An Oct Weekend with TRC

Wednesday Night Ride:  Lewiston Loop 28.5 Miles 2:41 Riding Time

Doug met me right at 6:00 to begin the night ride, but I wanted to meet Bill Arnold, so I lost my keys in my car's bike rack delaying the start by 10 minutes.  Bill Arnold rode by just as we were leaving and accompanied us to Hell's Gate where we met Sean, and Bill headed for home.  Sean and Doug both like climbing Volmer Rd, and I had the 29er, which makes me not object to gravel, so we climbed it.  Lights weren't really needed until we got to the top, but it was warm enough to be in shorts and T shirt.  Sean invited us by his house.  Doug headed home on the shortest route, and I joined him and Carol.  From there I decided finishing the Lewiston Loop was my preferred option.  Sliding down Lindsay Creek Rd with a 1200 and a 650 lumen light with no traffic is a lot of fun.  I miss the warm nights of Lewiston and the night riding it offers!

Mission Creek 32.5 Miles 3,839 ft of gain  4:49 Riding Time

Bill had suggested one of his favorite rides,  Mission Creek for Friday.  It's one of my favorite mountain bike rides too, so I was glad for the suggestion.  Sean and Doug both advised there were some wash outs just after the 2nd creek crossing  that may change my opinion.  They weren't sure how much distance the wash outs covered, so I was looking to determine what had happened to one of my favorite rides.  The morning was cool and fog caught in places, but it wasn't long until I was in shorts and T shirt though Bill kept his tights and arm warmers throughout the day.   We left from Jacque's Spur which meant a couple miles of smooth blacktop and some gravel, before the mountain bike section begins at the the quarry.  It's a fairly easy jeep trail through the timber until the first creek crossing, which is easy in the fall.  Ask Mike Riddle about it in the spring where he found it's deep enough to submerge a prone rider who falls over demonstrating "how it's done".  No, Mike, I'll never forget that one or tire of telling people the story!

The 2nd creek crossing is usually hopping from boulder to boulder while carrying your bike in an area that keeps 4 wheelers from crossing, but in the low water of Oct, we found a place where we could step from rock to rock pushing our bikes through the creek and where 4 wheelers or even jeeps could cross this time of year.  It's here that the ride becomes steep, and it's here that Doug and Sean had forewarned us of the wash out.  With their warning, I measured this section at 0.3 miles.  It's steep enough and with enough rocks to be challenging before the wash out happened.  I would have thought riders with their strength and technical skills could still ride it.  I rode maybe a 25% of it.  The gullies are hard to avoid when one is grasping for breath, but I think avoiding them would be easy if one weren't gasping for air as I was.

Bill reaching the top of the 0.3 mile section.  Is that determination on the face, a sign of exertion, or both?  

The wash out shown above is typical of this section- not so deep but a bit difficult to navigate given the steepness of the trail.

Bill above the steep section- a typical view of the Mission Creek Trail

Bill started losing tire pressure but thought pumping it up might work.  In Winchester he got a free full fill up at the Gateway, and we had lunch in the cafe and decided to return via Crystal Creek- a steep rather technical trail that is the only significant contributory to Mission Creek flowing in North of Winchester.  Although the day was beautiful and warm by this time, everything was soaking wet especially in Crystal Creek canyon where the sun doesn't shine this time of year. 

Bill pumping his tire just before Crystal Creek become steep

That made the decomposed granite, where several TRC members have crashed in the past, sticky and easier to ride than I've ever seen it.  There are two apparent turn offs to the left.  We take the 2nd one, but I forgot that, so we made a small diversion to check out other mountain trails.  Back on Crystal Creek, we found some real erosion- the trail suddenly loses 5 to 6 ft of itself creating a hole that Bill discovered and warned me. 

Looking at Bill in the big wash out- it's deeper than it looks here

Steve starting to descend into the hole- it's still deeper & steeper than it looks

This washed out section is only 20 to 30 feet long- but be warned of it on your next ride.  Bill changed his tube at the junction of Crystal and Mission Creeks.  I'd thought about bringing my lights just in case of problems, and after the upper Crystal Creek exploration and the pump ups knew I'd erred in not bring one..  A half hour isn't much time until you're out half an hour on a dark trail.  However, the canyon depth had convinced us we were losing light faster than was actually happening!  We sped up, and of course Bill is willing to take the downhill faster than I.  Riding down the Mission Creek wash out section was no problem. We were back at the pickup just as the sun was setting.  A great ride.  Thanks, Bill, for the adventure!

Tekoa Re-Loop 60 miles 4:36 riding time
 Bill had just reminded me that being mountain bike "in shape" is not quite the same as being road bike "in shape" . I'd also given some thought to my not being on the road bike since July, and it's been much longer than that since I've subjected myself to the discipline of ridding in a pack of road riders- not that speed is ever my thing.  Then as we took of from Palouse my speedometer stopped which stopped me a couple of times.  Sean fell back with me and attempted to help, but I think it's internal wires rather than the usual misalignment of magnet and reader.  That put me in the tail, a position I held for the day. One of the other 7 riders would usually fall back and talk to me, so I was never alone or dropped.  We took a break in Farminginton- in the shade- unusual for the Palouse in Oct.  On to Tekoa for lunch, and back to Steptoe where we had members of a motorcyle gang photo us. Carol did a post church ride- meeting us in Garfield and riding back to Palouse with the group, but she missed being in the group photos.

Linda, Denise, Marilyn, Sean, Corrie, Doug, Jen, & Steve in Steptoe- where nothing is ever opened on a Sunday

Members of the motorcycle gang wanted to join us for the next photo!

It was good to be back with old friends for the long weekend we retireds may enjoy.  Thanks TRC for a great weekend!

Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation


Steve