byhsu

What is the name of the trail you were on? That bridge your bike is on looks nice.

RALEIGH_COMP 

I think peters canyon, and san diego creek trails. also the upper Newport Back bay loop

RALEIGH_COMP 

Started at sand canyon (upper right corner of the loop)

byhsu

Nice, I'll have to check it out next time.

northbend 

My wife and I just returned from a few days in central Washington at Lake Chelan.

I've posted about this place before. It is truly Gods country and perfect for cycling.
We rode the Manson Loop on Monday. About 30 miles, 2400 Ft of climbing this was really big challenge for my wife. The biggest chunk of climbing starts right out of the gate, maybe 2 miles from the start. A stiff 4 mile climb up from the lake.

Once Robin got over the initial shock of the effort, she settled in and rode up in fine fashion, enjoying herself (whew!)

Once you gain the elevation the fun begins with a series of swooping descents through Orchards and Vineyards


We passed by Wapito Lake as we approached the backside of Manson, Robin clearly having a good time.

We had lunch in Manson. The locally brewed IPA was pretty good.

The winds picked up a bit in the afternoon. I lead the way back to Chelan, my wife regulating the pace from behind telling me when to back off the speed.. Guess that makes me a remote control husband. Anyways, we got back to Chelan and laid around the in the grass in the park by the lake for a while and basked in the glory of it all. It was a really nice day.

If you ever get the chance to visit Washington. Put Chelan on your list of places to see and ride. Great routes, restaurants, wine and weather!

northbend 

This morning, I made breakfast for my wife then while she got around leisurely, I struck out for one of my favorite climbs in Washington State: McNeil Canyon.
Riding out of Chelan, you drop down to the Columbia River, cross over on the Bybee Bridge and begin your ascent. Washington DOT serves up this warning:

There is little shade on this climb. Lucky for me it was early, mid 60's maybe 70 when I started up and no wind.

There is really not much to see on the top - kinda anticlimactic.

You do this climb just because it's there..well, not really. The Descent kicks ass as long as you're in luck with the winds which I was today. Really really fun.
You get back down to the river, cross the bridge and climb back up to Chelan on that road cutting across the hillside in the background

I got back to the condo just as my wife was all packed up n ready to go home. I changed in the parking garage and off we went...

gaucho777 

^Great pics, northbend!

WNG

NB, that opening shot is breathtaking. It's great that the two of you had such a wonderful time, climbs and all.

EBH

From y'day evening through a little town and more

jimmuller 

More great cycling pics from nb and EBH! Thanks, guys.

northbend 

Thanks for the compliments guys. We're in a stretch of good weather here. Today it'supposed to hit 80° good times!
EBH cool photo with the swan..

JJScaliger

I agree, awesome pictures guys!

jimmuller 

On a note related to actually riding... Northbend, how do you handle a hill like that 5-mile 12% grade? I assume you run it all in your lowest gear, so what would that be? Do you stop and rest very often? If I were doing one of those I wouldd have to stop every so often to eat something!

The longest continuous climb I've ever done is Cadillac Mt. in ANP, 1000ft in 3 miles, avg grade about 6.3% but with occasional pitches much steeper. I've done that 4 or 5 times, on 4 different bikes. Hats off to you for that McNeil Pass climb.

What elevation does that climb start, I wonder? 5 miles of 12% means climbing 3168ft, and the final elevation in that sign is only 3100! Either you started below sea level or the whole grade really isn't 12%.

northbend 

Hi Jim - yes, you have mathematically proven WDOT to inflate their numbers though i can tell you it is not an easy climb. There are two stretches where it eases a bit but it makes up for this in the last mile where it increasingly gets steeper. I ride it in my granny (36x28 on most of my bikes). On the Singer i rode in tennies which make you rely more on ankling than power. I much rather climb with clipless set up with proper stiff soled shoes. I climb usually without stopping. I like this hill for it's constant grade wich puts the screws on you at the top. Its a really safe fast descent if the winds are calm. I've had some experience with big climbs. Paia to Haleakala (10,000ft) and Hurricane Ridge (5200 ft) are much bigger but this ones still a favorite

Roger M

Nice photos, Northbend and EBH. Nice work on Mcneil Pass, Matt.

I rode out to Startup and back today. Awesome weather for this week. I rode a modernish carbon bike that my older brother passed along to me several years ago. I've only ridden that bike a handful of times since getting it, but it is a great riding bicycle.

jimmuller 

You have definitely done some climbing, no question! I doff my hat to you, sir.

Thanks for the McNeil explanation. I was trying to get a comparison to what I know. I looked that road up on DeLorme Topo NA. From the Columbia River it looks like a total climb of over 2300 ft with an average grade of 7%. Some stretches definitely reported as up in the high teens, though you can't trust single data points but so well. From these numbers I'd say, yeah, that a tough climb.

The Cadillac Mt road is only 3 miles for a total climb of about 1000ft, also reported as 7% avg with sections reporting in the high teens. So they are comparably steep but you have much more of it!

scozim 

In Spokane WA for work again today through Friday. Skipped the group dinner tonight to get in a ride on the rolling hills. Beats the false flats and head winds back home. Photos aren't near the quality of Northbend, Roger M, EBH and others. I lived here from 1995 to 2000 and rode these back roads a lot so it's nice to come back.

Dishman-Mica Rd



A fun climb is just through the tunnel - 9-10 mph means I need to get in better climbing shape



The roads finally open up to the northern Palouse farm country





Loved all the barns at this place:

seedsbelize 

The rainy season came in like a lion last evening, cancelling our projected ride, and leaving in its wake heavily overcast skies, no wind, and 110% humidity. So we went out early this morning (labor day here), and stayed out too long, because it never really got too hot to ride. The first indication that we'd been out too long came after we'd split up and I was heading home on my own, across the city. I came to a particular intersection much more quickly than I had any right to, and within a couple hundred meters more, it was clear that I had to get off the road and eat something. The immensely fascinating bonk. A few years ago, while riding a solo century, I was tipped off as I entered a village that I was certain I'd already passed through.



File Photos

northbend 

These are the good days of bike commuting. The mornings are cool the ride home hot..the mid 80s. Unusual for the Seattle area. Here is sunrise over the Cascades this morning as I began the climb up to the Sammamish Plateau.

Lascauxcaveman 

Pffft! Hurricane Ridge is for wimps.

Just kidding. It kicks my ass every time I do it, and since I live literally in its shadow, I do it three or four times a year, even if it kills me. (It does.)

But as we locals say, "The first part is the worst part," that is, referring to the climb to Heart o' the Hills, from sea level to about 2000 ft in ~ 5 miles. The next 3200 ft gain is spread out over a leisurely 12 miles, so as long as you have plenty of food and water (and time) it's really not that stressful.

Yesterday I did the Heart o' the Hills climb for the first time this year in prep for our annual Metric Century Ride this weekend, which I'm quite very sure all you PNW C&Vers will join in on (except RogerM, whose kid has little league, so he gets a pass). I tried to do this ride at least four times this spring, being turned back by rainfall each time. But yesterday everything stayed warm and dry and here are some pix:

This is at about 1700ft, after all the hard climbing is done, but still in the foothills. Nevertheless, the snow-capped peaks towering o'er the land make a worthy backdrop for a photo op.


Lake Dawn is an idyllic sub-alpine puddle at the Heart o' the Hills where I remember learning to ice skate as a kid on hard-frozen nights in the mid-1970's. Bonfires on the beach, hot cocoa in stainless steel thermoses, teenage girls doing figure 8's, etc. - pure magic. Global warming (which is not a hoax, if you ask me, and any climatologists who have not been in a coma for the past 25 years) has put the kibosh on that lately, and over the last 20 years or so, we've seen little better than skim ice on this pond in the deeps of winter. (Sorry if that was too "political.") Still, it is a pretty sight at the end of a decent climb on an unuseasonably warm spring day, with the cattails and the ducks, etc.


This is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from one of my favorite trailheads; Heart o' the Hills to Hurricane Ridge. Here's your all-time great hike/bike experience: drive up to Hurricane Ridge early on an August morn, lock your bikes up in the bike rack there, drive down to this trailhead at Heart o' the Hills, spend the day hiking back up to Hurricane Ridge, then ride your bikes back down to this trailhead. Go back into town and have a huge steak dinner as at the sun goes down. You will never forget this day, guaranteed.


Yesterday I didn't have time to do that, as I was riding after work (and anyway the trail to Hurricane ridge is still 5 feet deep in snow once you get about 4000 feet or so). So I just turned around and took the super-secret back road back into town, known only by elderly locals.


See you all this weekend!

jimmuller 

Caveman, nice report and pics! Every bit of it.

northbend 

Caveman, your ride on Saturday is very tempting but i've got sn eye on the weather and it's looking to be moist(sigh..) ima 'maybe' for joing up with you

jimmuller 

That sounds like a piece of heaven.

Lascauxcaveman 

Yeah, over the last three days the chance of showers has be upgraded from 30% to 40% to 70% Looks like I'll be riding my fendered bike even though the tires (28m) are not great for the gravel sections.

One nice thing about this ride, there are good places to hunker down with food and drink along the way, if you want to try and wait out the showers. And plenty of opportunities to just bail out and ride back into town.

WNG

Wonderful images from the PNW, thanks everyone!