I've been into my SS for the past few rides. I guess it's the season.
The big altitude rides have snow on them now and are likely done for the
year. So I've been riding lots of lower altitude (8-10,000 Ft) stuff.
For the most part those rides are perfect for the singlespeed. It feels
good, and the intensity is good tele-conditioning for the
fast-approaching ski season.
Saturday after getting called into a work emergency until about noon I
did some local exploration. I climbed up the South side of Signal Mesa,
which I usually approach from the North or West and I have been wanting
to check out the Southern side for a while. I headed out the East
contour trail for several Miles until I hit a road. I had been here
before and turned back at this point. But I saw the trail continuing
across the road and when I stated to look for the way across a little
wash, I saw relatively fresh bike tracks pulling off on to a cow trail.
So I followed those, which parabled the road and the wash, away from
where I was planning to go.
After a quarter Mile the trail merges with a two track that heads up the
mesa. I continued on and saw a bunch of deer near a gully and crossing
the road. They seemed nervous, and understandably so. This area has a
very popular hunting season and it's about to start. I stopped to watch
them and try to get a count. A few of them were watching me too.
Then, a coyote pops out of the brush next to the road just ahead. He
doesn't see me because he's looking at the deer too. He stops in the
road, pauses and then looks back at me and immediately jumps and starts
sprinting away, towards the deer. The deer spook and the five or six I
see dart into the gully and emerge on to the far hillside with another
dozen or so that were out of sight. They all charge up the hillside and
the coyote disappears as quickly as he entered. This all happened in a
few seconds, so I took a moment then and said "Whoa".
I continued up the 1000' climb and suffered. It got really steep and
loose. This approach was much shorter than the ones I usually do so the
grade was a lot tougher. I had to portage several sections, some of
which I think I could do with a granny gear, but some I don't think I
could. I found a cool, small, red rock in the shape of a heart and put
it in my pocket. My son loves neat rocks and this would be a good one
for him.
After what seemed like forever I pushed my way up to the saddle between
Signal Mesa and Signal Peak. Now I'm back into familiar territory and
quickly hook into a singletrack loop that will put me back in the
direction of home. It was a very nice descent back and the surfaces were
in very great condition from the regular rain we've had this fall. I got
home just in time to clean up, pack up the boy, and head to our friend's
Dave and Susan's place for a pot luck. Then I pigged out, played with
kids, and even did some "grownup talk" about bikes and stuff. It was nice.
Matt
Matt