Cycling the Palouse

With summer winding down on the Palouse, temperatures are beginning to cool.  Long gone are the hot days of summer.  No more afternoon rides in the mid-90s.  Rather than enjoying a late fall with warm temperatures continuing into late September, fall may come early this year.  Before the current cold front accompanied by showers blanketed the Palouse, I snuck in one more ride with temperatures hovering in the upper 70's.

Today's route covered 31 miles and was notable for the elevation gained (and lost).  Not as many miles pedaled on the flat as the more routine routes.  Most of the mileage was put into the legs either climbing or descending.  Typical of the typography of the Palouse, a lot of undulating terrain was encountered too but today the legs put in a number of miles on long and sometimes steep climbs.  Having a GoPro camera mounted onto the handlebars tends to flatten the actual gradients as seen even from head height.  The photos fail to provide an accurate impression of the ascent.  That is ok.  My legs know the difference.

Below are a few photos from today's workout:

One mile into a three mile climb

Still climbing

Still climbing

Still climbing

Up on top of the plateau

Another climb

This time, steep... 

and twisting

Final push to the top

and a return home

With highs in the low 60s' and forecasts for rain in the near future, upcoming workouts will be confined to the indoors.  Maybe I will see a break in the weather?