wild animals

When I routed this, before I saved it, it said there were 11% grades in some places So I'm going to plan for 11% grades, but they may not really be there.

This is a route from Scappoose to Scaponia Rec Site. It's about 17 miles long, and hopefully someone would come get me at the end I don't think I'd want to ride back.

Do you think I'd die? I am just a regular person. I haven't been riding all that much this year, but I am kind of a jerk about finishing things I've started, which would help.

I guess what I'm asking is, if you looked at that, would you say "Looks like fun!" or "There's no way"?

I think I'm going to try it anyway but I want to be prepared emotionally, heh.

CliftonGK1

2000' in around 10 miles? It's a hard, steady climb but not positively awful. If 11% is the worst it gets, then I wouldn't worry too much as long as you have the right gearing.

The mountain passes here can be about the same profile as this ride, but twice as long; 3500 - 4000' of gain over 20 - 25 miles.

Mr. Beanz

7 max for an average non climber. Gina (my wife) is not a climber and does GMR to the shack (2,200ft in 8 miles). Grey section looks a little steeper but pre section looks easier. Average of GMR is 6%. Plenty of rides have 11-12-14% grades but only for a few feet, but the average is really what matters. Max grades are deceiving on paper.

9 mile climb, that's what Gina does, somewhat of an effort but going to the 16 mile point of GMR/GRR is much tougher in her opinion (rate a 9). So being that short of a ride, 7 max. I wouldn't be surpised if you decide to ride back.

Gina has doen this climb about 7 times, and believe me, she is no climber!

To the 8 mile point (the shack)...6% average



Gina in blue, about 5 miles up


Gina about 7 miles up


Another ride, Gina about 6 miles up.


Gina really suffers the first 2 miles. Then she finds a groove then the effort on the body actually eases up. She hates me on the first two miles but loves me at the top for taking her up! Just be patient, get through the tough section, like I said, I bet you ride back too!

wild animals

Okay, thanks guys! That makes me feel better.

But the downer is, this is the flattest route in the area, and google streetview tells me that there is a GATE across the road! I thought the road ran out, when I looked into it before, but all the maps said it goes through. Unfortunately, if it does, access is controlled somehow. I'll have to go check it out or just try one of the nastier routes :/ But thanks to you guys, I have a better idea of what is realistic for someone who doesn't love to climb. I really want to kick it up a notch!

Wait! I could be wrong! I think streetview took a wrong turn. I'm going to have to go out and see what's going on.

wild animals

Beanz, that is RAD! What a beautiful place to ride. I love mountains--they're so blue and crisp and giant. But I might like them better if they were flat PS: That incline looks pretty gnarly. I don't know, man.

Mr. Beanz

GMR is sometimes closed to traffic with big steel gates. Cyclists still ride though.

Like I've sid so many times, we don't climb because they tell us we can't or shouldn't. Only thing we have to fear is fear itself (can't member where I heard that!). Form there, believe me, you will be scared on teh ride! But suffer and survive the tough section, the rest is easy!

The guy behind Gina and Grrly rida in the last pic, it was his first time up ( BF member Mad_One). He avoided the climb till one day, finally. Now he says he can't figure out why he was so scared.

I've taken up quite a few new climbers that didn't want to go alone. I have to say every one of them was shocked at how much easier it was than on paper!

Mr. Beanz

Another SoCal BF member (TomBunn) CLyde that I rode with to the shack. I won't lie, he had a hard time the first time but we think it was medication related. He made it to the 6 mile point the first time. then completed it the second time!

He's a happy camper now!

wild animals

Did they not want to ride it alone because of the climbing, or traffic, or bears, or...? I am mostly worried about the traffic and bears. I should check if my phone gets reception though You talked me into it--I am totally going to do it! Even if I can't get through, it is still a really beautiful area. It is supposed to get nicer so the roads won't be as wet which will help me feel safer. It's pretty rural, but the people who live in places like that go pretty fast because there are no cops and they "know the roads."

I think the gate is one of these:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tysasi/...7623801607343/
Logging road gate!

Neil_B

It looks like fun. Just do it!

Peter_C

Medication - hmmm...wonder if the 'beta blocker' I am on has anything to do with how bad on hills I am - or maybe I'm just too much a wimp??

Mr. Beanz

Believe it or not, it was heart meds, and maybe too many fluids too fast, and he dropped me at the start of the climb. Second time, we did it at a more sensible pace, and monitored intake etc. He completed it with a smile as you can see!

chipcom 

roughly 1500 feet over 4 miles?
Yeah, it's gonna feel real good...when you finally stop.

Mr. Beanz

Gates are like this (I can't find a pic of the GMR gates). This is a different road (Hwy39 to Crystal Lake). first gate was closed, this one open, but there aren't any cars at this point.


Some riders like to go with another that knows the road for first time guidance. The gal behind Gina in one of the pics is Grrlyrida. She and I trained together for a big mtn century called Ride Around the Bear. 100 miles with 10,000 ft. She and I rode together alot on this road. But we rode together cause the climb is 21 miles and she didn't want to be left alone in the middle, so we worked it out so that we were never really apart on the training rides over a span of a few months.

Mr. Beanz

More motivational pics!

Grrlyrida and I. Her first time up the 8 mile climb (2200 ft). The next ride up, she completed the 21 mile climb (42 roundtrip/ 5,000 ft of climbing)


Gina nd Grrlyrida on the descent


About 16 miles up. Alone on the ride so I had to take a pic of my own fat face!


Gina has made it up to this 16 mile point twice (once on a 100 degree day and she is certainly not a heat rider). If she can do this 16 mile climb, you can do the 9 miles posted above. I'd put 5 that you can make it back too!

JoeMetal

Man. That looks so beautiful. I really wish we had stuff like that around here. All we have are just big rollers; no constant climbs over miles.

CPFITNESS

it looks brutal going up, but boy thats gotta be one helluva fast ride going down!!!!

TrojanHorse

Hey Beanz, what size cassette/chainring gets you up and down GMR?

I put a new cassette on this year (I think it's a 12-26) so I can actually make it out my street without walking... couldn't do that on my 11-22. I'm sure my hill climbing difficulties are equipment related, I'm pretty positive about that.

Mr. Beanz

I've invited sooooooo may riders to jon me , if anything for the scenery but soooo many are scared of the climbs. I'm not sure why, not like they are going to reach out and slap ya!

If anything, you ride to check out the view. If you suffer too much, you roll back down. Most of the time at the bottom, you think, darn, I could have done more.

Mr. Beanz

Just about everything I do is equiv to the 39/25 on my Cannondale (bike I use on events). I also train with a triple but I dont touch the 3 lowest gears to avoid going lower than the 42 gear inch combo, so I don't get spolied.


This is my Cannondale (1998 CAD3) double 53-39/12-25 that I use on climbing events that range anywhere from 10,000-12,000 ft centuries.

TrojanHorse

Fine - be that way, I still think it's equipment related difficulties...

What's Gina using? Same basic thing? I need to equip my wife's bike next... She's probably going to be just as excited about hills as I am.

Thanks for the info.

Mr. Beanz

Gina uses a triple, Ultegra 10 speed. maybe a 30-27,......believe me, she uses all of them!

wild animals

Hey guys, I don't have time to answer all of your helpful posts individually right now because I'm going to go ride on that road! I won't get out to the park, because no one is here to come get me if I need it, but I'm going to check out that gate at least. I was going to go in my car first but I changed my mind. The gate is only 6 miles away!

Thanks everybody!

Mr. Beanz

That's right! Getting out there is 90% of the battle!

krazygl00

Don't worry too much. Go and try it...it probably won't be as bad as you think. From a purely psychological perspective, sometimes those long, steady climbs that gain a couple thousand feet are actually easier than that one awful climb that you dread on your usual daily ride.

There is a ride in GA called 3-Gap (~4000 feet of gain over about 35 miles) which is part of a longer ride called 6-Gap (10k feet / 100 miles). I had been riding for some time before I actually got around to riding 3-Gap on my own. I had ridden some of the nastier climbs in Atlanta already and when I did 3 Gap it was just different. You sort of settle into a slow grind of cranking it out, breathing, and suffering. But the suffering really isn't that bad. And when you're done the feeling is quite exhilarating.

wild animals

CPFITNESS, yeah!! ! Unfortunately, I think all the big climbing is on gravel. haha


Beanz, those photos are SO PRETTY and I am really jealous, even though I sort of hate climbing. I would climb all day to see those views! Plus, those beautiful waggly roads above look like they give you a good vantagepoint for traffic-watching.
I see what you mean about people wanting someone ride with them the first time. This thread is my version of that! I wasn't sure if it was realistic or not so I had to check with you guys first But, if I waited for someone to go with me, I'd never go anywhere. Plus I hate slowing people down or rushing them. I like to go my own erratic pace. It is more fun when you're with someone close to your ability, though.

So, I rode out there! It was drizzly when I started, but by a half-hour later it was pouring down. And I was ecstatic! I put my music player in a ziploc bag, in my bento box, and had that going, and the rain was patting on every surface, which sounded beautiful but really loud (and sort of like a creature crashing through the underbrush). The traffic wasn't awful but it was going too fast, and it didn't give me a lot of clearance. for the last 4 miles or so I don't think I saw a single car! I wish I could tell you how beautiful it is. It's a flat valley (we call it a canyon) filled with farms and creeks and giant trees that smell amazing. The further out you get, the narrower the road and the wilder the surroundings. There's a small river there and I kept hoping I would see a bear on the bank catching fish with its bare paws but that didn't pan out.

I really wish we had more through-roads to take cyclists to other towns or highways. Our through-roads are either totally rugged or high-speed, high-traffic types

Anyway, I didn't stop until I got to the dead end, and I rode through mud to get to the gate. It is right above the river, which has signage calling it a "fish habitat." The sign on the gate had been damaged, so it didn't tell me whether it was okay to go through or not, but my bike can't handle that kind of road, and after I got out of the mud, my brakes didn't work properly for the rest of the ride. heh

(photos from inside a foggy zip-loc bag)





Riding home was so cold and wet and slippery that it wasn't as fun as the way out, but I still had a stupid grin on my face the whole time. Until I got home and had to wipe my whole bike down, then accidentally ran my sunglasses between the chain and chainwheel on my bike!