My Foothill Century-2019 edition.

At Foresthill.

The time had arrived for me to do my annual century ride through the foothills of the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains. Normally I would plan a route through Auburn and continuing to Meadow Vista and then to either Grass Valley or Colfax. This year bridge replacement on Bowman Road made my route through Auburn more complicated than usual so I decided to change the route and add a few more miles at the same time. I hoped I could stretch out the distance to an even 200 kilometers or 124.25 miles!

To accomplish this I planned to ride up to Foresthill, then take Yankee Jim's Road to Colfax. From Colfax I would ride Highway 174 to Grass Valley then take the normal route from Grass Valley, that's westbound Highway 20 to Smartsville Road, then on the Wheatland and back to Loomis through Lincoln.

The first leg of the ride was through Auburn, across the Foresthill Bridge and on up to Foresthill. The long climb to Foresthill is always workout. Getting into town I stopped at Worton's for a chocolate milk and apple pie and took in the view from the picnic tables. The heading picture is from Worton's.

From Foresthill, I dropped down Yankee Jim's Road to the North Fork of the American River. After a mile or so the road turns to gravel. This year the road seems to be in pretty good shape, just a little washboard to tend with. It was very dusty at first. I took my time descending.

Pretty dusty conditions at first!

There was very little traffic on this weekday. I did encounter a couple of horseback riders but no cars on the descent. Climbing out on the north side I met only two vehicles. The road remained in good shape on the other side.

Along Yankee Jims Road

Yankee Jims Bridge over the North Fork of the American River.

I finally reached Colfax by around 11:00 am. I was beginning to see that I was in for a long day in the saddle! After getting a little mixed up in Colfax I found the way to highway 174 and was soon climbing again. I reached Cedar Ridge at a bit after noon and stopped for a soft drink and to refill my water bottles. I took a break and had a small sandwich then got back on the road heading for Grass Valley.

Lunch break at Cedar Ridge

Approaching Grass Valley you should take the left that takes you to the Empire Mine, a large State Park now. Following this road will take you directly to Highway 20 and the next leg of the route.

The rest of the ride follows my past routes...for the latest iteration see Camp Far West Road and beyond. I followed Smartsville Road and a couple of rural roads to Wheatland. There I stopped for some cold drinks and then pressed on to Lincoln and finally home. It was fairly warm, highs approaching the mid and upper 90s and I definitely felt it, with twinges of cramps at times, but I was able to make it home fine. Final mileage was 122.28 miles on MapMyRide. I was not especially fast however, with an average speed of 12 mph I spent a little over 10 hours riding!

This was a tough ride, the start up to Foresthill is a grind, and Yankee Jims Road is always fun but demanding! Not sure if I'll try it next year when Bowman Road is open again!

Equipment notes.

Well, no mechanical issues were encountered on this trip! Not even a flat this time. I also tried something to relieve my hotfoot problem. This time I used a half insole to support my arch and absolutely no other padding. not even the factory insole. This provided me a little extra room in the toe box and that seemed to do the trick! I had no pain in the ball of my right foot at all! Wonderful!

The Mercian, (My K.O.M. touring) preformed great, the mustache bars allowed me a pretty comfortable riding position. 

A little dusty after 122 miles but otherwise fine!