North River Ride w/ Sunset Falls OB

It was foggy and cold when we got up and we knew it would be sunny later in the day, so we didn't get going until almost 11 a.m. The fog was gone, but it was still pretty cool.

Quick Stats Ride Distance: 88.89 miles   Elevation Gain: 4,699 feet   Average Moving Speed: 15.37 mph

We had a hard time deciding what ride to do. I kind of wanted to do a century, a sort of last hurrah for our cycling season. Amy wasn't so sure as she'd had a long week and didn't feel that great on yesterday's little ride out past Frenchman's Bar. So we decided to do the 74-mile North River Ride from a month ago, and if we felt up to it we would add on an extension or two.

RIDE DATA:

By getting started about two and a half hours later than the last time we did this ride the traffic on Lucia Falls Road was more than we would have liked, but still not too bad. The new very smooth road made up for it.

The first extension was exploring new ground: Sunset Falls Road off of Lucia Falls Road. I had investigated it on-line after noting it the last time we rode it and thought it had potential:

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.

The first half mile or so has some good climbing. I had neglected to tell Amy anything about more climbing. "Surprise!" was her snarky comment. The surprise to me was the descent that followed it. I knew it was and out-and-back so I didn't much appreciate it (the descent, not the snarky comment; I thought the comment was hilarious). Descents on an out-and-back are always better on the return leg. When you descend on the "out" leg you know you'll have to climb that very stretch in order to get back, so to me it is just not nearly as enjoyable. It was at this point, after that descent, that it was clarified to Amy that this was an out-and-back and not a loop that would meet up later on the route. Another surprise! Oops. She took it like a trooper and we forged ahead into new territory.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sunset Falls Road. It was relatively low in traffic, particularly the last 3 or 4 miles, and offered beautiful forest scenery. There were quite a few residences along the way, so Amy was a little worried about dogs, but it was all for naught as nary a (loose) dog was found. We eventually reached signs for Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Sunset Falls Campground. We stopped for a quick break. I wish I had investigated further on-line to determine if there was a nice falls (like perchance "Sunset Falls") within cleated-bike-shoe walking distance, or better, riding distance, but I didn't. Not hearing signs of any waterfalls we turned around and headed back to the main route.

When we got to Woodland it was about 3:20 p.m. I had wanted the second extension of the ride to be the Tulip Loop on the west side of Woodland. It would put us at or over the century mark. I was tired but still willing to give it a go. But secretly wanting to head straight home. So I let Amy decide. When she reasoned out loud about the traffic to get through Woodland and across I-5, and back, and how rush hour traffic would only get worse the longer we stayed out, she decided we should head back. I did my best to outwardly display hidden disappointment, but not hidden too well, with verbal agreement that it was clearly the best thing to do, while inwardly jumping for absolute freaking joy. We headed home.

And boy was I glad we did. The last 25 miles were tough! Our most recent century was way back in August. We've been doing 60- and 70-mile rides since then, but nothing over 75 miles. After this ride we both agreed it is amazing that we've ever done a century before. Funny how quickly you can lose distance riding fitness. This ride was pretty hard, and it was plenty shy of the century mark. Thankfully.

RIDE MAP IN GOOGLE EARTH:

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