dryfj.com / drycyclist.com (kevin cook)

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At the top of the County Line Road grade, it's time to begin the short descent down Coit Road into the Mississippi Creek canyon.

05779-coit-road-descent-800px.jpg Delicious, life-giving, grey water.ThumbnailsThe final steep hill down to Silicon Valley is a blast and I begin the 23-mile northward ride home on the flat valley floorDelicious, life-giving, grey water.ThumbnailsThe final steep hill down to Silicon Valley is a blast and I begin the 23-mile northward ride home on the flat valley floorDelicious, life-giving, grey water.ThumbnailsThe final steep hill down to Silicon Valley is a blast and I begin the 23-mile northward ride home on the flat valley floorDelicious, life-giving, grey water.ThumbnailsThe final steep hill down to Silicon Valley is a blast and I begin the 23-mile northward ride home on the flat valley floorDelicious, life-giving, grey water.ThumbnailsThe final steep hill down to Silicon Valley is a blast and I begin the 23-mile northward ride home on the flat valley floor

Wow, it only took me a little over an hour to make it up the County Line Road grade to 1950 feet here!

I have one more ridge to climb over today (Pacheco Ridge), with a small canyon between here and there: Mississippi Creek canyon. That means I drop down to about 1600 feet, then rise back up to about 1950 feet, all in 1.8 miles.

I haven't been down into this area of the Park before, so hopefully the road out of the canyon won't be too steep for the 10-ton bike. It looks reasonable on the map, but I've made map-reading mistakes many times.

It would be nice to take a break now, but there's no shade in the chamise chapparal here and the downhill ahead of me will be fun!