Wrap up part 2: sweet bike, yo!

Well, last week we finally got out to do the ride for which I'd been hankering for so many weeks: Skaggs-Tin Barn-King Ridge-back through Occidental. Not bad mileage-wise, as it was only about 115 by the computer on G's bike, but there were a few hills, and a spot of heat to make it a little more full-figured, as it were. One thing that I would like to note about this ride of which I have heard nary a squeak, is the richness of its descents. So now a note has been made, and I'll even go so far as to hazard a wee description of the experience (which might go something like this): your tires and those pesky crosswinds are the only things that might hold you back on those lovely sweepers, some tighter than others, some coming in quick oscillating succession, but all just fine. Even nice!
So apart from descents that beat all–one of which just seems to go on and on–there were hills, which also had a tendency to go on a bit, and a summer camp that had fine-tasting water. Overall, this was a route that I would heartily recommend to anyone looking to ride for a good portion of the day with a fair bit of elevation gain (a friend who measures these things says he figures the ride should have about 10k feet of such). It's also pretty nice just to feel like you're so far out there sometimes (though for some of us, that's just the status quo), and this ride definitely has got a bit of that feeling. I do think that in the future I might route it so that I wasn't going east on King Ridge, just because the roads are better going the other way, in my book at least. I'll see if I can get a link to work to a google map of something pretty close which just excludes the bits that are on the bike trail. One note about the photos: that blackberry is like none I've ever seen: jagged leaves, large seeds, low acid, firmer fruit, and very nice!


View Larger Map