Seven miles with 1722 of elevation gain, all in one push. (Elevation profiles are a cyclist's version of blasting terrible music with the windows down. "Notice me notice me! Does this make my penis look bigger?")
It's almost as long as the Wheeler Loop climb at Breck Epic (minus the thin air.)
I mapped it out from Wilderness Voyaguers in town. I guesstimated the exact route since I have yet to enter the age of gps's and spinal taps and other bicycle mounted wiz-bangery.
Although I did recently upgrade my telephone so that it could remind me of important events:
Masking tape app(lication)
Anyway, there should be a cue sheet of trail names on the MapMyRide.
I do a short version of this loop most days over the summer, but on Sunday I went the whole way to the top of the mountain.
It was almost 90 minutes of standing on the pedals. Most of Sugarloaf is wide and covered in loose river stones. In the middle it's almost too steep to clear.
On top of the mountain at McCune, the trail narrows down and the vegetation is scrubby. Stuff gets twisty and rocky like Big Bear or Laurel Mountain. There's a few overlooks on the trail. The river is a long way down.
After that, the downhill is almost 20 minutes of steep singletrack. My hands went numb from the cold, and I could barely grab the brakes before I hit the last steep drop on Baughman.
It good preparation for the Annual Championship of the Universe of Riding Raccoon Trails.
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