Lots of Snow...

Headed out this afternoon about 3:30 to what is becoming my favorite ride- Findley Rd.  After snowing for the past few days we had what turned out to be a beautiful day.  The sun was shining but it was still pretty cold.  I knew there would be some snow on the road.  Riding in snow reminds me a little of trying to run in sand.  You have to put a great deal of energy to travel the same speed/ distance.  It took me about 40 minutes to get to the top of Findley.  I wanted to go a little further this time, up to the next saddle.  I believe there might be some private land that connects with the BLM portion.  There is a green gate up the hill from the junction where the 3 roads connect.  It is pretty difficult to see because of the large trees on the satellite photo.  I brought my old iphone with me a snapped a few pictures.  Once I made it past the gate the snow got pretty deep- about 4 inches. Heading back was of course, much easier.  I noticed that you have to be a little weary of using the front brake on the snow.  The front wheel tends to slip a little.  I found myself using the back brake more than usual in the deeper snow.  Almost 10 miles round trip.

From the top, looking back to Whiskey Gulch

Can you see where I had to walk?

Beautiful- the sunlight filtered into the road.

Getting Ready to head back...

Mud, Snow and some Sunshine...

I decided to head up Findley road today. It has been raining and snowing the last few days. The snow level is pretty low. I anticipated hitting both snow and some wet conditions on this ride today. The temp was still pretty cool but the partly cloudy/ sunny conditions- this made for a great ride. This "road" gets really challenging with even a little water. There are ruts in the road and it is primarily clay. Once I had to put my foot down when I lost traction ( I hate that). Once I got near the top the snow made it difficult to power up the last uphill section. I almost made it to the top but lost traction with only about 10 feet to go. Regardless of the challenges, it still only took 39 minutes to the top. The way down was great but very muddy.

Clapboard Gulch

Dan and I did the ride up Clapboard Gulch and down Brushriders single track. It took 1 hour 20 minutes round trip and was 17.5 miles. The last time I rode this was when I did a Demo with a 29er. Now I have my own and it was great! Overall this ride is probably the easiest that we do. The single track is fairly technical but it terms of vertical feet, this ride is easy.

Findley again...

One more quick Findley ride. Took 39 minutes to the top of the ridge. I might actually be starting to like this hill. Well, I haven't really made it to "like" yet.

Findley Rd Ride- try to love it!

I rode up Findley road again.  It is really a tough ride... I'm trying to trick myself into loving it.   About 4.2 miles to the top (I  finally have a computer now).  It took right at 40 minutes from my house to the top of the ridge.  Round trip is 55 minutes so do the math on the way back.  I had a max speed of 30 mi/hr.  The weather has still been pretty dry- although we did get some light rain.  There was a patch of snow up on the top of the ridge.

Another Findley Rd Ride

Findley Road is a great workout in the amount of time you spend on it.  The climb is about 1500 vertical feet in about a mile and a half. Dan and I rode up to the top and back in a little less than an hour.

A quick ride up Findley Rd.

Early Saturday morning I decided that I needed to get a quick ride in. It only about 30 minutes in length. I didn't ride to the top.  It was a good work out and I felt pretty strong on the climb.

My Bike

Here is a factory pic of my 2009 stumpjumper comp 29er.