The Doug Ryder Reports

Chapter 4: The Ascension of Ester Dome (In Which We Learn to Love Mud, Mud and More Mud As We Slogged Our Way to the Top of the Dome and Back Down Again!)

The fourth Doug Ride of the 2001 season got under way at 7:30 on May 22 at the Ester Community Park. There were 14 or 15 of us all told and the weather was reasonably sunny (if not warm) with intermittent clouds around. We took off from the Park and went down Quartz Creek road, following (and crossing through it at several points) for about a mile and a half or so until we reached the junction with the Mine Road that goes up the hill. We took that and did a slow, gradual ascent for a mile or so until we reached the big, gnarly straight uphill cut.

The cut is ridable in granny gear (I watched Tom and a couple of other people do it) but I and most everyone else pushed our bikes up it. In my case, I was a little winded, having ridden 26 miles already (to and from work, then riding over to the ride with David James) so I wasn’t particularily interested in knocking myself out any more than I had to. Anyway, we got strung out going up the hill and on the way up ecountered mud, mud, and more mud. On the way up the cut, we met a group of cyclists going down the trail. They told us there was mud up top, which we found (to our chagrin) was entirely correct.

So, we slogged up to the point where the mine road intersected with the double-track that goes off down Ester Dome past the last of the radio antennas up top. As I say, we got strung out going up the hill so we regrouped at the intersection. I got up there about midway between the fastest riders and the slower ones. We ate cliff bars and joked around while we waited for the rest to get to the top.

Once the group reformed, we then rode up the double-track to the very top of Ester Dome. Just as we were starting up the double-track, we met a man and woman walking their dog. They said the trail was muddy. They were quite correct. I (and several others) had to walk at several points up to the top. Once there, we met up with a woman rider who hadn’t been able to get to the ride start in time. She drove up to the top but didn’t actually ride with us back down to the bottom.

Then we rode down Ester Dome Road to the head of the Alder Chute and descended same. I managed to ride all the way down the Alder Chute (a first for me) and there were a couple of riders who’d never done it before. It is by far the hardest, most difficult descent we do on any of the Doug Rides so it is no small feat to ride down it. Then we went down the muddy Marathon Trail to the intersection with the Back Door Trail where we followed it back down into Ester and then over to the Park.

All in all, it was fun (except for the mud, this ride would have been much more enjoyable if it hadn’t been for all the mud). Total time: a little over two hours. Worst hill: climbing that cut and then pushing up to the double track. Best descent: the Alder Chute and the Marathon Trail over to the Back Door trail. Best part: going through the puddles on the BDT (I wanted to get the mud off my bike!). Total distance: about 10.25 miles, most of which was muddy). Percentage of time spent pushing the bikes: too much. Percentage of time having fun: enough.

That’s my report for this week. See ya next week!

Liam Wescott

a/k/a The Doug Ryder

FCC Historian