Well, Eric and I were going to go riding today, but he wasn't in the
mood despite a great deal of cajoling, guilting, and otherwise begging
on my part, so I packed up the car and headed out solo. With all the
rain we've been having lately (what is *up* with that?), I decided to
try Rabbit Mountain -- it has the most sun exposure of the fun trails I
know, so I figured it might have dried out best.
First, let me describe the typical ride. Here's a map, if anyone's
interested:
< http://www.co.boulder.co.us/openspace/recreating/public_parks/parks_pdfs/web_rabbit.pdf >
The trailhead gives you two options: a steep, smooth dirt road to the
right or a rocky doubletrack with some switchbacks and whatnot to the
left. Going up the doubletrack, which is the most technically
challenging section of the ride, you eventually get to a split. To the
left is a rocky climb; you get to the top of the climb, then follow a
mellow trail up and down to what I believe is Little Thompson Overlook,
with a really gorgeous view of the surrounding area. If you take a
right at the split instead, you get a short connector that leads you
across the aforementioned dirt road, where the climb up to Eagle Wind
Loop begins. The loop itself is a fun up and down with a variety of
terrain types: loose gravel (mostly packed down or scattered now,
though), rocks, dirt, big flat embedded rock, some roots ... all good
stuff.
Okay, on to the ride. One of my big weaknesses in writing is switching
tenses, so I'm going to try to stick to present tense here.
Riding this trail alone for the first time, I resolve to take it easy.
That will also give me time to deal with any mud puddles I might
encounter. After the first switchback, the rocks come out in force, and
I end up walking a couple of short stretches where a rock stopped me
cold and I can't manage to get started in place. I'm starting to wonder
if maybe riding alone wasn't the greatest idea in the world, but I quiet
that part of my brain and decide to head up the rocky climb toward
Little Thompson anyway. The lack of people coming down as I'm climbing
up is almost creepy -- it's never this empty! Anyway, this is the kind
of rocky trail where you can pretty much just keep pedalling and get
over anything in your way, especially if you choose your line with even
a modicum of care. Nevertheless, I always seem to find spots where a
rock stops me cold. Today is no exception; I get stopped three times.
Not outstanding, but not bad. I know that I could clean this section if
just ... I don't know what, but I know I could. I get stopped in
different places every time.
Here's a picture from last year. It's the plain-dirt section between
the intro rocky climb and the start of little thompson overlook.
< http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/2003/2003.07.13-eagle_wind_trail/01-sunflowers.jpg >
You can see the trail leading up to eagle wind on the left side of the
picture.
Anyway, I nibble on a few bits of trail mix and head out to the overlook
proper. On the way is a "bridge" a few feet wide and long made up of
large, loose rocks. Maybe a foot square or so, I'd guess. It's also,
naturally, right in a turn. For the first time ever, I ignore my fear
and cross it. All right! Keep on pedalling to the overlook. Now, if
you just take this place at face value, the view is obscured by a whole
bunch of bushes. If you know where to walk, though, you can follow an
almost-invisible trail just a handful of feet to a huge boulder ledge
that affords a breathtaking view of the valley. A mom and her kid are
at the overlook and clearly have never been before; I show them the
"secret" boulderlook. The mom is impressed; the kid is much more
interested in the puddles that have formed in the rock crevasses.
Naturally. I enjoy the view for a moment, then head out again. On the
way back, I manage the rock bridge again, even though it's a bit scarier
from this direction.
At the top, just before the descent to the fork, I see a couple of guys
clearly attempting to do *something* to some pedals. I ask if they need
any tools; my Alien comes in handy for its wrenches. This is the third
ride in a row where the tools I carry have helped out someone on the
trail; that makes me feel good. I pack up my gear again and descend.
This is the ... third? time I've done this descent, and it's no longer a
terrifying, death-defying ride ... it's still good fun, though. I have
a feeling I should be riding it a lot faster than I do, but oh well.
There are lots of deep, embedded rock surfaces on the right, and lots of
loose rock chunks on the left. I tend to weave left and right, left
when I'm comfortable with the speed, right when I want to brake on a
solid surface. Good fun.
Cross the dirt road and start the trail up to Eagle Wind. I quickly
find puddles of a more serious variety than the handful I've seen today.
Fortunately, they all seem to have rocks just to the outside, so I can
ride through without causing damage. Just before the loop, there's a
park bench. I see a green bicycle and stop to chat with its owner, who
is having a quick bite. Turns out he's a park employee, just checking
things out before heading to Heil for some trail education. We talk a
bit about his job and about how to get jerk riders to behave (he doesn't
have any advice for this, sadly). After a few minutes, I'm feeling the
need to get going again, so I head out.
Riding this loop is so much more fun than it was last year; I'm strong
enough to do a lot of it in my middle ring; not all of it, but enough
that I don't feel like I'm constantly shifting. As I ride, I find a lot
more puddles, most of which have nice little rock options along the left
edge. It was kind of neat to ride these rocks rather than the easy dirt
path I would normally find. Muddy enough, though, that when I finished
the loop, I didn't turn around and take it clockwise as I normally
would. Enough mud. I never quite know what to do -- ride through, ride
around if the puddle's narrower than the path, pick up the bike? What
if the puddle catches you by surprise after a turn? Eh. No need to
risk damaging the trail any more than I might have.
Here are some panoramas from last year on Eagle Wind:
< http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/2003/2003.07.13-eagle_wind_trail/04-full_panorama.jpg >
< http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/2003/2003.07.13-eagle_wind_trail/06-full_panorama.jpg >
Heading down from eagle wind, I had my only really close call. A big
fat puddle; I rode the rocks on the right edge, only to somehow get
stopped by the rocks just after. My body fell forward, but I was out of
my pedals (as I was for almost all of this ride), so I just put my feet
down and got started again.
Connect back with the technical descent to the trailhead. For the first
time ever, I attempt and clean every last little bit of this section.
Wahoo! Sure, my hands are sore from braking by the time I get to the
parking lot, but I'm feeling good about the ride.
Pack up and head home, where Eric makes us some yummy burgers for lunch.
A great ending to a fun ride.
--
monique