Life in the Right Lane: cycling

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Tour de Chiracahua

What a title huh? Yesterday I took a little tour on the mountain bike over the back forest roads.

up by the Research Station

I headed west out of Sunny Flat Campground up past the reasearch station where the road turned to "gravel, rock and dirt".

I stop for a breather up the trail at about mile 5

I figured the junction to Paradise was about 4-5 miles. Turns out it was 6 miles and 1500 feet elevation. I had thought it was more but did to almost 2500 ft total over course.

Looking back down on Cave Creek Canyon from junction

Not bad but I started at 5000 ft. Had I known, I might not have done it but in hindsite am glad i did. I will put the map, and all the gory details at the end for those of you who like to see that sort of thing.

Looking north to the Paradise from the junction

So I finally get to the junction after about 1 hour 20 minutes of huffing and puffing ascent. Managed to stay on the bike and not fall off too. No downhill photos as it was all i could do to stay slow enough not to crash. Bone jarring is the words which come to mind.

George Walker House where hummingbird banding happens

About 3 miles down the road I enter Paradise. Not because i fell off but because that is the town's name. This is where we went the other day to witness the hummingbird banding at George Walker house.

I stop to take a couple photos of the house and the old truck across the street. Not much here anymore. A few homes still occupied. A couple of ancient dwellings. 6 miles to Portal.

A mile up the road towards Portal is the cemetary. Ever wanted to be buried in Paradise?

Well you have to get permission from the Cemetary Cemetary Association. Don't think that will happen soon.

Onward to Portal

Most of the 6 miles was gradual downhill but I still had to ride the breaks to keep from going too fast. Not exactly paved road and, did I say "bone jarring" already? I stop in Portal at the library to briefly check email (only place with internet in area). Then head back up the PAVED road 3 more miles to Sunny Flat Campground.

Back at Ye Old Campsite. Still standing

Fortunately I had slathered up with sunscreen so didn't get too burned. It was in the 80's and a little wind. Took me about 3 hours total with stops. Not bad for a certified old fart, right?

The Route

My legs were not as tired as I thought. Had been riding in Tucson. Might go again tomorrow.

Gory details below:

Elevation gain and loss

Posted with Blogsy

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Did you Vote?

Great voting outfit huh

Belated post. Last Tuesday I biked up to North Columbia Schoolhouse where our polling station is located. beautiful day. about 4 miles up Tyler Foote Road with 700 ft elevation gain. Actually went quite a bit further up the hill afterwards. Been getting back into cycling this fall and everything around here is hills so you are always going up or down. Rode up for about an hour then back down home in about 20 minutes. lots of fun

oh, yes, I did vote. but it was absentee ballot. still was fun to take the photo.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Land's End

We made it to the coast. After an relaxing drive up to Ananda Laurelwood followed by several days of volunteer efforts,seeing old friends and being inspired by others, we headed out to the coast.

Spent 2 night up on Long Beach peninsula where we biked and hiked around Oysterville

We explored Lewis and Clark expedition at the interpretive center. It's been 208 years since their lanark expedition. Amazing journey. Was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson. What a visionary. Opened up the west. Sid you know they spent the first winter in North Dakota with temps falling to 40 degrees below zero? Fascinating to read excerpts from their journals.

Tuesday we journeyed back over the Columbia river to the south side and Fort Stevens State Park. Great bike trails. This morning we rode out to the south jetty where the mouth of Columbia empties into the ocean. This is "Land's End" for Oregon. About 6 miles from campground.

What also is along is to walk throight the old artillery batteries on both sides of the river. Some set up as far back as civil war. Others mainly for WW I and WW II. Then decommissioned after.

Did you know that on June 21, 1943, a Japanese sub fired on the area just south of Astoria? Fort Clatsop near Lewis and Clark's winter camp of 1804-1805.

Land's End - South Jetty on Columbia River

Oyster Crossing at Oysterville, Washington.