When the Wind Blows . . .

It's a choice . . .

Solo or . . .

Volvo . . . *

*not intended as a negative reflection of Volvo by any means

scoop?

The DNT's got nothing on us

(apparently lost, Dave is riding circles of glee . . .)

(there must be some explanation for this photo)

Lovely Day

 MOOSE BOOST

Pretty Darn Close!

Paul Huttner (of the Updraft Blog) defines Indian Summer as: "A period, in mid- or late autumn, of abnormally warm weather, generally clear skies, sunny but hazy days, and cool nights." If today didn't qualify, it was pretty close - Dave S and I road for three hours (the week before Thanksgiving!) and didn't even need winter shoes. The highlight of the day for me was this vista from the far west (gravel) end of Skyline (though the tasty treats Dave brought along were a close second):


Good news on road conditions as well - much of Skyline has fresh pavement this year; you can now get across W 40th on Skyline; Beck's road has new pavement; the Willard Munger has been repaired, though waiting for a new layer of blacktop. West 40th itself is still closed but passable by bike. The hunter's gunshots in the distance were a bit disconcerting, but we never heard them close.
Russ

West End Updates

The colors are fading fast, but after I negotiated the Merritt Creek washout on the gravel portion of Skyline west of Spirit Mountain I found that the remainder of the gravel to Beck's road has been graded and the many smaller washouts repaired. There are a few soft spots, but overall it's in great condition; perhaps the best news is the the barriers are still up on the west end, so I had it all to myself today.

I've posted a similar shot to this before, but still think it's one of the most scenic locations in the area:

More good news - at the end of this stretch Becks road is now paved. I crossed Becks, cut over to the Munger trail on Mission Creek Parkway and found that the Munger is quite passable, with only a few, short gravel sections.

Oh yeah.....cross bikes are wonderful inventions!
Russ

A Fine Line

There is a fine line between Fantasy and Hallucination

Sometimes, we jump over that line

Adventures in the West End

I saw our regular crew off this morning at the start of the Heck, then rode through town and out Grand Avenue. Beck's road is now open  (though partially gravel). The far western section of Skyline remains closed but is no problem on a cross or mountain bike:

There's been no progress in repairing the washout at Merritt creek: I'm thinking we might have to wait a bit on this piece. The steep climb to the top of Spirit afforded some glimpses of the new downhill mountain bike trail. The new upper lift station at Spirit Mountain is nearing completion:

Seems hard to imagine that the lift would be in operation in time for the fall color change - the new haul rope is in place but the chairs are yet to be mounted:

A bright spot on the return trip was the discovery that the section of Skyline between Highland Avenue and Haines road (40th Ave West) has been repaved; unfortunately the short jog required on Haines to continue north on Skyline is completely impassable due to construction. The descent of 40th to continue north is no simple matter either, given the magnitude of the flood damage.  It's always an adventure......
Russ