valley imperceptible, so I'm sure the LT didn't know he was climbing. We took the customary break at the Leatha Country Store, and rode on to Emmett for lunch. I believe for the first time ever I looked forward to "Old Freezeout" Grade- a chance to warm up. I told the LT it was only about 1/4 mile away. At one mile he began to question my knowlege of the topography- as we still couldn't see the hills. Ah, there it was, and the climb warmed us both. At the very peak we escaped the fog. Since the LT doesn't care for riding in traffic, I was a bit concerned about the next section- 4 or 5 miles on highway 16. Fortunately, he had no problem with the moderate traffic on a 4 ft shoulder. Then it was back to rural paved roads and the fog. He said he was tired at mile 46, but I think there were more miles in him. I was a bit concerned about getting in after dark, still afraid of ice, and a bit tired, so I loaded my bike into his pickup with 81 miles for the day. Corrie, maybe next weekend I can get that January century.

The LT's Recreation
We'd planned for snow shoeing for Monday. I know the LT loves mountain climbing, so I should have known we'd be climbing something instead of snowshoeing down some pleasant forest lane. The route he'd shown me showed climbing a ridge from the highway above Idaho City. Unfortunately, the snow was piled high on both sides of the highway where we wanted to park, so we drove on just a bit. Rather than hike back down the highway to the ridge, we decided to climb the hillside. I thought I was on some awful exercise machine that forced me to raise one foot as high as I could, pull myself up, and repeat the process with the other foot. After we climbed about 200 ft, we met the ridge, and the climb became more moderate - and fun. We climbed 2,800 ft in 1.9 miles where the ridge looked a little dangerous- deep snowed drifted on a narrow ridge. We climbed one last obstacle, the LT fell into a hole, and we decided to have lunch and turn around.

The LT climbs the last obstacle


Steve climbs the final obstacle

Is this the ledge my friends advised me to avoid?

Is it lunch time yet?

Lunch at the top

It begins to snow on the descent

The descent was fun and quick as long as we were on the ridge. A storm moved in briefly, but the only real obstacle was the bottom section after we left the ridge. I think my legs are tired from the long steps down!

Year to Date Mileage: 23 After This Night Ride

Nov and Dec's snowfalls have held down my bicycling to only 72 miles in December and -0- in January. On the positive side the snow is nearly all gone; LT Klein and Chief Winn are both back in Idaho; SGT's Bullard & Schumacher are finally complaining about the lack of winter exercise; and we had finally had a forecast high for above freezing daytime temps for the first time in 2011. I thought the planets had lined up for a perfect 5 Jan night ride.

LT Klein, SGT Schumacher, & I met at Ann Morrison Park and headed up the bike path with the temperature at 30 degrees. They each had small LED pixel lights that provided a small bright spot on the road- just a little better than a 2.4 watt halogen lights of yesteryear. Of course, if we stayed close together, they could use the light from the MiNewt 250. We all wanted a decent workout, so we turned to ride up E. Shaw Mountain Road to the end of its pavement. Before we reached the top the SGT, who generally loves a good hard workout, was complaining about what?- steepness and tiredness? We descended to the fork in the road where we might have gone to Table Rock and where I suggested we also climb Table Rock. The SGT wasn't as enthused as I'd expect, but I was sure it wasn't much more than 2 miles of gradual climb, and he never declines a challenge. The SGT grew up near Table Rock and knows it, but I, who've never been there, thought it was his imagined tiredness that made him exaggerate the distance and climb. In retrospect, he didn't. The climb didn't require use of granny, but there were no lower gears available on my 2nd sprocket. Where the pavement ends at a gate, we went over the gate. Most of our riding had been on the South side of the mountain, but we were now on the back side of Tablerock- the north side where snow and ice were. Soon I noticed the spinning of the wheel on the ice pack and and was thinking it was fun and a bit challenging to control the bike, but the SGT soon mentioned we'd have to ride down. How did we miss the glare of the ice that would make excellent sledding but not so good cycling down? We ditched our bikes in the sagebrush and hiked the ½ mile to the top. The descent on the ice would have been treacherous on a bike.

Although the SGT had the weakest headlamp, once we reached the pavement, he decided to bring his average speed up by speeding down the hill leaving the LT and me behind. I don't know what he could have seen at those speeds with that little light, but he made it down in one piece. It was a long descent which made me cold after the sweating of the uphill. It was only a couple of miles back to Ann Morrison, near where the LT lives. I was eager to get warm, so I went in for a hot chocolate and to hold the warm cat in my cold hands. With the temperature now at 20, it was up a couple moderate hills which kept me warm before reaching home with 23.3 miles and riding time of 2:53.

The LT and SGT are both eager to go again. I’m envious of my Lewiston friends who can plan weekly Wed night rides a year in advance and have to skip maybe 1 in 4 rides because of weather. Weather will likely make us skip 3 of 4 planned rides, but I’m looking forward to more night rides here in the cold of the South of Idaho!

Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!

Steve