Today's Ride: Fairview (9/11/2009)

One of the most beautiful and enjoyable climbs in the area, Fairview is a rode that passes between the peaks of two hills in East Spokane. Fairview offers a solid climb with rewarding views and very entertaining descents.

After a short initial climb, there's a descent heading towards the base of the hills

The road curves around a shallow switchback just right of center of the image

This image is taken just before the section of road featured in the previous image. It's a fast false flat leading to the final section of steeper climbing. 

This image (unfortunately blurred) shows the gorgeous countryside surrounding Fairview. This is the view that you miss as you climb out over the pass, and hopefully don't linger too long looking at as you zoom back down.

Put in a hard effort on the final steep section and...

...see lions? These realistic wooden statues mark the apex of the pass

Male Lion in the adjacent field 

Training as a road cyclist for the bike section and not as a triathlete means that I can afford to sit up and take pictures while coasting

View of the prairie and agricultural land after cresting the backside of the pass is quite nice in person.

View of forests in the distance from the top of the pass. After this I descended, turned around, and then did the climb in reverse. A solid hill workout of varied intensities and great opportunity to work on descending skills down some switchbacks and curves.