Sometimes being awakened by a neighbor's incessantly barking dog is
not a bad thing. That is when the trails are dry and it's pushing a
double-nickel on the Fahrenheit scale. Life is too short to sleep
away sometimes, even when you need the sleep.
After calling the Angry Man and downing a bowl of cereal, I was off to
pick him and our Little Orange Friends up. At Casa De Anger, things
were stalled for as he showed me his new stash of freshly cut cedar
that is waiting to be created into rustic furniture in his shop.
While exiting the shop, I grabbed his singlespeed off of the wall and
brought it out to my truck. I was ready to ride.
Our Orange Friends jumped in the back with the singlespeeds and we
made our way to the trailhead. Of course, it was empty and the only
tracks in the dirt belonged to our tires and some bovine traffic. The
soil looked a little moist, but we both knew that about 1/2 mile in
was the true turnaround if it was really too wet, a lesson we had
quickly learned a not too hard way on this particular route a few
weeks ago. There was an air of optimism.
The cattle had not been kind to the first stretch, but it was not too
bad, even on a rigid bike. This was our first SS outing on this route
and though the climbs had been made rougher than expected by the
hooves and we both handled them quite well considering the conditions,
Angry exceptionally so. Over the first fence and rolling into the
"decision zone", it became apparent that we had indeed timed our visit
to this area exceptionally well. There was just enough moisture left
in the soil to leave a slight tread imprint. When it dries
completely, what was once a powdery defunct cow trail will be a
hardpacked salt-flat rail in the dirt.
Our Orange Friends enjoyed the stream crossings, Gordon plopping right
in to get a good soak in the second one. His habit of laying in a
stream and drinking from it at the same time always cracks me up. Two
cattle gates later, it was time for bump city for a couple of miles.
Some places were actually so hacked by the cows, we had to dismount
and hoof a little ourselves. The pain doesn't last very long though,
especially when one knows the payoff. The payoff was there, however
about 100 yards or so later than expected and it was just as nice as
it could be. The climb from there went quickly until the last steep,
which has an approach that is still a little soft for a SS assault on
it. Another quick hoof and it was off to the races.
The rest of the climb went really well. It mostly went clean on the
singlespeeds, which was very encouraging for a trail that had only
recently been reopened. The last 1/4 mile was a tad difficult, though
looked at more as a challenge than barrier and was readily attacked
with equal fervor as the rest of the trail had been. Cleaning the
last section uphill on a rigid 2:1 singlespeed is definitely a fine
ambition and will be accomplished soon. The small draw at the top is
a nice place to recoup for a few because of the large boulder "seats"
and was used to its full advantage.
The top 1/4 mile had been daunting as an uphill, but was a case of
"mind over matter" as a downhill. I didn't mind because it didn't
matter. I'm not sure if Angry had any miscues in it because I dropped
off a bit at the very top, trying to close a highly annoying Camelbak
valve that was dripping onto my leg. I didn't get it closed in time
and had to endure this distraction until the palying field leveled
out. Getting that section clean as a downhill on the first SS attempt
after only cleaning it only a few times on the fully was quite the
rewarding experience. That bike is one fine chunk of steel.
Riding down the "upper" smooth twisties on this route were made for a
"snappy" bike. Our Orange Friends had a tough time keeping up, even
on such an optimum day for them to run. The "trials" section seemed
much easier on a rigid either direction, but was almost ridiculously
easy on the downhill direction (though flat either way). Even when it
opened up after the trials section, it was obvious that this trail is
made for singlespeeding. Neither of us spun out and the gearing
seemed perfect for powering out of any move or turn that required
braking.
Of course it all ended too soon and fighting the cattle chop came back
into play. It was much easier on the downhill slide and Angry
commented how worth the pain of the chop was to get to the goods above
it. I heartily agreed as we spun down the perfunctory "social
doubletrack" to the twin cattle gates. The remainder of the ride was
spent in a mix of mellow spin and slow grinds on the few short climbs
back to the truck. An excellent day, company and trail for sure.
PS If there's a rock in the trail don't ride around it, ride over it.