North River Ride

After getting rained out on Saturday and Sunday, when we had planned to ride out to Sauvie Island with friends on Saturday and then do most of the Monster Cookie route (unsupported) in Salem on Sunday, we were happy to get any ride in on Monday at all.

Quick Stats Ride Distance: 74.06 miles   Elevation Gain: 3,500 feet   Average Moving Speed: 15.93 mph

But before I get to Monday's ride, let me first discuss my solo TTT ride (Throbbing Thigh Thriller: 40 miles and 3000 feet of climbing) back on Thursday the 15th.

Solo TTT (July 22, 2011):

Solo TTT (September 15, 2011):

Way back in July I rode my fastest TTT route ever at 16.8 mph, beating my previous best from last year by 0.35 mph, or about 2 minutes faster over the whole 40 miles. I did this by riding a "tempo" ride, where I tried to keep my heart rate in my climbing zone the whole ride. You have to ride hard on flats and while descending to keep it up in the zone. You also have to make sure you don't overdo it while climbing and go over the zone, because if you do you will likely require some amount of recovery before you can apply the desired constant power. This style is riding is a little different than my usual approach. I normally have to push it fairly hard up the hills to keep with Amy, and I coast on most descents so as not to pull away from Amy.

So anyway, I did another tempo ride on Thursday and absolutely crushed it compared to July's ride, going a full 0.6 mph faster, or 6 minutes quicker in 40 miles. You can see from the ride data graphics that I was mostly successful at keeping my heart rate in the 140s and 150s for both the July ride and the ride on Thursday. I guess I am just in that much better shape than I was in July.

Okay, back to the regularly schedule programming about the North River Ride on Monday...

We decided not to do the Sauvie Island route nor the Monster Cookie route due to Monday traffic for two relatively urban rides. So we headed north. After thinking about where we could ride, and wanting something fresh after a summer of riding the same old routes, we decided to change it up. And realizing that this is not only a week day, but also a school day now that summer break is over, we figured we could take a chance on a road or two we usually avoid due to traffic.

So we did a ride very similar to Kelly and Dobler, but without climbing Kelly or Dobler. Instead of Kelly Road we went around Yacolt Mountain on Lucia Falls Road, which follows the East Fork of the Lewis River for some beautiful scenery. And to our delight the road was newly paved since our last time on it, which was in May of last year when we rode the Lewis and Clark Ultra route.

EDIT: Forgot to mention a possible side excursion on this route: Sunset Falls Road (a right turn just after Moulton Falls). According to Google Maps it appears paved, and looks like it gains about 400 feet in around 5 miles.

A quick stop at the Yacolt store and we were headed west on Cedar Creek Road. But instead of turning left on Dobler we took a much earlier turn to the right, on Pup Creek Road which becomes Etna Road, so that we could ride along the Lewis River. We had forgotten how beautiful and green it is riding through the forest up there.

Eventually getting back on Cedar Creek Road, I gave Amy the choice of continuing straight all the way to Woodland, or turning left on 21st Avenue where we would go by The Dog. She chose straight. Big surprise.

RIDE DATA (North River Ride):

What was a surprise was more new pavement, new to us anyway, on Hayes Road. It didn't last all that long, but it was nice to have smooth pavement for a portion of the road we mostly remembered as rough chip seal from eighteen months prior.

And of course a little more of the Lewis River on our right made for nice scenery as we rode into Woodland.

I often like to name our routes for their major climbs, but this ride doesn't really have any major climbs, just a whole bunch of gradual grades and/or rollers. Completely unlike the very flat River Ride we often do, which is named for riding along the Columbia River. So with all the riding in north county along the Lewis River, or the East Fork of said river, I decided to dub this the North River Ride, as a sort of counter-name to the River Ride.

RIDE MAP IN GOOGLE EARTH:

Maps showing all rides: 2011 Rides • 2010 Rides • 2009 Rides • All Rides