Cache Creek Cranking
By Eric
Six of us joined in on this ride. We would have had another, but work interfered with Mike's fun.
At the start of the ride I tried yet again to share the wonderful cooked quail eggs I found at Fred Meyer. Kurt and Stephanie were game (as was Panzer the dog), but the rest passed up the chance to be gustatory adventurists. Their loss. (I've brought the eggs to three rides. A couple more rides and they will be gone!)
This ride starts with a long climb up a rough subdivision road (Seward Road on Google Maps but it's unmarked), then transitions to trail, though the trail clearly follows a subdivision road alignment. It's a gentle climb. Still, it's a climb. Dave and I took up our positions in the rear, ceding the lead to those younger and stronger. (Well, actually Ben's not that young any more and Kurt is over 80! So, I guess we're just slow.)
We fell further behind when Dave borrowed my lube to try to stop a squeak. I suggested that maybe it wasn't his bike that was squeaking, but Dave applied the lube only to his bike. (I'm sure he needs to work on his old-man bones.)
Eventually, we popped out onto upper Reconstruction Road and followed that (passing Rebel Way and Gettysburg Road on the way; are you seeing a theme here?), which turned back into a trail. (All names are from Google Maps. We didn't see any signs.) Finally, we got to the trail that runs off the end of Abraham Road. Most of the climbing was done! Well, at least for this part.
We followed the Abraham trail for a ways before it turned into a rollicking downhill that went on and on and on! We regrouped at an active logging area that used some of the trail we were on, though no one was working when we were there. I had promised that the long downhill would require only 7 pedal strokes to cover one slight uphill. Dave said I was wrong. He took 8 pedal strokes.
Finally, we bombed down to Cache Creek forestry road. Then it was the long bike back to the cars.
But wait.
After a short way on Cache, we came to the familiar intersection that has a woodcutting road map posted. It's here that if you take the correct trail you will end up on the Standard Creek forestry road system. But I had another idea. Based on past experience and satellite maps, I was pretty sure we could take a trail just ahead off Cache, follow it down to an old woodcutting area, and take those old forestry roads back to Cache. Sounds a bit sketchy, especially coming from me. But wonder of wonders, the gang was willing to try it!
And it worked! Oh, it had some interesting parts. The first descent is a very grassy two-track, with several eroded places. Kurt stepped off his bike at one point and ended up sprawled out in the dirt and grass. Fortunately, only his pride was hurt. And along the way Ben pointed out some "Dr. Suess" trees.
At one point as we descended, I was riding at the back with Dave. I told him I was amazed the group was willing to follow me on this side trip. Dave just said "We're as stupid as…", well, I won't repeat fully what he said. This is a family report, after all.
That trail finally hooked up with some old, often-eroded forestry roads, but with the correct turns (thank you satellite maps!) we made it back to Cache Creek Road! The whole side loop was about 2 miles and took abut a half hour. It was an interesting little side trip.
Then it was a long climb up Cache Creek followed by a long descent, which was much enjoyed by the group. A few more downs and ups, and we were back at the cars, where Nikki treated us to homemade blueberry-cream cheese treats. Double yum! I mentioned that I still had quail eggs, but surprisingly no one took me up on it.
Great ride, great riding partners!
Pics by Ben, Nikki, and Eric
