First rite of spring is to go for a ride when the sunshine beckons. How
could I not? I spent the whole weekend cleaning, sorting, organizing and
reconfiguring my workroom. So when it came to working in my spiffy work room
this morning, not a chance. I had to get the ride out of my system in order
to progress on anything else today.
view from the trailhead. Not even a shell needed.
www.cet.com/~pennys/images/springrides/springday.jpg
The first flush of wildflowers, butter cups and these:
www.cet.com/~pennys/images/springrides/flower.jpg
I didn't do my usual riverside loop. I wanted to try a different hill and
do somethings in reverse. This was a solo ride as my planned pal had to bail
due to some stuff. I started in mosey mode - the first few miles are really
just old old double track and you can fly through the forest. There is a
lot of single track that does look like this, from last year. Mules ears
aren't out yet.
www.cet.com/~pennys/images/springrides/IMG_0113.jpg.
Tho lots of the riding here is really easy, there are a few spots wehre you
can see if you remembered how to ride over the winter. The first moment of
truth... half mile hill. This is the grade that will
tell me if I kept somewhat in shape over the winter. I know of course, that
it's no problem. I play with Paladins' idea to imagine a winch pulling you
up the hill. Then I mentally play "kashmir" in my head, and I finish the
grade with gears to spare, woo- hoo! Onward through the forest, now I'm
getting in the groove and enjoying my solo-ness. I always find some sort of
groove after about 7 miles or so. The next point of contention is a gully
I've always called nemesis gully because I took a flying endo in it when I
first got the kona. There's a route around it of course, but I brave it and
head right into it, making sure I'm geared right to power climb out of it...
ok, so I brake a little dropping in, but not at the bottom and not enough to
slow me down, I power out, and across the road to the next section of
singletrack.
The "devil's up" is a steep climb, that's basalt pavement, I don't quite
make that one but that's a one-in-five for most people. Then last but not
least, the devils down. I remember I just freaked at this section and
wouldn't ride it all for a few seasons, then I'd make half hearted attempts
where I'd chicken out a quarter of the way down, and now ( for the most
part) I just pick a line and go. I make it most of the time... today I
washed out on the loose gravel at the very bottom. The sanitizers moved a
bunch of loose big rocks out of it last year.
Gab, how about this when you come up??!!
I took these just for grins, the upper and lower sections.
www.cet.com/~pennys/images/springrides/devilsdropupper.jpg
www.cet.com/~pennys/images/springrides/devilsdroplower.jpg
These pics don't show it right, but there's very little over lap.
then, I also got hit by a roadie I know flying down the pave ment on the
1/2 mile of bike path that you ride on back to the parking lot ( sorry, tim,
I wasn't paying attention
penny