Last week, I rode through a bit of history and came out thinking of the future. I rode over Old Blewett Pass, which used to connect the Washington towns of Leavenworth and Cle Elum. Old Blewett Pass was decommissioned in the 1950s and a new road (US 97) was built through Swauk Pass — now referred to as Blewett Pass. The old road is still there (mostly), paved (enough), and maintained (somewhat) as USFS road 7320. It is, quite possibly, the best climb I have ever ridden.
I climbed from the North side, after an approach of about 25km on US97. Once on the old road, the climb is 730 m over 16km, with grades from 5 to 8%. The interwebs tell me this is a category 1 climb. My legs tell me it was perfect. After a summer full of riding and with a mojo still glowing from the joy of my new carbone, I spun uphill steady and fast. Hands on the bar-tops, eyes forward, face relaxed– a pro in my own mind, the mountain laying down before me.
I rode alone, and I saw no one– car, bike, or otherwise. My own private mountain stage to the past. And now I think of the future. What other roads await?
Photo and information from
http://oldblewett.blogspot.com
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Beautiful, Jim. Perfect rides are few and far between. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds fantastic. Gorgeous area. Thanks for this.
That sounds like a perfect day on the bike.
One of the nice things about road development, I guess - lots of old routes to be found that are almost nearly abandoned!
You just have to find them, which is the problem... I spend a lot of time looking at routes on google maps, wondering if they would be any good.
Awesome, just awesome!
Outstanding post, Jim! Sometimes a lonely road is the best road.
Nice. I was riding with McSqueak Saturday, and we were talking about one of my favorite climbs; McKenzie Pass OR. East of Eugene, it's a stout climb that gets closed most of the winter, then in spring, ODOT will plow out one lane and allow cyclists and pedestrians only (lasts from May-July depending on snowpack near the top.). Fantastic climbing on a newly paved road without a trace of cars, and very few other cyclists especially if you can pull off doing it during a weekday.
Very cool, a touch of history, a bit of a look inside your soul during the ride. Nice! I still think about your commuter article all the time, often when I'm commuting! I haven't been riding as much as I'd like lately, work and stuff, and it's amazing how much I find myself daydreaming of past rides that were just awesome and looking forward to having the time again to go on really nice long weekend rides. Been limited to mainly 1-2 hour rides lately, can't wait for a nice fall six hour loop.
scaler/'squeak - Very jealous that you two get to ride together on any given weekend! Gotta get me a local Velominatus pal. Too many of the folks I ride with just aren't that much fun to be around.
And Jim, a new bike? Have you shared it? Always excited to check out new additions to the Velominati Stable.
@Ron
Yeah I feel very fortunate to have met some really great people through this website.
Simple and brilliant. Thanks for sharing
That's why in my opinion, rule #62 is pure gold.