Lewis River-Falls Creek Combo

June 28, 2010 on 1:13 pm | In Mountain Biking | No Comments

Mike Van Hoose, Ryan McMaster, Andy Crump and I did a recon and training ride on Saturday, covering 40 miles on the Lewis River and Falls Creek trails, which will be the third and fourth legs on next month’s 60 @ Sixty ride.

Fortunately for Crump and me, Mike was a little under the weather and Ryan was saving himself for a big ride on Sunday. Despite that, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that the pace was less than leisurely.

We covered the 22 miles to the Lower Falls and back in 3:27. That included a short stop for a sandwich and photo at the top.

We dawdled at Falls Creek and ended up finishing the 17.1 miles in 2:15. This included time for Mike to put his chain back together, Ryan to have an extended conversation about the benefits of the Heckler with a biker we met, and a photo opp.

Crump tacked on another mile with an inexplicable ”biking-without-trails” route that took us back to the vehicles.

I felt strong throughout the day. I was a little fatigued on Sunday morning but my legs weren’t sore, which surprised me.

I’m pretty familiar with Ape Canyon and Blue Lake, which will be the first two sections of the July ride. Both will be a challenge, but Lewis River could be a deal-breaker because it has a ton of energy-sucking intervals. The difficulty will be magnified after having completed the first two legs. And, as most of you already know, if you lose your focus and make a mistake at Lewis River, the penalties can be large. 

Best guess is that we are going to be on our bikes 10+ hours for the 60 @ Sixty ride.

Photos courtesy of Ryan McMaster.