Sometime last spring Steve, Chris, and I learned from Vern Oft that the road from Cherry Lane bridge over the ridge to Kendrick had been paved. We didn't have time to try for it that day, but it wasn't long before sampled that course. It involves riding the hill out of CuldeSac, no slight undertaking, and then dropping for 8 to 10 miles through Cottonwood Creek to the Reuben/Gifford road and on down to highway 12. A 2 mile ride east takes you to Cherry Lane and about three miles later you turn abruptly North up Hubbard Gulch. This climb is equivalent to going up the Troy grade--it is not something to be taken lightly but can be done.

We've several times followed this course. Cottonwood Creek is pleasant and the road not busy. We finish by descending McGary Grade to the bike path between Julietta and Kendrick. Usually we ride on into Kendrick for lunch at Zoe's Cafe. Back to Lewiston gives you about 80 miles and we usually tack on another 20 for a century. We never fail to comment on our return trip as we pass McGary Grade that "Someday we'll have to try it from this side." Usually we have good sense. "This side" is significantly steeper than the Hubbard Gulch side. We shake our heads and agree, "someday."

Look closely for the shining road surface climbing above Steve.

Steve decided today was "someday." He couldn't stand the thought that somewhere there was a hill he hadn't climbed nor had made me climb. I'm always game for one trip so I was in. Chris, on the other hand, was a no show. I speculated to Steve that perhaps the prospect of McGary Grade had frightened our muscovite. He wanted to see if Steve and I could do it before he committed himself. But now I have thought better of that. Chris had a rare four day weekend and was making noises about riding with us Friday but cancelled saying he was shopping for a new mattress. My new speculation is that Chris, never fond of rising early, just couldn't get himself out of bed at all today.

I expected this to be a bit of a grueling ride. A great deal of this ride is up hill and some of that is intense: The first mile of McGary is Granny territory--Chris might want a triple. Cottonwood creek-reversed turned out to be quite pleasant. While you are climbing it is not bad at all until you reach the intersection of Tom Beall road. For the next mile or so, you have a Web Ridge kind of climb. And finally, you have WebRidge itself. Smooth sailing from there back to the boat launch making that last 15 miles the fastest part of the day.

Chris wasn't around so I took up the slack by have a flat tire about a mile from Julietta. Piece of glass cut my new impervious-to-glass Bontrager Hardcase rear tire. That's flat number six for the year and number one on the hardcase. The cut is clear through but just barely. I'll see how many more miles I can get out of that tire. Steve suggests filling the cut with silicon.

Steve timed the ride to give us time to deal with flats and an hour for lunch. We expected to be back well before 4 this afternoon but we made one mistake. At Jacques Spur we both ordered the special, roast port, with a baked potatoe. The potatoe took 45 minutes. We did manage to get out in just exactly an hour but I'm sure Steve didn't have as much time as he would have liked to digest his roast pork.