Cycling the Palouse

Spring is in full swing on the Palouse.  Temperatures and cycling mileage outdoors are on the rise.  Last week, I managed to make it out for three post-work rides and two on the weekend.  On the remaining days, cycling was confined to the indoor trainer. While mileage is up, winter weight gain has yet to begin to fall.  Once temperatures creep back into the 70s F with regularity, the extra weight will begin to fall away.    

Out on the Palouse

When riding to the south, the activity always begins with a decent after the first mile.  The house is situated at the edge of the city on a bluff about 600 feet above Spokane and the valley, proper.  The significance of this location means that in any direction I head, the ride includes a drop off the bluff on the way out and then a climb back up onto the bluff on the return.  In the heat of summer, the climb back up onto the bluff can be a real sweat-dripping slog after a long, hot ride.  

Several ways present themselves for climbing back up onto the bluff on the way home.  The shortest and most violent approach I chose today. Quite steep in places with an unrelenting incline.  Few places to relax on the way to the top.  Traffic is a bit heavier on this approach in the afternoon but visibility is good and my slow ascent allows plenty of time to be identified and avoided.

Climb begins

Climb continues

and continues

Once back on top of the bluff, the view down into the valley below is spectacular.  The small arrow in the center of the photo just below the horizon is the road over which I traversed to get back into the city.  From these heights, the cars on the highway below are but a speck.  Once to this point on the bluff, it is but an easy, sometimes undulating five miles back to the house.  Miles logged today: 25.

View to the valley below