Standard Findley Ridge Ride

Yes, another ride up Findley. I haven't varied too much from many of my standard rides lately.  The amount of daylight available can make it a challenge to get out on the bike for longer rides.  Today, Dan and I got out on the bikes Sunday afternoon.  Surprisingly Findley is in pretty good shape.  The heavy rains of late actually revealed the few small bits of rock embedded in the heavy clay soil.  It seemed that the route was in worse shape when we only had the light rains.  We actually rode up to the green gate and then turned around (one more small climb after the big landing with the boulders...

Medium Findley

I've done a Findley "short" ride lately, today I wanted to go just a bit farther- I'll call it the medium Findley.  Pretty nice weather after all the rain.

On the way to Findley road, looking to the East

The first section of Findley is the most challenging, steepest part of the ride.  A great deal of it is 20%+ grade.  It took me about 40 minutes round trip.  It is a great workout without a lot of time investment.  Nearly 1000 vertical climb- in a very short distance.  I took it nice and easy on the way down- probably no faster than 30 mph. 

Cathedral Hills Trails

The last two days my 11 year old son and I went mountain biking over at Cathedral Hills trails, just outside of Grants Pass.  It is a lot of fun singletrack-  We stuck to the outer, Outback Trail that is pretty wide and only a few sections that are steep.  It is a fun place to ride.  Here is a pretty nice map of all the trails.

Heading up one of the hills

I think he is starting to figure out why I like mountain biking so much.  It took us right at an hour to do this complete the route below.

View Cathedral Hills- outback trail in a larger map

Findley East Peak

It has been a while since I've been out on the bike unfortunately.  I was able to get out about 4:00, knowing that it would be getting dark soon.  I packed my light and some extra cold weather gloves and my balaclava.  There is a fun little loop that is east of the "Findley Peak" ride that I have done before. I made it up to the ridge from the bottom of Findley in 32 minutes- a decent time considering.  The only part I don't like is the tank trap you have to climb over.   Here I'm at the top of the Peak, it look much darker than it is, I missed sunset by probably 10 minutes.

I forgot to restart my computer after I stopped to clip my light on my handlebar so it looks like a went cross country for quite a few miles.

I have the map below that focuses on the ridge area and the peak to the east.



View Findley Peak East in a larger map

Findley Short Ride

This is a quick little ride that still is a great workout.  It was getting dark soon and I didn't want to do any  solo night riding .  You still get to "enjoy" some of the steepest parts of Findley Road.

First ride of the new year

This afternoon I headed out solo planning for about a 1.5 hr ride.  It has warmed up today and I quickly found myself with the jacket in the backpack.  I tried to keep a pretty strong pace all the way up.  Most of the ride I had my bike in the middle chain ring.  Headed up Panther Gulch to the lower gated road (that is always open) and loop around back to East Fork.  On the way up I took a few photos of the valley.

Looking towards Grayback

Once you reach the Clearing on the top of the ridge you have basically two options.  First you can head down to East Fork Road (which is what I did this time).

Option 1- towards East Fork Road

There is a small mound of dirt that will lead you to a jeep road/ mostly single track downhill.  This old road will tie in with a BLM road that hooks up with East Fork Road.

Option 2- up to the upper Panther Gulch Road

This one turned out a little blurry.  There is a single track trail that will take you to the upper Panther Gulch Road.

Here is the Google Earth Map Below:

View Larger Map