Monday, June 1, 2009

Hidden Gem (not so hidden now..)

I've been guilty in the past of leaving a cliffhanger and never delivering the follow-up post.  I sometimes hope you'll forget because I don't feel like writing about it...


Jeremy Hopwood wasn't having any of that this time with the North Shore "hidden gem" I mentioned in the last post:

Ok, will be holding you true on the promise of revealing the details of "great road on the North Shore with Tour de France style switchbacks and gnarly 8-9% sections"

Tried to find it yesterday on the road and are now stalking google maps trying to work it out.
So, hoping I haven't oversold it, here it is:


You might need to click on that to enlarge it.  (In words:  From Mt. Seymour Parkway, turn onto Mt. Seymour Road, turn right onto Indian River Dr., turn left onto Indian River Crescent, follow - it turns back into Indian River Dr., continue until you start to see all the switchbacks and just keep heading down to the water (try not to think about the ride back...)

Notice the two big switchbacks which are very steep, and the other little squiggle which is another set of s'backs.  They aren't Alpe d'Huez but I'll take them...

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera but like I mentioned before, this road is like riding through a Provincial Park, old growth forest on either side, all the way down to the water where some very lucky folks have some pretty nice houses.  The turn-off is a little hard to find (though not with this map...)

Anyway, add this little leg-burning adventure to your next North Shore ride and it will definitely be the highlight... 

Jeremy:  Let me know if you want to go there sometime...  we usually ride from Park Royal at 5:30pm or so on Thursdays.  Probably an LSD ride for you given the speed I saw at Shawnigan...

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1 comment:

Vincent said...

I was curious about this road. After scouring google maps a few weeks ago I came across it and just haven't been out towards seymore since. Will have to try it out.