AndreasOutside

This was difficult.

The weather was perfect for the ride over the pass. There were sections early in the day to and from Mary Lake that flowed. Over time that started to change. The road, in its steepest parts was hard packed dirt with protruding stone, navigatable going up until ones rythym is lost and the front wheel against stone brings the bike to a full stop. A hike a bike would ensue until the grade was suitable to try the pedals again. This pattern was repeated many times with minimal cursing.

The views were stunning. I paased through many forestry cuts, at a variety of regrowth stages. There were areas of old growth as well.

Oliver Lake greets you just over the top with an explosion of shades of green. I contemplated camping here but then pushed forward and down.

As difficult as going up was, descending here was tense. The front brakes screeched as they were needed to slow the loaded bike and give momentary relief to keep the rear pads from burning. Too much front brake, in addition to the sound, risked locking up when airborn before returning to the groumd with a jarring thump.

My braking hands hurt forcing me to alternate between front and back.

Going at speed was not possible due to the rock fields, going slow not because of grade. I spent most of the descent redesigning my bike, avoiding too much thinking about soreness everywhere.

What an incredible ride!