Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Classic

This is the Kelsey Loop or Chilibar loop.







This is what the crew did on Sunday with wet ground and a blue skies. Welcome to new guy Brian. Hey, I remembered a name this time. I pooped out early with the continuing hip pain issues. Thanks for sitting up and waiting for me Danny.



It is a great ride in either direction, one of my local favorites. If you do it clockwise you've got to start by climbing prospector road. At 2 miles of 13% ave gradient it is not the best warm up but it sure is a great climb. The payoff for going clockwise is that you get to descend hwy 193 from Kelsey to Chili Bar. That is one of the best quality descents around. It features good pavement and really fun curves and S turns. Then after climbing out of the South Fork Canyon you get to drop 49 into Coloma which is also a really good descent.



If you are not in the mood to climb steep climbs and want to practice descending on junky roads then counterclockwise is your direction for this one. The drop from Placerville city limits to Chili Bar is crappy, beat up and in need of new pavement. I am biased because I came really close to doing a Joseba Beloki there. Now I just sit up and hold the brakes real tight. The good side of counter clock is that you get to climb that sweet section from Chili Bar up to Kelsey. I frickin love that climb and it beats the heck out of climbing prospector most days.



Which Direction is your favorite. Post a vote by clicking comment below.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Found it...comments are cool! Anyone up for Cyclocross on Sunday???

MB

Sorelegs said...

My legs are too sore. Looking forward to next year. Hopefully you and I will be in different age groups. I wouldnt want to hur tyou too bad.

Ray said...

Have a great time Matt, CX is a blast. I'd love to join you but have some stitches that I'm dealing with