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I think fall might be my favorite time to take this ride. Cool morning temperatures, trees changing colors shimmering in the morning sun, soaring canyon walls and fast moving creek off to the side. Starting at Amante’s with a cappuccino to fuel me up Olde Stage I follow the parade of cyclists north and take a quick left on Lee Hill. A mild climb to warm the legs up but once you get past Dakota Ridge subdivision the hill starts getting steeper and steeper. Once you hit the turn off for Lee Hill and start climbing Olde Stage dig deep cause this part is the toughest leg of the journey. There is something magical about getting to the top and catching your breath by that row of mailboxes and knowing you made it! Cruise down to Left Hand Canyon, great run down and well deserved!
Take a left at Lefthand Canyon Rd and the next 6 miles is a steady climb along beautiful scenery up to Jamestown. For the adventerious you can take a left and head up to WARD but be warned a long hard uphill the whole way and gets really steep at the end. Otherwise, wind on up to Jamestown and enjoy the views. Lots of bikes on this road so the traffic is aware of a cycling presence. At Jamestown, you can take a break at The Merc or just refill your water bottle across the street with water the good folks at The Merc provide. The cruise down is a nice steady sometimes slow pace and you’ll have to pedal in areas even though you are going downhill. At the bottom you can either keep going straight out to rte 36 and then south back to Anmate’s but this does add about 5 miles or take a right and head back up Olde Stage. The ride back up isn’t as hard as the the other direction but there is a rather step section at the end near the top that you have to dig deep and power up. On the top it’s all down hill and just use a little caution in that you really pick up a lot of speed going dow this hill and there is a stop sign at the bottom where Lee Hill intersects. After that it’s a simple cruise back on down to Amante’s.
Donald (early Oct 07)