Back to 30 minutes

Headed out on the bike this morning and it was very cold. I waited until about 10:00, hoping it would warm up a bit. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, but it was still very cold. It has been difficult for me lately to get up Findley ridge in 30 minutes (my best time yet). Today I was hoping for a good time and I was able to keep a good pace most of the way up. Regardless of the cold temp I had to put my jacket in the backpack for the climb. It took 30 minutes to get the ridge from the bottom of the road- junction of williams hwy and Findley road. I'm confident by the end of the break I'll be able to get up to the top of the ridge in less than 30 minutes.

A break in the weather?

It has been raining pretty heavily off and on over the past few days.  I noticed this morning that there was a break in the rain and it had really warmed up.  I had the chance to get out on the bike so I took it!  Amazingly enough, it was shorts and T-shirt weather.  I knew that the weather could change at a moments notice so I packed my jacket and my leg warmers just in case.  As I was heading towards Findley Road I noticed towards Greyback mountain that there was a heavy storm coming.  Is there a chance that it would miss me?  The wind was blowing towards me, moving the storm closer to my direction.  I hit the bottom of Findley and started the climb.  I knew that if it did start sprinkling I still wouldn't need the jacket since the Findley climb will surely warm me up.  Well it wasn't too long into the ride until the rain started to come as well as a drop in temperature.  I was fairly close to the first ridge top when I decided to put on the jacket.  I climbed in a decent time regardless of the extra muddy conditions.  After the first ridge, I decided to head to the peak, it wasn't raining that hard and I was prepared in case it really started coming down.  It continued to cool so once I reached a fairly flat portion of the road I put on my leg warmers.  I climbed to the top of the peak.  It is pretty muddy so it was an extreme challenge to make it without stopping.  I made it most of the way and had to walk a short portion.  It wasn't raining that hard and got a nice vista of the valley.

I didn't stay long at the top because I knew I would start getting cold.  I did take enough time to text this pic to my riding buddy who is at work today.  Brutal, I know.  Great downhill with mud flying everywhere.  The bike and I needed a serious bath.  I am hoping to get out again- looks like the weather is going to clear up.

Not riding enough...

I headed out solo towards the Findley ridge top about noon today.  Surprising weather.  Sunny and fairly "warm"- relatively speaking.  I was dressed with shorts and a short sleeve under armor under my riding jersey.  I knew that it was way too warm to have the jacket on up Findley.  I packed it in my backpack because I knew it would be cold on the way down.  I was straining to keep a decent pace up.  I pushing it pretty hard- at least to my limit at this point in my fitness level.  Took me 33 minutes to get the top of the ridge.  I really haven't been riding enough to challenge my ultimate goal of a sub-30 minute time up Findley ridge.  It will be tough to get more rides this time of year due to weather and daylight.

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.

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. 

Findley Peak

Nice ride today.  Dan and I rode up to the top of peak 3100ft.  Nearly 2000 vertical feet to the top.  It is only 10 miles round trip.  We took our time, nice and easy to the ridge top, 34 minutes. It took 1 hour 20 minutes to the peak.

What a view up there!

Better this time

Left the house around 6:45 this evening.  My last post mentioned I was a little disappointed with how long it took me to get the the ridge top.  I was determined to get up there in faster time.  I started the stopwatch at the bottom of the hill.  I also noted that my overall time from the house was 5 minutes 15 seconds.  It was still pretty warm although the sun was down.  I reached the ridge top at 30 minutes 25 seconds/ 35 minutes from my house.  It would take quite a bit more work to get that time below 30 minutes.

The top of the peak!

1hour 10 minutes round trip to the top of the peak up Findley and back.  10.4 miles round trip.  I forgot to check the clock when I got to the top of the peak.  It took 31 minutes to get to the first ridge top that I usually time myself to.  This could be the new Findley ride- I'll call it Findley Peak.  Quite a view up there!  Check it out:


















A few other pics from the ride.

Findley Evening Ride Again

After my last quick ride up findley I really appreciated how cool it was.  It just worked out for me to head out again for an evening ride.  This time close to about 8:15 I left the house. (getting pretty dark by the time I get home)  I got up to the top in 34 minutes from my house.  I notice it takes me about 4 minutes to get to the bottom of findley,  I ususally don't time myself from the bottom of the road but I'll start making note of how long it takes me to get there.  So, from the bottom of Findley it was 30 minutes 14 seconds to the top (basically where the junction is posted below)

In this photo you can't see the intersection but this is where I record the time as "the top".

No Granny Gear

I scored a few nice pieces of mountain bike gear for my birthday this year.  I got a Giro Hex helmet and a pair of Serfas Astro shoes.  These new shoes are super stiff, I was hoping that they would make a difference in power transfer.  Each pedal did feel stronger.  Up findley I didn't have to shift down to the granny gear, which was a big accomplishment for me.  Of course I was using number 8 gear instead of number 9.  I realized that I probably need to get some new in soles for my new shoes, they inserts aren't that comfortable...  I am thinking about riding to the Oregon Caves.  My family would meet me over there- about 27 miles, but a pretty good climb I'm sure.
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Findley

Did a quick ride by myself late tonight. The weather has really turned great lately. I headed out about 7:00 pm- the temperature was still in the mid 70's. It wasn't too hot on the heavy exposure areas since the sun was starting to go down. I saw a guy doing wildlife surveys from the BLM. I think I scared him... Just about everything is completely dried out at this point. I made pretty good time, right at 35 minutes to the top from my house. I keep forgetting to start the timer at the bottom of the hill.

Muddy up Findley

It has been raining lately- a lot actually.  I got up pretty early so I decided to head out for a quick ride up Findley Rd.  Since it was pretty muddy I knew I wasn't making great time.  It was right at 37 minutes to the top- not a great time but not the worst I've had.  I turned on my stopwatch at the bottom of the hill and it took 32 minutes from the bottom of the dirt road.  I'm going to start timing how long it takes from the bottom of the hill rather than from my house.   

The Findley Grind

Dan and I headed out about 6:00 for a quick ride up Findley rd.  It has been rainy and cold lately.  It wasn't short sleeve weather- even for the climb up Findley.  On the highway we had a pretty strong headwind that we were going against.  Once we hit the road we kept a brisk pace to the top.  We got to the top in 35 minutes.  We are decided that we will start the timer when we get to the bottom of the hill.  Dan's altimeter said we had about a 1300 vertical feet to the top.  It is a strong incline when you look at how many miles it takes to get to the top of the first saddle.

Cold be gone!

I had enough time to get to the top of Findley Rd.  It has rained really hard the past few days.  There are a few spots on the road that are back to being muddy again.  It certainly isn't as muddy as mid-winter though.  I am just about over my cold.  I wasn't feeling 100% on the way up.  Regardless, I was able to get to the top in 36 minutes.  Not my best time.  I got back to the house with a round trip time of 50 minutes.  I actually got pretty muddy.  Good workout, i'm ready to be rid of this cold...

Findley Ride

The last few times I have ridden my bike it has been some quick rides up findley part way and back down. Only about 35 minutes round trip. Today I had the time so I decided to go all the way to the top. Even though it had been a while I was still able to get to the top in 35 minutes. I haven't reached my goal of not using the granny gear yet...

Short Findley Ride again

It was pretty late again but we wanted to get on the bike again. Dan picked up some new pedals in anticipation of his new bike he won off eBay. The basic Shimano m 520 pedals a big step up from the circa 96' ritchey logic pedals. Rode up to the spot marked on the map and back down. Still a great workout and about 35 minutes.  I dropped the pin in the turn around location- click on the location link.

Abbreviated Findley Ride

It was very late by the time I was able to ride my bike- about 7:25 or so. Regardless it was still very light and I was really wanting to get out on the bike for at least 30 minutes. I rode up findley road for about 25 minutes and turned around. about 10 more minutes and I would have been at the top but I needed to get back home. Good workout- total time 35 minutes. I dropped the pin in the "location" where I turned around. Cool new feature for Blogger- add location. How long has that been there?