Dwaine's Picture Post for Windy Ridge

Every year Mike schedules one or two official 'Cyclocross' style rides. These rides include routes with some or all dirt roads. Although not billed as a 'Cyclocross' ride this year's 'Windy Ridge' ride included some off roading. Mike did some research regarding a road washout on NF26 and we were prepared to walk  around the washout.  We were all surprised by just how far off the road we hiked to connect the paved bits. Some of us went full 'Cyclocross' including hoisting bikes onto shoulders.

The group, happy to have completed the scrambling portion of the bike ride, took a break where the road breaks out of the trees and reveals a 180 degree view.  Although Mt Saint Helens was not visible Lanny took a moment to take in the view while the author fussed with his camera.

The author was not the only photographer on duty this day. Many of us brought out our cameras at this point. Some approached the edge to capture the rolling green hills on the far side of the valley. Some took a step back to capture the foreground as well as the distant hillsides. And Les photographed a bicycle decoration built atop a NF26 highway marker.

Mike is our leader. On the seven mile climb to Windy Ridge he decided that the Cyclopaths should close the gap up to a lone rider. One by one the other Cyclopaths would not or could not match Mike's pace. By the time Mike caught the lone rider he had littered the road behind him with over worked climbers. Despite the hard climbing Mike quickly changed gears to photographer and continued documenting our ride. Thanks Mike.

The return portion of the Windy Ridge ride included 16 miles of NF99 goodness. Most of this road is twisty, often cut out of the side of the hill, and provided sweeping views to the South. But the goodness did extend to FR25. The years and weather have not been kind to the FR25 paved road surface. As we returned the twenty or so miles on this road we were confronted with mixed sun and shade on the road surface. This mix of light levels hid the many pavement irregularities. In addition to lumpy pavement at least one section of pavement wasn't pavement. In this gravel section Leon found a hidden hole with enough force to rotate his bars in the stem. The group stopped just long enough to make a quick repair and a series of poor tasting jokes.

This photo shows pavement, cycle shoes, and dirty shins. Those bits can be ignored. What cannot be ignored nor denied is an obvious trend in Cyclopath wear. No fewer than six brightly colored socks were on display for this ride. Although the author's flaming pink socks neither match the orange hue nor reflect as much glow, the movement towards 'visible' socks is clearly afoot. My daughter is immensely proud of the Cyclopath's footwise personal expression.