Woke up early this morning and headed out with Rocky Point Rd on my mind. After a stop for coffee in St Johns I headed across the bridge and onto Hwy 30 for some miles (10? 15?) to the bottom of Rocky Point Rd. Traffic on 30 wasn't bad. There was the usual collection of debris on the shoulder and a long stretch of rough pavement which is getting prepared for resurfacing but wasn't really an issue given my 35mm Schwalbe Supremes.
I started heading up Rocky Point Rd and thinking about the first time I rode it, maybe 6 and a half years ago. I was on my Lemond with a low gear of 39/25 and was wearing bibs and on SPDs. I had no idea what to expect from the climb and wasn't looking forward to it at all. Today I was wearing some shorts, wool t-shirt and platform pedals. My low gear on my Hilsen is 26/28. I rode the first third of the climb in 36/28 which was fine but there's a spot where the road cranks up and I dropped into my granny, slowed down and just took in the scenery which is a mixture of clearcut and dense forest. The road gets very little traffic so it's quite a pleasant climb. I've really grown to love climbing. When I lived in SF and would head out with friends to ride Bolinas Ridge I was always somewhat anxious as I struggle on the climbs, yo-yoing off the back hoping I wouldn't get dropped to hard. I moved up here, started doing a lot of riding by myself, got turned onto Rivendell and learned to appreciate low gearing and a leisurely pace. I actually wish the Rocky Point Climb was longer. In an effort to enjoy the climb a little more I pulled onto one of the logging roads and explored a couple of arteries. Nothing seemed to offer an alternative route back to Rocky Point Rd but I did discover some nice singletrack which I'll explore sometime soon in the future. I made my way back to Rocky Point Rd and continued the climb up to the top where it connects with Skyline Blvd, a nice quiet stretch of rolling road. If I had had more time I would have ventured over to Dixie Mtn for some gravel rambling but I needed to be home so I headed back to Portland, dropping off of Skyline at Logie Trail which offers a fast steep twisty descent. Logie Trail is quite narrow and the pavement is in bad shape. Making the descent even more treacherous was a fair amount of gravel spread across the road, I guess in an attempt to patch potholes. I made it down without incident and headed back to Portland, stopping at a 7-11 for some V8 and snacks as I was feeling a bonk coming on. I'm really glad I got out for this ride and did a little exploring. Here's some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/sets/72157633719837295/ --mike -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
