# Fall River Century - Fall River Mills - Another Post



## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Well, since it looks like we only got about 20 new posts I guess I'll throw in another  . Norcalrider posted on this ride already, so I decided to wait some time before throwing a competing thread in. 

We did the Fall River Mills Double Metric last Saturday. I had seen Norcal but didn't realize it was him so unfortunately we never hooked up, but other than that and the dense smoke it was a pretty good ride. I guess you can normally get great views of the volcanoes Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen but this year the visibility was only a few miles at best in the afternoon and maybe a few miles further in the morning. Fall River Mills itself is a pretty neat little town but the mosquitoes coming from their infamous Fall River Wild Rice paddies made the town something akin to a bad Viet Nam movie. I've never had such a problem with mosquitoes getting into my hotel room in my life. Talking about an itchy experience. Anyway, some real good points of the ride were the rest stops being run by the little tiny communities around the main town, the various lava covered terrain, and the very quiet roads which for the most part were in pretty good condition. The people at the rest stops were some of the nicest that I had ever met on an organized ride and it was a joy to stop and chat with the folks at each stop. 

Anyway, here are the pics:

The first is of the hotel in town. I made the mistake of not staying here. The skeeters weren't quite as bad. They had breakfast being cooked by the local veterans so we made sure to get a load of eggs, pancakes, and ham before heading out. Very nice way to start the morning. Starting out the roads were deserted except for the bikes humming along. It was pretty cool and I was glad I wore a light jacket. Our friend Randy, who is about a foot taller than his wife, had to borrow one of hers. Pretty funny stuff.

The ride started in the trees and eventually ended up on California SR89 and 299. Good roads with huge shoulders. The smoke filled the horizon though.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Leaving the main highway*

We started up some backroads to a little town hidden in the trees. The main resort was up for sale and evidently up for sale for some time. It was strange glancing through the cobwebs at perfectly set tables and a bar all ready to go. Anyone want to own a hidden resort? We then continued on across the Fall River or Pit River(?) dam and back to the town of Fall River where we grabbed some more grub at the park along the riverside.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Continuing on*

We headed up toward the lava country and the community of Little Valley (I think). Lots of agriculture, quiet red roads, and scorching hot temperatures. We were feeling the heat as we climbed up to the oddball little rest stop at the top of the hill. We chatted with the locals at the stop for a few minutes and then flew back down into the smokey valley to start the next stretch of the double.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Hot, Hot, Hot*

As we headed back toward the next turn only my friend Joe and I wanted to continue onto the last leg of the double. My wife and the rest of the group decided something a little over 100 miles would be great for the day and they headed back to the fairgrounds for some pasta. Joe and I continued on toward the town of Day through annoyingly hot, dry winds wishing we had eaten more at the last rest stop. To make matters worse we missed a stop thinking it was for water only and we were about to drop by the time we made it to Day. But boy was it worth it. Those ladies up there in the community center had baked about every kind of cookie you could imagine, had popcicles waiting, and even had neck coolers. Awesome! 

Fully rejuvenated we headed back to the fairgrounds for pasta and beer.


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## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

Guess you really can't complain about the wind. With water as smooth as glass there couldn't be even a slight breeze.

Nice pics and the fruit-kabobs look pretty good.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Looks like a very nice time. I've thought about doing that ride. Maybe next year. 

Nice pics!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Third pic from the bottom: now that`s my kind of buffet line!

Looks like really nice country up there- hopefully I`ll get to ride part of it in Sept. A family event will have us in Grants Pass and (fingers crossed) I`m going to have my wife drop me off with my bike in Mt Shasta, then ride home down 89. The catch is that it`s hunting season so I have to see what kind of coverage there`s going to be at work while all the Rambos are out Ramboing. Hope it works out- should be nice riding weather by then.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

The weather is normally great that time of year. That would be an awesome ride.


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

You had some really nice water pictures. That looks like a good time except for the heat. I hate high temps and high humidity.


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## karyg (Feb 17, 2004)

Ridgetop, I am doing this ride next week (the 18th) what kind of climbing does it have? The website does say. 
thanks,
Kary


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Kary,

The biggest climbing is on the out and backs that complete the century and double metric. The climb up to Day is long and was pretty hot last year (horrible smoke from fires also, but that doesn't seem to be an issue this year). The climb that heads southeast along the Pit River is also pretty dang warm but is only steep towards the end. There's enough climbing in between to burn your legs at times though (such as Clark Creek rest stop which is at the bottom of a canyon that you have to climb out through some lava country hills). The majority of the rest of the ride is just fairly easy rollers or flat from what I can remember. If I am remembering correctly, Day is at the end of a very boring series of rollers on straight road but has the best food.


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## karyg (Feb 17, 2004)

Thanks for the info. This will be my first big ride for about 8-9 months. I took 6 months off of riding to train and run the San Diego marathon. The experiment is over and the results are clear....riding is better. I only have a few hundred miles in my legs since the 1st of June but I feel pretty good, so if I take it easy I should be ok. I didn't think I would be ready for the Death Ride this weekend though! Have a good ride.


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