Originally Posted by
Wildwood
Birthday coming so picked a day with best weather to ride a favorite route and increase mileage to 65 for the first time this year. ... The DeRosa was a perfect conveyance - light wheels for climbing (Mavic GEL280/GL330 w/ tubies), solid racer handling for the downhills, all day comfort due to excellent fit.
Dang, buddy, look at you pushing that old clunker 65 miles! I recognize that bike, BTW. I'm glad it's back where it's fully appreciated. Now that you're stretching things out a bit, maybe you and DD should make an overnighter out here to do the ride below. We'd have a jolly old time, I'm sure.
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It was about 63 miles on my new old clunker the other day; Forks to Port Angeles,
mostly on the Olympic discovery trail and Hwy 101. The bike is my entry in the $100 Clunker Challenge, a freebie 1980 Univega SportTour on which I spent a whopping $0 on to refurbish, and a strenuous 5 minutes to get into riding shape. (I filled the 30-year-old tires and squirted some WD-40 on the greasy bits). We'll see how the judges on that thread feel about the minimalist approach
Section of the Olympic Discovery Trail I've never been on before, off Mary Clark Rd south of Sappho. Brand new paved rail-trail section that seems almost a miracle since it's so far out in the middle of nowhere. Shows the dedication and foresight of the people making the Olympic Discovery Trail a reality. I was the only trail user in sight that day - not a single other biker or hiker there. Almost eerie.
It dumps out onto a well-paved Forest Service Road number something-or-other on its way back to a short stretch of Hwy 101. You can see where the loggers laid off clearcutting for the day, one day a couple years ago.
This part of the ODT roughly parallels HWY 101 a mile or two south of the highway through Forest Service lands, the detour from the highway adds an additional 3 or 4 miles, but is so much more pleasant than riding with the fast, loud traffic. There's a bit more twisty-turny stuff, and it only crosses the Sol Duc River once, unlike the highway.
Of course the prettiest part is going around Lake Crescent, where a couple miles of the trail is still very primitive. But the rough section is so short now, with recent improvements, I haven't ridden my MTB out this way in a couple years.
Mud.
Obligatory shot on the Lyre River bridge, NW end of Lake Crescent. Almost too pretty.
