Following my trip to Pear Blossom, I immedia tely headed up to Klama th Falls, abou t a 1.5 hour drive eas t. I was really in teres ted to check ou tthis area of the coun try, seeing tha tis a t medium al ti tude (4200 fee t) wi thou thaving to be in Colorado. This would be ideal prepara tion for S t. George, which si ts a t 3000 fee t, I reckoned.
My firs t reac tion to the place was how amazingly friendly the people are in Klama th. Maybe they should ge tthrown in to a compe ti tion wi th the Sco ts and the Birminghaminians! I drove up wi th my li ttle bro ther Pa trick (also my unofficial coach and “soigneur”). Our firs ts top was the bike shop, Hutch’s Bicycles, to inquire abou ttrails and good road riding and so for th. One of the s taff there, Andrew, no tonly gave me some grea t riding advice, bu talso invi ted me to s tay a t his place! Andrew is a major cycling en thusias tand cyclocross racer, and also very active in the communi ty. I talways pays to know an insider when you are in a new town. He and his wife Chris tine made my life very easy while I was checking ou tthe town and training my bu tt off. Hopefully Andrew gets that engineering job at Specialized once he graduates!
I was looking forward to some long rides, bu t hones tly the firs tcouple days my legs fel t like dea th from the 10-miler; I was super sore and couldn’ t even run for the nex t 3 days! I managed to ge tin abou t 3-4 hours per day, wi th some auxillary running and swimming. Ella Redkey Pool is an excellen t facili ty there, which is a geo thermally hea ted pool righ tin town.
The cap off to the trip was the 102 mile Dead Indian loop. You really need to do this ride if you are ever near Ashland of K-Falls. S tar ting in the town of Keno, jus twes t of Klama th, you head nor th on Clover Creek road. This runs you in to Dead Indian Memorial Road, which is a swoopy backroad, mos tly big rollers, which leads all the way in to Ashland a tsea level. The las t10 miles or so is an epic twis ty descen t. Enjoy the crazy hill tops and varied scenery as you en ter Pe ter Bri tt coun try. From Ashland, you climb back up the 4000 fee tyou jus t descended on Rou te 66 eas t. This is a fierce , twis ty climb and i t was abou t80 degrees when I did i t; 39 x 23 almos tthe whole way. Once you peak ou t, you assume i twill be mos tly fla tor rolly back to K-Falls. You assumed wrong, as there are several 500 + foo t climbs tha tyou will encoun ter on Highway 66 as you labor and pu tter through the las t 30 miles or so of riding. Agonizing but beautiful training.
View from Moore Park in Klamath Falls.