2023 ride to Iowa Hill.

At Iowa Hill.

It's hard to believe, but it's been SIX years since I've taken the ride up to Iowa Hill!   See: Iowa-Hill-Finning Mill and Yankee Jims.html  That seems incredible, but I can't find any record of my doing this ride since that time!

Back in 2017, I did this ride on my Felt V-100 with 700C X 42 tires. This time I rode the Ritchey with 650B X 48 tubeless tires. 

At the American River crossing on Iowa Hill Road.

I chose this day for the ride because temperatures were forecast to be a little below normal for August, still plenty warm but I hoped no too warm! Unfortunately, I got out rather late and didn't actually start riding until 11:00 am, something I'd pay for later!

The ride starts just outside of Colfax. The Park and Ride at the old Dingus McGee site is now cordoned off but you can park near the westbound 80 onramp. Then I followed Canyon Way up to Iowa Hill Road. There begins the steep drop to the North Fork of the American River. After crossing the river, you begin the very long, very steep climb. The first stretch is really tough but there are plenty of other bad stretches too! I've got some pretty small gears on the Ritchey, which is equipped with a triple crank, and I used them...a lot!

At long last I came to Iowa Hill. I stopped to snap a picture or two but I didn't really take a break there, instead, I continued on to Sugar Pine Reservoir.

Finally making it to Iowa Hill!

At Iowa Hill.

The ride from Iowa Hill to Sugar Pine still requires a little more climbing but it isn't nearly as hard as the road from the river to Iowa Hill.

At Sugar Pine Reservoir.

After passing the Sugar Pine boat ramp turnout and approaching the OHV staging area, I came to the cut-off at Finning Mill Road. This will take you directly to Foresthill Road and it is a pretty nice gravel road winding through some beautiful country.

On Finning Mill Road

Finning Mill takes you to Foresthill Road, just east of town actually. It's an easy ride into town.

Finning Mill Road at Foresthill Road.

Upon reaching Foresthill, I stopped at the very nice little community park on the North side of town. I refilled my water bottles and had a snack. It was pretty warm and I was beginning to feel some cramping in my legs so I rode over to a food mart and got a bottle of Gatorade to cool me off and to supplement to plain water. 

At the Foresthill community park.

After that short rest I got on Yankee Jims Road for the descent back down to the American River. I've done this ride many times and there was no surprises here. Actually, the road was in pretty good shape this year with minimal washboard and little traffic. I was happy to see water still coming down a couple of the falls along the road on my way down. Also, since this was the north facing side of the road, I enjoyed some shade on the way down.

Heading down Yankee Jims Road.

Along Yankee Jims Road.

The crystal clear water of the American River at the Yankee Jims Bridge.

Unfortunately, after crossing I was on the south facing side of the canyon and was exposed to the bright sun and intense afternoon heat. I took my time and slowly ground my way up to Colfax.

 

The post-ride photo of the Ritchey. A little dirty but no worse for wear!

Well, it was a successful ride in that I did actually complete it, LOL, but my time was terribly slow, over 5 hours and 45 minutes; an average of only 7.3 MPH!! Geez! A full hour slower than my 2015 ride over the same route. Not sure what slowed me down except perhaps, ahem, 8 years of aging!

Anyway, the bike performed well, with the big 48mm tires handling the gravel portions just fine. I was riding Gravel King slicks, but had little trouble with traction on these dry roads. The only slippage I noticed was when I would try to stand up on steep inclines. I quickly learned to sit back down and just spin the low gears made possible with my triple crank. I'm thinking maybe my relying on these low gears so much may have contributed to my slow pace. I don't know, but I didn't feel particularly tired after this ride, so the low gearing helped me there.

Here's a plot of the ride.

This ride is always something of an adventure for me, I'm so glad I did it this year, and I promised myself it wouldn't be another 6 years before I tried it again!