The ride starts by heading east on Lake Street and following it until it becomes the Everitt Memorial Highway as the road passes a school.  Climbing starts immediately and averages 6% for the entire 14 miles to the old parking lot.  The road is wide and, if you ride during the week, the traffic is limited, mostly used by hikers and campers.  This is not true if you wait until late in the day to make the ride.  Many people come up to the end of the road in the evenings to watch the sunset and the road can become quite busy. 

As you wind up the road there are numerous spots to stop and take pictures of the glorious views of the top of Mt Shasta, Black Butte peak and the Trinity Mountains in the distance. It’s a beautiful ride with lots of areas of good shade and just one short break from the climbing at about half way through the ride.  Somewhere near the last 1000 feet of climbing, roughly two miles from the top, the road starts to become steeper.  It never becomes so steep; however, that your front wheel tries to come off the ground like it does at the top of Ebbetts Pass.  As you reach the top you will see an area of some pretty good devastation caused by an earlier avalanche and mud flow.  It gives you a whole new respect for the mountain and its moody nature when you see massive trees that were snapped like twigs. 

The top comes soon enough and as you arrive at the upper parking lot and end of the ride there are views in every direction.  You can see back down the valley to Castle Crags, across to the Trinity Mountains and the view of the top of the mountain and the locale area is awe inspiring.  After spending a little time at the top the ride back the down the 14 miles to town is fast and requires only one stretch of pedaling the entire way.  Continued ...