Our city is lagging in making cycle-friendly routes to popular places in the area but they are slowly working at it. I got news that a new bridge was built to finish off a path going from downtown to Birdshill park about 30kms away. Went to go check it out today and spent the day at the lake.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/c942c4f6.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/8774cf9f.jpg |
Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd
(Post 14556566)
Wow. Just wow. I want to ride that route!
Originally Posted by due ruote
(Post 14557604)
+1 I assume you mean SPB's route. Those are some mighty fine looking dirt roads. Nice to see a place that appears not to have changed much for several decades or maybe lots more.
dueroute, if you'll notice, Russel's store in the last picture has been continuously run since 1823, and has had the current name since 1919. The current owner is a Russel. Also note the old single-room schoolhouse. I've found three of them in the area so far. Two have been converted into cottages and are currently occupied, while the one below appear abandoned. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7...e96477c5_c.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/7...f870d63d_c.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7275/7...6856eec0_c.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7...bc210791_c.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7131/7...84517f83_c.jpg Bovina Museum: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7...304c014f_c.jpg Russel's store: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8163/7...e516afd5_c.jpg |
Gorgeous shots, SPB. I'm not sure I'd get much riding in with all the great photo opps.
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Originally Posted by due ruote
(Post 14559365)
Gorgeous shots, SPB. I'm not sure I'd get much riding in with all the great photo opps.
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There is this race, called the Firehouse 50. It is a 50-mile road-race through the Chequamegon National Forest (pay attention because at the end of my posts there will be a chance to win prizes). Last time I raced in it was 2010. The 2012 race is this Saturday, but I had to come home from vacation today, Thursday. I had bad timing last year too. Anyhow, I rode the course a few times this week and one time I took pictures. I hope you like it.
Our place is 10 miles up the road from the start, but I have ordered the pictures from beginning to end of the race. The race starts in Grand View, on County D. It also starts with a 5-mile climb up the Great Divide. There is a picture later that explains the Great Divide but it basically separates the Great Lakes water basin from the Mississippi River water basin.. The first 3.5 miles is pretty ho-hum but the last 1.5 miles makes you work. It is a rolling start uphill, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7...261cf3f7_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/7...fa9e5aa9_h.jpg The official start is at the Great Divide ballpark, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7...7eec4b83_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7...d8f4231e_h.jpg And then you go up, but be careful of the extremely large, plague-carrying rats, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7...517afe9e_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7...1852b0c4_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7...8d1ce122_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7251/7...8258440d_h.jpg Pay attention, this is a key part to winning a prize, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/7...2d5fd3fe_h.jpg |
Then it is 5 miles downhill to Lake Namakagon,
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8151/7...d350b2b2_h.jpg Lake Namakagon, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/7...626aabe2_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7113/7...bd5d2d08_h.jpg Anderson Island is where our place is at, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7278/7...b389fab7_h.jpg Egret nest, with babies, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/7...7b155c99_h.jpg More Lake Namakagon, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7...6d782342_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7...182ac863_h.jpg The local watering hole, the Loon Saloon, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/7...dd808504_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7...fb79b11e_h.jpg |
Home of the Bionic Burger, and some good ribs, Pla-Mor
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8011/7...317b2c7e_h.jpg Swanky new digs being built, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7...afe020d0_h.jpg More Lake Namakagon. The road is very windy and rough but flat as a pancake, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/7...da455c27_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7...e0ddd9ec_h.jpg After about 15 miles of County D, it is about 10 miles of County M to Cable. Pretty straight west, typically into the wind. Curvy with plenty of rollers. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/7...d6e82d4d_h.jpg Lakewoods, a nice resort on Lake Namakagon, the pond in front is not the lake, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/7...3312619c_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7129/7...beebd3d8_h.jpg Signage around the lake typically looks like this. Put up in the 50s it tells how far to a person’s cottage, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/7...7b6901cb_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8425/7...5376a903_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7...5caa365e_h.jpg |
Back on M to Cable,
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8282/7...fa5a211c_h.jpg The Namakagon River, Mt Telemark, home of the Birkebeiner and Fat Tire 40 off in the distance, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/7...b5fee670_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7259/7...7862e253_h.jpg Entering Cable. They have a museum. Not bad for a town of 800. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7...4b2d7279_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7269/7...54c450a2_h.jpg Home of the Fat Tire 40, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/7...1618a562_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8148/7...cfbd3f65_h.jpg The roads behind Cable are twisting with steep rollers, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7...3e323d4d_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7...7f0b898a_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/7...f3d04a95_h.jpg |
The obligatory upshot of me,
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7121/7...a139a0f8_h.jpg Then you turn onto Lake Owen road for about 15 miles. Lake Owen is the rich lake. Big places. SC Johnson and Sons (think Windex ™ ) have a place there. The frist 10 miles the roads are like butta. I think the last time County D was repaved was 20 years ago. I’m not bitter, just jealous. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7...a3a053e5_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7...37743674_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7...24ae39a2_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8009/7...9ffe3cd3_h.jpg The road is highly technical with extremely steep rollers that are frequent and constant. I think they prove the inaccuracy of GPS systems like MapMyRide and Strava. On those maps it looks much easier than reality. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7...9f0e800d_h.jpg This is what the forest looks like when you ride by, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/7...65baf60b_h.jpg More Lake Owen Road, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7...e38cd45a_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7136/7...d93484bb_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8007/7...9a356f85_h.jpg |
More Lake Owen Road,
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8428/7...e57a7316_h.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7258/7...a5ce9532_h.jpg You turn off of Lake Owen onto Hwy 63 in Drummond. I’d take a picture of Drummond but it is only a gas station and a supper club, not much there. But it is essentially 8 miles downhill to Grand View, the end. You are heading east and the wind is behind you. Solo, 20 minutes is pretty easy, with a group of 50 riders in the race, it is covered in 15 minutes. As the tempo increases in the race, riders get careless and crash. Hasn’t happened to me <knocks wood>. Hwy 63 doesn’t have much traffic, a 4-foot shoulder and a motorcycle escort in the race, but when you are riding solo, a logging truck passing you at 60 mph is freaky. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7...769511cd_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7...79b77edc_h.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8013/7...da600b49_h.jpg Beautiful, downtown Grand View, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/7...d807be0b_h.jpg The road to our place, http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8011/7...8da590f2_h.jpg 600 sq. ft. of luxuary, ;) http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7...f49a2b92_h.jpg Cooling my toes at the end of the ride, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/7...422da970_h.jpg Now for the contest. The first person to come up to me at the Dairyland Dare and correctly pronounce the word, “Chequamegon”, will receive a nice shiny 5-dollar bill. |
Nice pics Iab,
I'm coming for your money, palm up. :) |
Wow, some beautiful posts of country road rides!
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Like Southpawboston I'm home for the weekend to help my dad who just fractured the lower portion of his knee joint in a fall. Been wanting to do a 22.5 mile loop for years that has some decent 8-9% climbs and got the chance today. Photos from the wheat country of eastern Washington
Almost time for harvest: http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMGP7479.jpg http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMGP7478.jpg Part way up the first big climb: http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMGP7477.jpg The low point of the ride: http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMGP7480.jpg Looking at the bottom of the 2nd steep climb: http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMGP7481.jpg |
^ Nice! where is this scozim? Looks like an area I'd like to check out.
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Originally Posted by northbend
(Post 14565917)
^ Nice! where is this scozim? Looks like an area I'd like to check out.
It's Whitman County - Colfax and Pullman area. Lots of rolling roads and wheat fields and mix of gravel and paved roads. One good climb is up Steptoe Butte - 1200 feet gain in 3 miles. Was a great place to ride when growing up. |
No pics today. We did 18.4 miles on the tandem. The thermometer said only about 90degF but the humdidity felt like 110%. The dew point must be 20 degrees higher than the temperature. :rolleyes: Did I mention that it was humid?
I've been recovering from a mild chest cold, and yow I was wiped out almost immediately. Did I mention how humid it was? |
Yeah, super humid here in RI too. I did 34 miles before work this morning.
2.5 miles on one of my favorite dirt roads. http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...2020/002-9.jpg |
About 50 miles this morning on my fixed gear. Out on pavement, back on dirt rail trails. No Pics today
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Just a few shots from today's ride. 90km's through the Adelaide hills, got court out in some heavy rain I never wanted the Ricardo to see but she'll clean up.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/P2010729.jpg http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/P2010730.jpg |
Originally Posted by jbchybridrider
(Post 14568581)
|
52 miles today. Hot and humid!
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...020/002-10.jpg http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...020/003-11.jpg Some dirt-the road rises to meet me http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...2020/007-8.jpg My new saddle bag, arundel tubi http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...2020/004-9.jpg I was able to squeeze in my Rally spare, just barely. One review of this bag said that it was easier to fit in better tires because they are more pliable. Although I'm glad I put a sock around my spare, since when I made the switch there was a hole in the sock where the buckle of the toe strap held it. I think this bag is a major improvement. Not too expensive. |
Another 111 km ride on Golden Boy. We got out at 5 AM today, and returned at noon, before the really heavy heat set in. The place we like to eat has extremely slow service and extremely good food, so we live with it. I.5 hours to order and eat. First hour and a half in the dark--a great way to begin a ride. One of these weeks I might remember to bring the camera.
http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1338171226 File photo |
Originally Posted by WNG
(Post 14569394)
Now that's very cool!
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Sundays' ride was on a classic trail called the Plains of Abraham at Mount St. Helens. This out n back trail started with a steady climb up a ridgeline thru a narrow band of old growth forest that somehow survived the eruption of 1980.
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050234.jpg When the trail skirted the west side of the ridge, you had views of St. Helens. http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050253.jpg While riding along the east side of the ridge, Mt. Adams, also close enough you thought you could poke it with a stick. This is where we reached the blast area. http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050267.jpg The trail was covered in pumice which made traction kinda tricky going uphill - felt like riding on kitty litter. http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050263.jpg This area is finally bouncing back from the events of the 1980 eruption that scoured the landscape - brought in my winds and whatever animals pooped, wildflowers now bloom on many of the slopes. http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050285.jpg http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050273.jpg We picked the hottest day so far this year to ride. Good thing we carried lots of water. The wind help keep us cool until we reached woods again. That trail we climbed up was really fun to descend. A perfct way to end another epic day in the mountains. http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/P1050286.jpg |
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