Barbaresco to Barolo

September 19, 2024

When the weather turned sour in Chamonix, Dale and I considered our options and decided that riding bikes around Alba in Italy topped our list. We did a beautiful ride in the Aosta Valley on the way, enjoyed a wonderful meal in Torino, and had a low-key day in Alba checking out the local wineries and the sights while it rained. The weather looked better the next day and so we left Alba after a nice breakfast and cappuccinos just after 9:30am.

We headed clockwise up to Barbaresco first, enjoying the amazing climbs and scenery and taking a few minutes in the town itself to explore a bit. We also found the 2014 Giro d’Italia stage marker, imagining top-tier cyclists charging through these vineyard-covered hills with massive chainrings.

From Barbaresco, we went to Neive and enjoyed a cappuccino in the old town. We then pressed on through a number of hills to Diano d’Alba where we feasted on pizza for lunch. The rest of the ride to Barolo continued through magical terrain with continually jaw-dropping views. Many of the roads we took were single-lane with barely any car traffic.

In Barolo, we couldn’t not have some wine. An enchanting 2018 Albarella Barolo and lovely conversation entertained us for a solid half hour before climbing back on our steeds for the last few miles up to La Morra and back down to Alba.

It’s a Unesco World Heritage Site for a reason. Go there and ride your bicycle through it. You will not be disappointed.

Rainier Vertfest

July 27, 2024

After doing RAMROD solo and a number of different rides in the park, I had wanted to do a ride linking Paradise, Chinook, Sunrise, and Cayuse Passes in a single ride. With the Stevens Canyon road recently reopened and a second baby on the way, I decided this summer was my opportunity to do it.

I parked outside the Grove of the Patriarchs entrance and started a little after 8am with a loop down to Packwood, up Skate Creek Road, up to Paradise and down to the car. This was about 60 miles with 5,000 feet of climbing. I tried to keep the pace reasonable, knowing I had a long day ahead of me. I took about 4:15 for this section.

After a nice half-hour break at the car for lunch with my shoes off, I donned another layer of sunscreen and headed up toward Chinook Pass. I felt pretty good on this, still trying to pace myself but with my heart rate about 20bpm higher than on the Paradise climb in the morning with the day heating up. After about 1:45 of climbing, I was at the top and it was decision time. If my legs had been smoked, I would have been able to coast back down to the car, but I decided I felt good enough to go for the full ride to Sunrise and back.

Sunrise from the Ranger’s Station was another 1:40 of climbing, but I made it without too much difficulty. Just a few cramp twinges here and there. I fueled back up at Sunrise and prepared for what I assumed would be a painful final climb up Cayuse Pass. Thankfully, I hit a second wind for this bit and actually had decent power for the final climb. From there, it was mostly coasting down to the car for a little over 128 miles with over 13,000 feet of climbing. A great day out and a nice test of my fitness.

Mount Saint Helens Windy Ridge Ride

October 16, 2021

I was looking for more paved mountain rides this fall when my friend recommended Windy Ridge on Mount Saint Helens. He suggested starting in Randle, which meant spending nearly the entire time on paved forest roads with minimal traffic. Dale and I decided this would be an ideal fall ride with otherwise iffy weather around the state.

We got a leisurely start from Seattle, making it down to Randle and leaving his van there at about 12:30pm. The ride does a short climb and then about 10 miles of moderate descent before starting the real climb, which was a perfect way to warm ourselves up. We transitioned from the open farmland of Randle to the lush forest for much of our climbing. The road was in pretty good shape and we only encountered a couple of truck drivers who were perturbed by our very existence. We were able to ride side-by-side for most of the time, keeping up a good conversation and riding at a pace where we were working but could still chat.

At mile 20, we took the right up toward Windy Ridge, which continued to climb through the woods for another 4.5 miles before breaking out with our first views of Saint Helens. We had done about 3,200 feet of climbing by this point. We stopped at this viewpoint for a snack before charging into a blustery headwind that was lurking for us behind many of the bends in the road between there and the end of the paved section—another 11 miles or so.

The views of Saint Helens, Adams, and Hood were really spectacular and the fall colors really lit up the hillsides. It was crisp and brisk, but never too cold. And the road was a lot of fun, with frequent twists and turns as well as rises and descents. We had a ball. It took just under 3 hours to get from Randle to the end of the paved road at the Windy Ridge viewpoint.

We soaked in the sun and views for a few minutes and then headed back, taking our time for some photos while we were up high and then putting the hammer down once we were back in the forest. It took just over 2 hours to get back to the car. What a really lovely fall ride!