I've got this Winthrop-Conconully ride on the brain--a 70-miler that includes significant climbing and descending chunks on gravel road--and I'm trying to decide what kind of bike to ride: 29r MTB or a 'cross bike. So Titanium Cancellara (Scott Young) and I headed up (and down) Lookout Mountain, Galby's big brother, to see how enjoyable (or not) it is on my Giant TCX 1.
Scott's expression pretty much says it all--Lookout is tough, hard, difficult and a pain-in-the-glutes/quads/calves/hammies. Only 5.2 miles long, it climbs 2,032 feet for an average grade of 7.4 percent but that's deceptive for way more than a mile of it is flat or downhill. All I know is that w/ my 38-26 (as opposed to my Tarmac's helpful 34-27), I suffered mightily.
Usually, Lookout rewards w/ a stunning vista south toward the Chuckanuts, Bellingham Bay and San Juan Islands (see this post from last year), but today she was pretty socked in.
The descent requires a short bushwack and we wondered if we'd have trouble following the trail, but it was no problem.
Titanium Cancellara fends off a gigantic foxglove!
On the way back to town, we stopped by Lake Padden where Charlie Heggem, RD for the Mount Baker Hill Climb, was helping out with the Padden Duathlon. Which reminds me, the road to Artist Point opens next Tuesday--woo-hoo!
Kinda funny, Tyler Mitchell, who rode with the Ti Cowboys during last year's Tour de Whatcom (this year's TdW is next Saturday!) was out shooting phots for the duathlon and snapped the below shot of me. (I look in a spot of bother; I think Scott just passed me for the town sign sprint.)
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