The Hammerin' Wheels Road Bike Club

August 28, 2010 6:15 AM. 6 attended.

A71-Foresthill/French Meadows Loop

Sunsplash Park n' Ride (near Shell gas station) (map)

Selected By: Scott Taggart

15 photos of this Meetup

Uploaded by: Scott Taggart

Distance: 71 miles
Pace: Strenuous
Climbing: Yes! - 11,250ft (with very long, arduous climbs)
Sweep: No. We'll have natural regroup points.
Skill Level: Strong Intermediate to Advanced
6:45am Carpool meetup time at Park-N-Ride near sunsplash
7:00am Meetup time at Foresthill Post Office

[ please read the water requirements at the bottom of this page ]

This ride is an experience. Period. It starts with a 9.5 mile descent! It then has a short climb and another brake-burning 2 mile descent. Catch your breath now because you will need it for the "Wall" - a gruesome 5 mile, 2,200' climb sprinkled with 20% grades. Portions of the route are so desolate and peaceful that you may not see a car for an hour! Break down out here and you'll need Bear Gryls on your 'pod to bail you out! We will climb to French Meadows reservoir and then on to top out at 6,000'. Had enough climbing yet? OK, how about a World-Class 18-mile descent with views to kill for!! Alas, the fun had to end - remember that 9.5 mile descent you did in the cold morning air? Well, it's time to pay back Newton and I have never made the climb-out to the car from this canyon when it wasn't in the mid-90s! Find your gear and get it over with, there's cold drinks at the top!

You must be completely self-sufficient - food, parts, tools, water - there is nothing and no one on much of this loli-pop loop save for Smokey. There is a single water stop (from a spring) at the 1/2 point or so.

This is an "advanced" mountain ride. You must be in great hill-climbing shape and have a good base. Don't try to fudge your way on this one - turning back is just as bad as going forward (check out the profile).

We will have re-group points along the way and one food stop (the food you remembered to bring) but we will not be taking too much time out once the last rider re-groups. There is zero food and one water stop on the route. You should come self-prepared since we will not stop at every opportunity. I often carry two extra water bottles to the bottom (for a total of 4 full when I start) of the first descent and drop them there for the afternoon return.

The Route

Road Conditions

Don't bother with printing a route sheet - it's useless out here. Leave your cell phone at home too - it won't work - mama is NOT coming to get you!

We will have two meetup points: The Park 'N Ride at SunSplash in Roseville at Eureka & Taylor will be our carpool meetup at 6:15am which you are highly encouraged to use (suggested driver compensation is $4/hr. of drive time). The official ride-start Meetup point is the Foresthill Post Office at 7:00.

Here is the carpool meetup point.

Here is the ride Start Point in Foresthill which is a 45 min. drive from the Park 'N Ride.

Please carpool where possible. If you's like to car pool directly from my house in Roseville, please send me an email for directions. I live near Hazel & Old Auburn and can hold three additional bikes.

As always, helmets are required. Bring food and/or money for food when we are finished.

Water Requirements: As noted above, there is a single water stop at the 1/2 point. To make this ride possible, you must bring 4 full bottles with you at the start. You need to be able to carry all 4 bottles to the bottom of the first descent (about 10 miles) (normally just tucking them in your jersey pockets works fine since it's a descent!). We drop two bottles there to be picked up on our return (when we will now have the 10 mile climb of the morning's descent). I have done this ride exactly this way many times. If you have more water needs than 6-bottles in 70 miles, you may consider a Camel Back or additional bottle (I would shy away from a Camel Back because of the heat on the final climb). Also, please bring ample food (5-10 bars, etc.) - there are zero services out here - seriously

This means you will have full bottles at:

Start (I suppose you knew this)
Mile 33 (from natural Spring)
Mile 60 (the two you dropped 10 miles in)

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Scott
[masked] (h)
[masked] (cell)

Doug L.
I am planing on coming. Great ride to do. Just beautiful!
Doug L.

Posted August 12, 2010 at 9:57 PM
Scott Taggart
Doug,

I don;t know why the rsvp shows as closed - there are 8 open slots...

Posted August 13, 2010 at 4:20 PM
Javier Arroyo
Scott ...for some reason the RSVP deadline was set to "17 days before" ...I just changed it to day before.

Posted August 13, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Scott Taggart
Ahhh, thanks!!!! I never thought of looking at that. Probably because I copied the event from before. My bad.

Posted August 13, 2010 at 5:21 PM
Javier Arroyo
Yep that wil do it, when you copy it keeps the RSVP end date from the one you copied.

Posted August 13, 2010 at 5:54 PM
Bill W
Last time I used my camel-back 100 oz., also 2 bottles.

Posted August 16, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Scott Taggart
a camelback + 2 bottles is about the same as 6 bottles :)

Posted August 16, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Bill W
Yeah except the camelback is easier to carry.

Posted August 16, 2010 at 7:14 PM
Paul
looking forward to this ride again, I'll be parking a water truck at the dam of French meadows, so I should be good. I can't believe how hot that last climb can be.

Posted August 17, 2010 at 5:16 PM
Paul
I'll meet you guys in Foresthill. I think I'll freeze a gallon of water the night before and hope that stays cold until we get back there to the bottom of the "hill."

Posted August 17, 2010 at 8:44 PM
Paul
Good news, everyone! I've just unearthed and tested my insulator bag (like an ice chest but lower profile, and GREEN to camouflage!) I think I can fit twelve 16.9 oz plastic water bottles in there plus the gallon of water I'll be freezing the night before. This means ICE COLD WATER right before the hottest climb of the day!!! I'd reccomend 80-90% Ice in each bottle to keep it cold until we get there.

Posted August 24, 2010 at 9:26 PM
Paul
OR..... I could just go get three or four gallons, freeze them and stash the bag before we all meet up in Foresthill in the morning. Then we can just refill our bottles as if it were another natural spring or something and I'll pick up the kit on my way back home. If anyone would still like to bring their own bottles though, there'll be room for that as well.

Posted August 24, 2010 at 9:41 PM
Scott Taggart
Paul,

Thanks for thinking of us. Just remember that what goes down much come back up. I have taken backpacks down before only to regret having to deal with them on the way back. Last Sunday, Joe and I did this ride and we each carried 2 extra bottles down in our jerseys and had no problems with the whole ride with our 2 bike bottles plus those 2 for the last 10 miles. In fact, we dumped 1/2 bottle of water out at the bottom because we had too much.

Scott

Posted August 24, 2010 at 10:07 PM
Mica Dugan
Scott, pretty sure Paul is going to drop them by in his car (not carry it on the bike) before the ride then pick it back up later after the ride.

Posted August 24, 2010 at 10:32 PM
Paul
That was my plan, yes. If it goes off as it should, we can technically still say we did this ride without a support vehicle.

Posted August 26, 2010 at 8:18 PM
Scott Taggart
Oh, I get it now. I somehow missed that. Glad someone is paying attention! Hey, at least I know the route!!

Posted August 26, 2010 at 8:54 PM
Scott Taggart
Langsta' Gangsta': Hey, I might be getting a new Langster Friday. Doug & Joe, are you guys game to do this ride on yours? I have no clue what I would be in for if I tried this. What would you recommend for gearing? I am only considering this at maybe 20% likelihood...

Posted August 26, 2010 at 9:17 PM
Paul
s anyone driving from Carmichael area near Manzanita and Winding Way, and possibly have a spot for a passenger and bike?

Posted August 27, 2010 at 12:12 PM
Mica Dugan
I'm off of Madison and Dewey. We can carpool. Shoot me a message.

Posted August 27, 2010 at 12:31 PM
Joe
I wouldn't ride the langster... those 22% grades suck with a 80% gear ratio, so I would think I would need a 24 in the front an a 20 in the rear ;P

Posted August 27, 2010 at 1:16 PM
Paul
I would not recommend the langster on this type of ride either, and I'm an avid fixed gear trainer, but I think it could be harmful to your health.

Posted August 27, 2010 at 2:26 PM
Mica Dugan
Darn! I was hoping someone would ride a Langster so I wouldn't be the one coming in last ;-p

Scott, what is the address of the post office? I might just go straight to the post office rather than stopping at Sun Splash.

Posted August 27, 2010 at 3:41 PM
Scott Taggart
Foresthill Parking Map: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10364625/ForestHillPO.jpg

Posted August 27, 2010 at 3:59 PM
Scott Taggart
This will NOT be making an appearance tomorrow:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10364625/Langster.jpg

Posted August 27, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Mica Dugan
Thanks Scott. Saaaweeeet ride you got their! Sure you don't want to ride it tomorrow? lol

Posted August 27, 2010 at 4:12 PM
Scott Taggart
Oh sure I would love to ride it tomorrow but no one else wanted to ride theirs... at least that is the story I am sticking to!!

Posted August 27, 2010 at 4:49 PM
Bill W
Nice ride Staggart...& good to see Mica is gonna make it!
Bike cleaned & lubed, car loaded up stuff...almost ready.

Posted August 27, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Scott Taggart
Bill, my pleasure. Do you have a carpool ride or?

Posted August 27, 2010 at 7:33 PM
Mica Dugan
Thanks Bill. I look forward to questioning my sanity with you all tomorrow...LOL.

Posted August 27, 2010 at 8:10 PM
Paul
oh man... that is a nice looking machine Scott. it's sexier in that photo than any of the online catalog photos. Happy riding.

Posted August 27, 2010 at 11:01 PM
Scott Taggart
Great ride guys!!! Pix are uploaded. Make sure to checkout picture #15!

Posted August 28, 2010 at 9:40 PM
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6 attended

RSVPs closed

5.006 (6 ratings)

Event Host

Scott Taggart
Group Supporter, Assistant Organizer

Great ride guys!!! Pix are uploaded. Make sure to checkout picture #15!
Joe
Group Supporter

Love the roads, and couldn't beat the weather. Ahh yes the hill people.
Paul
Group Supporter, Assistant Organizer

Hoo thunked ittda bin COOOLD??! Even though we didn't see the sun, it was still an amazing route. You can never see too much of that kind of scenery. Now to go gear my bike down a little for the Crazy Eight!
Bill W
Group Supporter

ow
Mica Dugan
Group Supporter, Assistant Organizer

Epic is the perfect word for this ride. Epic climbs, epic decents, and epic scenery. Thanks Scott for a great ride and look forward to the next adventure! You are lucky all that makes up for the 5 cars we saw all day to keep your stars on the ride rating ;-p
Doug L.
Group Supporter

I should take a coupe of stars away. We actually saw 3 cars on the route! Just a wonderful ride. Tough climbing, the views, no cars, George the Lumberjack, and great company.