Since we didn't get enough cycling in this month in Oregon, we did another event today: the
Jeremiah Bishop Alpine Loop Gran Fondo. Truth be told, we signed up for today's event before the Oregon trip was planned. We did the 78 mile route, which had 7,148 feet of climbing - twice the elevation gain of any day on the Oregon ride. I had a really good ride. The hills were good and challenging, but not impossible. The reward for the first ascent was a descent on a wide, newly paved sinuous road that descended at 9% for
miles. There's nothing like hitting 40 miles per hour on a hill like that. I probably could have gone faster, but not knowing the road kept me on the brakes a little more than if it had been a place I was familiar with.
The second big descent was character building. There's also nothing like climbing as hard as you can and realizing that you could probably walk up the hill faster (but not in your road cycling shoes). On the other hand, the road wound its way up through a beautiful forest and the leaves are just starting to change. Not a bad place to work hard.
I only took a few pictures on this ride:
The summit sign at the top of the first climb. It really is at that angle.
The first touch of fall colors on the second climb which took us up to Reddish Knob.
Michael climbing higher up on the way to Reddish Knob.
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