Sunday, April 5, 2009

RR: Cowles Mountain

First time at Cowles, had a great time. Followed MTB Bill's route and started from the trailhead at Mesa Rd.

Had to do some route finding at first, but after one missed turn, I started the singletrack climbing


The singletrack eventually intersected with the main fire road that would take me to the top.

Climb was worse than I originally thought at the top, and ended up HAB'ing a bit. Soooo steep.

Eventually I made it to the summit, and was rewarded with some impressive views.

From the top of Cowles I continued over to Pyles, which involved a short fun downhill and then some more climbing. I'm glad I did it, and enjoyed that section.

Here's the view from the Pyles Peak overlook:



From there I retraced my steps, back up to the top of Cowles and then down to the car. I detoured a bit on to the Big Rock singletrack, which was awesome. The ride felt like more than 8 miles, but was enjoyable nonetheless.

Total Distance: 8.34 miles
Total Time: 2:06:24
Ascent: 2161 feet
Average Speed: 4.0 mph
Top Speed: 25.0 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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