After the Oregon Coast Gravel epic, I've been trying to take my fitness a bit more seriously, and a couple of my quicker friends encouraged me to try and pace with them on their rest days. We knew we were going to do a big ride Saturday, but which one? "I haven't done Cottage Grove in awhile," I pitched. "Cottage Grove" in our little circle means a less-than-100-percent-sanctioned ride that takes mostly unpaved roads from Eugene to CG, then flat pavement (usually with a glorious tailwind) all the way back. "That's always a fun one," Sean replied. I didn't ask whether it's the fact that there's 200ft of elevation per mile in the first half, the gorgeous views, the incredibly broad spectrum of pavement, gravel, hardpack, muddy doubletrack, the brilliant lunch stop ("The Coast Fork Feed Store"), or the ripping, well-banked descents that he loved the most; I just asked how early we should meet for bagels and coffee. Obviously, the ride started at Hideaway Bakery, the most European cafe in Eugene. The neighborhood vibe, floral outdoor seating area (with heat lamps!) self-serve drop coffee, spot-on espresso, and magically underpriced bagels make it our go-to ride meet spot. They also have these crazy potato donuts on weekends... Anyway, we rolled from there up Fox Hollow, a longish, moderate climb through quiet neighborhoods on smooth pavement. It's such a signature climb that, back when Burley still made bicycles, they named their road bike after it. Look it up. After climbing a couple hundred feet over several miles, you get to unload most of them all at once in a short descent, then the rest in a long reverse-false-flat. Just before Fox hooks up with Lorane (our city's second-most-signature climb), we take a left up road 1855, and the dirt begins. (Indulgent description of indigenous dirt roads' superiority to dirt from Eastern Oregon, NorCal, etc.) (Lavish description of every climb, switchback, ditch and divot) The dirt section ends at the summit of Gowdyville. The gravel quickly gives way to well-banked ribbons of pristine pavement and deposits you at the western edge of Cottage Grove. We arrived earlier than expected and took a leisurely lunch at the Feed Store before jumping back in the saddle and team-time-trialling back to town on Sears.