Findley Ridge

Headed out about 5:30 tonight solo anticipating darkness soon.  I packed the jacket this time- last time it was way too hot to wear it on the way up findley.  I haven't been riding enough to break the 30 minute boundary from the junction of Findley/ Williams Hwy.  Made it up in 30 minutes tonight.  I had the Serfas 500 lumens on my helmet for the way down.  I only needed it in a few spots where there is canopy cover.  It was still a little light by the time I made it back to the house.  These evening rides are going to be very dark especially when the clocks roll back next weekend.

Findley Ridge Dusk Ride

Headed out this evening solo at about 5:50.  The forecast for tonight is a pretty hard freeze.  As soon as the sun was behind the mountain it was getting cold.  I am thankful that I had picked up my Novara Jacket about a month ago at REI.   I was a little warm on the way up (when am I not warm up Findley).  Perfect on the way down.  The Jacket is supposed to be windproof at 60 mph. 

I had a pretty good time to the top of the ridge- 31 minutes from the start the junction of Williams Hwy/ Findley Road.  By the time I reached the ridge it was starting to get dark.  I turned on the lights and headed down.  I might have to move my light from my helmet to the handlebar.  On these cooler nights there is quite a bit of moisture in the air.  In a few sections it was difficult to see as the light reflected off the fog.  I also have decided I need to upgrade my cheapo safety glasses for some real night eye wear.

Findley Peak Night Ride

Headed out about 6:15 tonight, it has been getting dark by 7:00 now.  We knew that we would spend a lot of the ride in the dark tonight.  It has been great weather lately.   It does get pretty cold as soon as the sunsets.  We both had the riding jackets on.  On the way up they were pretty warm but on the way down it was nice to zip them up and try to stay warm.  I wasn't paying attention to the time on the way up.  Round trip was 1hr 19 minutes.  We were pretty slow on the downhill.  The battery on my helmet light died- shouldn't have tried to go on 2 rides without charging...  Both our handlebar lights seemed that the battery life was a little low as well.  They are only 220 lumen.  Time to get that 1000 lumen light!  I've been thinking about Applegate lake trails again.  Would be great to get up there again and climb stein butte again.

Findley Peak

Headed out this evening about 5:15 toward the top of the "Findley Peak".  Check out the location on the map.  There is a great view up there of the Williams Valley.  I made it to the top of the ridge in 31.2 minutes.  Not a bad time, considering I have really only been riding once a week.  My last ride was pretty intense and lengthy- honestly it took me a few days to recover from it.  I reached the top of the Peak at 46 minutes.  It gets pretty steep the last section to the top.  The sun had set, there were high scattered clouds that reflected the afterglow.  It is getting dark early now.  I turned on the lights and headed down.  I really only needed it in a few of the heavy canopy areas.  By the time I reached the highway it was light enough to ride without the light but nice to have it.  10.3 miles round trip and took 1hour 9 minutes back to the house.  Not a lot of miles but high intensity ride.

42 Miler

Dan recently celebrated a birthday and today he finally got to open his present- A 42 mile ride with a whole lot of vertical.

Happy Birthday Dan!

We parked at the top of East fork road and rode the old trail that connects with Thompson Creek Road.  From there we headed down to Applegate Lake.  There is about 1200 vertical to get to the top of Thompson creek road from where we parked the truck.  The road to applegate lake from the top of Thompson creek is traveled frequently by cars- we only saw 2 on the way over.

On the way to the Lake- Carberry Creek

Now once we got there it was time to begin the fun.  It only took 1hr to get to the lake from where we parked the truck. Stein Butte was our goal, ride to the top of that and then head back.  I got the idea from a map I picked up at a local bike shop.  Treadmaps.  Pretty nice map and a lot of information.  I purchased the Southern oregon map.  A few specs on the trail from treadmaps include a Elevation Gain/Loss of 2110ft and a Ascent Total of 3786 feet.  4.9 miles total.  After a few miles up we could tell that this trail was going to be a tough one.  It seemed to go on and on.  It is a really nice singletrack with some very steep sections.

Dan ripping up the Butte.

Once we got to the first ridge top it was quite a view- what we like to call a "double rainbow" experience.

Looking north towards Applegate Lake

At this point it was easy to tell that it was going to be along ride.  We left the truck at 3:30.  It took an hour to get to the lake and we were about 2.5 hours total trip time to this point.  We had a few more miles to go before the turnaround point.  It was going to be getting dark soon.

looking south towards California.  This ride is quite close to the Oregon/ California border

Below you can see some more detail about the Stein Butte Ride

We spent probably about 1.5 hours in very dark conditions.  Good thing 1 of us brought a light.  We also luckily packed our jackets.  The temperature dropped as soon as the sun went behind the mountain.  There was a little cramping on the way back.  There was 1 individual on the ride (not to mention names) who brought 1-21 oz water bottle with Gu Electrolyte brew- its good, but not that good.  Great ride overall.  We climbed a total of 5225 vertical feet.  Right at 5 hours total trip time.  A lot of good memories.  I have realized that the Applegate Lake area really has a lot of good trails to offer. Next time maybe I'll drive over there, maybe not- its always good to get a challenge in.

Findley and not feeling 100%

I needed to get out on the bike tonight.  It is starting I started coming down with a cold last Sunday afternoon.  I have been feeling a little better.  At least I am feeling well enough to take a quick ride up Findley and back.  Surprisingly I had a decent time to the top of the Ridge- 32 minutes.  I am ready to kick this congestion in my sinuses and get back to some serious riding.  I still am thinking that I can get below 30 minutes to the top of the ridge.  Days are getting shorter now.  Sunset was at 6:57- I headed out about 6:15.  When I got back it was still before twilight.  It is starting to cool down finally- I might have to get out some long sleeves soon.