This was a hard ride.

I started in the small town of Alpine. I parked the van at the local park, readied my LeMond and headed north on Bellfountain Road to Decker Road and the first real hill of the day – 1.8 miles with 375 feet of elevation gain. There would be many more hills to come.

Decker Road took me to Alsea Highway (OR 34) and the real climbing – 2.6 miles and 707 feet. I bypassed Marys Peak Road and descended toward Alsea. However, once I reached the bottom, I turned around and climbed back up the way I just came – 2.1 miles and 644 feet. This time I turned left onto Marys Peak Road and the steep inclines it has. Soon, I was constantly climbing at 8%, unless the incline increased to 9% and 10%. For 9.4 miles and 2,540 feet I climbed up to the view point. Thankfully, the incline lessened and there is even a small descent. The entire climb averages 5.1 percent. Climbing, I felt good; it was fun.

Reaching the top, I turned around and descended all of the way down to the valley below. I took Alsea Highway to the north and the low speed curves. At the bottom, I again turned around and started climbing. By now, the previous climbing had taken it’s toll on me and I was slower. When I reached the steep inclines of Marys Peak Road, I really began to suffer. I shifted into my lowest gear, a extremely low 26 x 25. I ran out of water at 2,500 feet, 500 feet and five miles short of the top so I turned around and descended.

I continued on to Alsea, where I hydrated and fueled for the final climb up Alpine Road. I was off of the bike for a long time. I drank a V-8 and a Muscle Milk and consumed two small yogurts – about 750 calories. It was too much, and I could not ride a full power for about 30 minutes, but after that, I could ride with power. The final climb was 2.1 miles and 446 feet.

In total, I climbed 9,833 in 93.0 miles – yes, more than 100 feet of gain per mile. Since this was a loop, that means I climbed over 200 feet per mile. Nice.