A couple of times a year I like to really torture myself and a do a particularly grueling ride – for me anyway. Some of you do this kind of stuff all the time. One of those rides is a climb with a loop to high up on the Boise Ridge Road and the top of Five Mile Gulch Trail. I did this ride on July 20, 2013. I essentially reversed the loop from what I have done in years past and rode this loop clockwise. I also started and ended in Camelsback Park. The beginning and ending of the ride is on Pavement, which can give you a nice warm-up / cool-down ride. On this day, I accidentally increased the torture level. Read on…
Normally I’m very good about making sure I have plenty of fluids energy sources, but on this day I was totally distracted. All that I had was one cliff bar and my normal 2-liters in my camelback. The temps that day hit 100 and they would have been in the 90’s when I was finishing. I bonked on this ride and the last 1/3 was pretty painful. Lesson learned: ALWAYS have hydration and energy to last you for the ride that you are doing!
Key stats on this ride, (see the GPS map at the bottom of the page). Distance – 24 miles. Elevation gain – almost 3,800 feet.
Here are some photos that I shot that day with my iPhone.
A view down Hulls Gulch from Trail 4.
The obligatory self shot
Looking north on the upper part of 5 Mile Gulch Trail
Trail 4, looking NW.
Upper 5 Mile Gulch Trail.
This video was shot on a different ride, but it highlights the Watchman trail, Three Bears (fast, challenging DH section), Shane’s Loop and the Fort Boise Reserve.
GPS Data:
