Fall Cycling on the Palouse

Side-stepping wargaming for this post and turning outside to cycling.  With the return of Pacific Standard Time on Sunday comes the loss of an hour of daylight in the afternoon.  Cycling outside after work will quickly become an activity foregone.  Except for weekends, stationary, indoor afternoon cycling will soon become de rigueur.   To enjoy afternoon cycling before the sun is lost with the approach of winter, I headed out on the bike for one of the last weekday, afternoon ride of the season.  Of course, I will be out on the bike on weekends as long as the weather cooperates.

Today's ride sees me on a 25 mile loop out onto the Palouse and then back into the city.  Palouse?  What is the Palouse?  The Palouse is generally defined as a region of rolling hills in southeastern Washington and north central Idaho dominated by fields of wheat and lentils.  The rolling hills remind me a bit of Tuscany.  Spokane can broadly be defined as the northern boundary of the Palouse although some might argue against that delineation.

Back to the ride.

Residing on the southern boundary of the city, open roads are only a few minutes away and my cycling almost always begins in a southerly direction.  The rolling terrain can be a leg breaker on a long, hot summer afternoon but today with temperatures in the mid 60s F, a pleasant day, indeed!  

Farmland at outskirts of Spokane

Typical Palouse rolling wheat fields
punctuated by farms

Still heading south

More farmland as the road turns down into a canyon 

Not only rolling wheat fields!

Open road as I drop into a canyon

One of the many golf courses in the area

Six miles later, another golf course.
Yes, I must climb up the plateau to reach home.

The climb begins

Back on top of the plateau.
Home and hot shower in six more miles.