Hi all,
some time ago I bookmarked this ride.
July 4th I decided to do that before the parade in Lebanon. The parade goes right by my house so I didn't want to get caught up in it... I figured back by 10:30am would be good since it usually starts around 11:00am. At 10:10 I was back and to my dismay the parade had started earlier this year. A little bit of an embarrassing moment but I found a way around and snuck into the driveway just as the first vehicles were passing by.
The ride. Left the house at 6:50 after a big bowl of my favorite honey smacks cereals. Not a great idea when you need to climb 500' over 3 miles right off the bat, although by the time I reached the top I was decently awake. This pretty much sets the tone of the ride.
The memorable climbs to me are Hickory Run rd, which is very scenic and seems to never end. Then there's Middle Valley rd. with the right turn on Zellers, a nice touch. A host of roads with sweet names like Hill rd., Mt Lebanon, Turkey top, Mountain top, ... Even Sanatorium rd. sounds fitting towards the end. Mt Lebanon rd. had me wishing for a 25 in the back or a compact crank, but fortunately it's not that long.
The descents are worthwhile. I glimpsed 45mph when I dared peering down at the computer zipping down Point Mountain rd. That is one of the descents where the road is somewhat wide and the visibility is decent. Stephensburg rd. provides a long and twisty descent that I found entertaining.
Following the cue sheet was not very easy and I made several mistakes which brought the total miles to 57. The Sanatorium rd. area is not clear at all, I had to climb it twice, once going over to Hill rd. and all the way to the bottom thinking I had missed the turn... The trick is to stay to the right when you see the "No Outlet sign" (misleading) and then take the left-most road at the 4-way split (not 3).
All in all it's a great ride. I highly recommend this route, just make sure you take climbing gears.
Cheers,
Maurice
some time ago I bookmarked this ride.
July 4th I decided to do that before the parade in Lebanon. The parade goes right by my house so I didn't want to get caught up in it... I figured back by 10:30am would be good since it usually starts around 11:00am. At 10:10 I was back and to my dismay the parade had started earlier this year. A little bit of an embarrassing moment but I found a way around and snuck into the driveway just as the first vehicles were passing by.
The ride. Left the house at 6:50 after a big bowl of my favorite honey smacks cereals. Not a great idea when you need to climb 500' over 3 miles right off the bat, although by the time I reached the top I was decently awake. This pretty much sets the tone of the ride.
The memorable climbs to me are Hickory Run rd, which is very scenic and seems to never end. Then there's Middle Valley rd. with the right turn on Zellers, a nice touch. A host of roads with sweet names like Hill rd., Mt Lebanon, Turkey top, Mountain top, ... Even Sanatorium rd. sounds fitting towards the end. Mt Lebanon rd. had me wishing for a 25 in the back or a compact crank, but fortunately it's not that long.
The descents are worthwhile. I glimpsed 45mph when I dared peering down at the computer zipping down Point Mountain rd. That is one of the descents where the road is somewhat wide and the visibility is decent. Stephensburg rd. provides a long and twisty descent that I found entertaining.
Following the cue sheet was not very easy and I made several mistakes which brought the total miles to 57. The Sanatorium rd. area is not clear at all, I had to climb it twice, once going over to Hill rd. and all the way to the bottom thinking I had missed the turn... The trick is to stay to the right when you see the "No Outlet sign" (misleading) and then take the left-most road at the 4-way split (not 3).
All in all it's a great ride. I highly recommend this route, just make sure you take climbing gears.
Cheers,
Maurice
