Had a good tough weekend on the bike... Saturday was 65 miles up and back, 4800' vertical to the top of McKenzie Pass here in central Oregon, riding from the west side. Being new to Oregon, its fun to get on some of these scenic bike roads. I haven't loaded details from my Garmin, but I pushed pretty hard even knowing Sunday was to be another climb. The pass is still closed to vehicle traffic, so only cyclists on the way up. At the top, this year, there is no snow. Common for there to be six foot walls of snow flanking the road this time of year, but we were able to see the full lava beds exposed. Very cool place.
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Sunday's ride was on the
Aufderheide Scenic Byway (). We rode this from the northern end at the McKenzie river to the summit at Box Canyon. Another 3200' vertical in 28 miles, for a 56 mile day. These two days will be good training for the upcoming 'Ride the Hurricane' climb in Olympic National Park (August). At the summit is a nice stand of old growth forest and spotted owl (!) habitat. The summit pitch of the last 4 miles averages about 8% grade.
A new gal joined our group for the rides. Attractive, petite gal who was a very strong rider. I had put a little distance on her headed into the summit pitch as I had to take a quick trip to the head in the campground just before the road really ramps up. She got ahead of me and kept me in the hurt locker as I worked my ass off to catch her before the summit. Always fun to ride with a woman who has skills on the bike. She could really descend as well. Sadly my wife didn't join this weekend, I love riding with her. But she's not much for fast descents. Saturdays descent was epic, not too steep but very curvy, some curves changes coming faster than I could shift my weight to setup for the apex, but mostly just feathering the brakes here and there, with the occasional "holy ****" moments. Sunday's descent not quite as spectacular as Saturday, but a welcome reward after the climb.