It's been great to virtually see so many riders tackling our DIY gravel routes. Kudos to all of you so far! They have not been easy routes by any means and you are each climbing up to the challenge.
For December, we're giving you another new route with a never-before-featured road - the DC-Line. This latest route is about half road, half gravel, with some singletrack mixed in too. The route starts at the Mima Trailhead in the Capitol Forest where there is plenty of parking. With a touch of gravel and a lot of road, the first 16 miles is an undulating warmup of sorts. But then how does a 6 mile gated low traveled (on weekends) gravel road which turns into an abandoned road which dumps you into singletrack sound? DC-Line has some pretty steep pitches, but once you see the 5 1/2 mile placard, you're almost done then you can go volcano spotting if the weather cooperates. (HINT - after the downhill at the 4 mile placard - keep as much speed as you can). After a bit more climbing, there is a 6 mile descent on the C-Line, then some road and then back onto singletrack and gravel of the E-9000. This really is a pretty special route. The overall distance might sound like a lot, but there's a lot of pavement that makes this route possible.
But if 42 miles doesn't sound like what you are up for, or if you want to double up for the weekend, we are also including a DIY Light route this month too. It starts in the same location and traverses the D-4000 and the final stretch of the full DIY route using the E-9000. The map for that route can be found here: ridewithgps.com/routes/34732267
Have fun, enjoy and hope to see you out there!
For December, we're giving you another new route with a never-before-featured road - the DC-Line. This latest route is about half road, half gravel, with some singletrack mixed in too. The route starts at the Mima Trailhead in the Capitol Forest where there is plenty of parking. With a touch of gravel and a lot of road, the first 16 miles is an undulating warmup of sorts. But then how does a 6 mile gated low traveled (on weekends) gravel road which turns into an abandoned road which dumps you into singletrack sound? DC-Line has some pretty steep pitches, but once you see the 5 1/2 mile placard, you're almost done then you can go volcano spotting if the weather cooperates. (HINT - after the downhill at the 4 mile placard - keep as much speed as you can). After a bit more climbing, there is a 6 mile descent on the C-Line, then some road and then back onto singletrack and gravel of the E-9000. This really is a pretty special route. The overall distance might sound like a lot, but there's a lot of pavement that makes this route possible.
But if 42 miles doesn't sound like what you are up for, or if you want to double up for the weekend, we are also including a DIY Light route this month too. It starts in the same location and traverses the D-4000 and the final stretch of the full DIY route using the E-9000. The map for that route can be found here: ridewithgps.com/routes/34732267
Have fun, enjoy and hope to see you out there!
