This is a beautiful, but very hard, ride. The Pine valley is exceptionally green and the road parallels a creek. 

The ride from Pine Junction, on US-285 to Pine is a fast 6 miles descent. It starts climbing shortly after Pine for about 6 miles. The grade is moderate. Then, there is a very fast descent, at approximately 8%, of four miles to Deckers. 

Deckers is a nice little town with a general store and a coffee shop. The general store advertises that it carries 64 varieties of ice-cream. I wonder if the owner is a specialist in fast Fourier transforms -- by choosing a nice power of two as the number of choices.

The climb out of Deckers is mild for the first couple of miles. But after that it is a brutal 8% climb for four miles. The final ascent out of Pine is moderate.

Having said that, what made this ride special (and I will write more about it in my blog) is that I was literally "saved" by an Angel. I ran out of water about four miles from the finish and was dehydrated to the point of getting severe cramps. About three quarters of a mile from Pine Junction, I stopped, unable to move any further. A kind hearted woman, my angel, stopped and gave me a bottle of water, which saved the day. At the finish, while stepping out of the pedals, cramps finally overpowered me and I collapsed. 

Notes:

1. Refuelling stations: there does not appear to be any in Pine. So fill up the bottles in Deckers (perhaps carry a third one?).

2. Parking: there is a Park 'n Ride at the intersection of Pine Valley Road and US-285 in Pine Junction.