Applegate Lake

Distance: 45 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,000'

Description:

The ride to Applegate Lake and back is possible at just about any time of the year, it just so happens that it's about the best moderate length ride to open the season in the spring. It's a beautiful ride, generally starting in Jacksonville, climbing for roughly two miles and 500 feet before dropping back down to the Applegate Valley. From here on the ride cruises thru the ...

Brownsboro Loop

Distance: 38 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,100'

Description:

The Brownsboro Loop is one of the most common club rides and one of the more common places to see riders in the north end of the valley. This loop, which comes in at just under 40 miles with about 1,000' of climbing takes in a mix of urban, residential, industrial and rural roads. There are a few rollers leaving Medford and another near Brownsboro, but this is really one of ...

Butte Falls Prospect

Distance: 50-72 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,800'

Description:

The Butte Falls/Prospect Loop is an amazing ride into the cascades. It has some good climbing - nothing that will break the legs - and superb scenery. Traditionally the club rides will start at McGregor Park just below Lost Creek Dam. From there immediately turn right on the Crowfoot Rd after crossing the Rogue. After 10 miles of gentle but consistent climbing turn left on the ...

Evans Ck./Wimer Loop

Distance: 50 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,000'

Description:

This 50 mile loop is a great way to get off of the busy roads of the Rogue Valley and take mini-break from civilization without significant climbing. Regardless of direction, you'll have one long, but gradual climb and descent with the majority of the ride on flat terrain with minor rollers. If ridden counter-clockwise, your only significant climb is Meadows Rd, which at 3 ...

Ride to Callahan's

Distance: 13 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,900'

Description:

The climb to Callahan's is a beautiful ride from the valley floor to 4000 feet. The climb itself isn't terribly difficult but it certainly isn't easy either. The real climb begins half a mile past the right turn onto old highway 99 with an average gradient of just less than 6% for six miles. It twists and turns up the oak woodlands with occasional views of Soda Mountain, Pilot ...

The Lakes Loop

Distance: 48 miles

Elevation Gain: 4,000'

Description:

The Lakes Loop is a great training ride in the weeks before the Mountain Lakes Challenge. It incorporates all of the really hard parts of the MLC and still gets in roughly 50 miles and 4000+ feet of cumulative climbing. It is also great in the weeks before the MLC becuase the seasonal temperatures are usually pretty comfortable at that point. In summer this loop should be ...

Woodrat Loop

Distance: 46 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,800'

Description:

The Woodrat ride is a great intermediate length loop that quickly takes you out of the populated Rogue Valley into a forrested rural area. The ride is roughly 46 miles with 3000 feet of climbing. For the most part the climbing is gentle, but W. Griffin Creek road has a short window near its summit that reaches a 16% grade. Once you reach Poorman Creek you'd never know you were ...

Anderson Gap

Distance: 12 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,300'

Description:

The road to Anderson Gap is one of only a few paved one lane roads that climb into the mountains above the Bear Creek Valley. It does this in spectacular fashion. I enjoy hard climbs. Anderson Gap isn't Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada or the Angliru. (a nasty one way climb in Spain w/consistent grades above 20%) It isn't long, but I have found it to be the most difficult ...

Cedar Flats/Deer Creek

Distance: 68-82 miles

Elevation Gain: 4,200'

Description:

Experienced cyclists who've exhausted all of the possible rides and loops in the Medford/Ashland area may not be aware of this very challening loop south of Grants Pass. Like the Conde Creek Loop in the Cascades, this ride through the Siskiyous is a mostly flat/rolling ride interrupted with a massive climb. Like Conde Creek, the heart of the ride is a single lane, chipsealed ...

Conde Creek Loop

Distance: 76 miles

Elevation Gain: 5,500'

Description:

The Conde Creek Loop is one of the harder rides the club will run each year. It is very similar to the Cedar Flats/Deer Creek Loop in that it is generally a rolling/flat ride with one very steep climb accounting for most of the work. That climb is Conde Creek Rd, a single lane Forest Service road that climbs from roughly 2200 feet to 5200 in about 11 miles. That makes it ...

Crater Lake Loop

Distance: 33-80 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,600'

Description:

This is probably the classic ride in Southern Oregon. It brings everything a rider could want to the table. It's a short 33 mile loop around the lake with several options for starting locations. If you want to extend the ride into an even more spectacular long ride, adding in roughly 45 miles of riding off of the rim can make this an epic ride. I've ridden the loop many times ...

Mt. Ashland

Distance: 16 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,700'

Description:

There aren't many places around with views like you get on the Mt. Ashland Road. Once you clear the initial mile you are thousands of feet above the landscape below and the horizon opens up. Mt Shasta dominates the view to the south with Mt Eddy, the nearby Siskiyous and the Marble Mountains filling the horizon. Once you reach the ski area summit at 6,600 feet, the view to the ...

Ride to Callahan's

Distance: 13 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,900'

Description:

The climb to Callahan's is a beautiful ride from the valley floor to 4000 feet. The climb itself isn't terribly difficult but it certainly isn't easy either. The real climb begins half a mile past the right turn onto old highway 99 with an average gradient of just less than 6% for six miles. It twists and turns up the oak woodlands with occasional views of Soda Mountain, Pilot ...

Salmon River Loop

Distance: 100 miles

Elevation Gain: 10,500'

Description:

If any ride speaks to the rugged beauty of the State of Jefferson, the very challenging Salmon River Loop does it in spades. This 100 mile loop is in the middle of one of the least developed and most remote tracts of land in the lower 48. Once out of the relative bustle of the Scott Valley, you'll probably have the road to yourself - if you need more than one hand to count the ...

The Lakes Loop

Distance: 48 miles

Elevation Gain: 4,000'

Description:

The Lakes Loop is a great training ride in the weeks before the Mountain Lakes Challenge. It incorporates all of the really hard parts of the MLC and still gets in roughly 50 miles and 4000+ feet of cumulative climbing. It is also great in the weeks before the MLC becuase the seasonal temperatures are usually pretty comfortable at that point. In summer this loop should be ...

Woodrat Loop

Distance: 46 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,800'

Description:

The Woodrat ride is a great intermediate length loop that quickly takes you out of the populated Rogue Valley into a forrested rural area. The ride is roughly 46 miles with 3000 feet of climbing. For the most part the climbing is gentle, but W. Griffin Creek road has a short window near its summit that reaches a 16% grade. Once you reach Poorman Creek you'd never know you were ...

Colestin Loop

Distance: 19 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,000'

Description:

If you want to quickly get very far into California by bike from Ashland you either have to be brave (enough to ride on the freeway for a short distance) or be willing to get in touch with your dirty side... why not mix in both? On Nov. 2nd 2002, Wil Thomson, Carol Lee Rogers, Rick Berlet, Bob Korfhage and Cindy Roche challenged the idea that the Siskiyou Velo is just a club ...

Colestin Loop

Distance: 19 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,000'

Description:

If you want to quickly get very far into California by bike from Ashland you either have to be brave (enough to ride on the freeway for a short distance) or be willing to get in touch with your dirty side... why not mix in both? On Nov. 2nd 2002, Wil Thomson, Carol Lee Rogers, Rick Berlet, Bob Korfhage and Cindy Roche challenged the idea that the Siskiyou Velo is just a club ...

Little Shasta Loop

Distance: 65 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,000'

Description:

One of the most scenic and pleasant rides in close proximity to Medford and Ashland, this route is pure cycling pleasure on any nice day of the year. In the winter months a later start, 10:30 or 11:00 am, may avoid the colder air at the somewhat higher (than the Rogue Valley ) elevations of this ride. Similarly, an earlier start in the summer months can avoid the time bake of ...

Salmon River Loop

Distance: 100 miles

Elevation Gain: 10,500'

Description:

If any ride speaks to the rugged beauty of the State of Jefferson, the very challenging Salmon River Loop does it in spades. This 100 mile loop is in the middle of one of the least developed and most remote tracts of land in the lower 48. Once out of the relative bustle of the Scott Valley, you'll probably have the road to yourself - if you need more than one hand to count the ...