RR: Surveyor's

gabrielle said:

Last night Eleanor, New Jersey & I made plans to ride Surveyor's early
today. As I checked (& rechecked) my gear, I got more & more amped until
I was shaking like I had the DTs. I'd been scared off attempting this
trail a few years back by another attendee at bike camp, who'd told me in
no uncertain terms I didn't have the bike handling skills to tackle this
trail. Year before last, I'd repeated that to Eleanor, who said "WTF, you
do too, and we're going to ride it." Various ride plans over the next
couple of seasons always got shot down one way or another (medical
emergency, mechanical issue, wind, etc). Today the planets finally
aligned.

Sunny skies, 60F, perfect weather. The trail is in great shape - just
enough moisture to keep it tacky. The baby-butt smooth doubletrack turned
to smooth singletrack, then technical singletrack. It got progressively
more difficult, roots & rock gardens coming with greater frequency. Though
this ride is overall a downhill ride, it's so roly-poly it didn't feel
like downhill until the last few miles.

Again, the weight training has paid off. Many times today I looked at a
section of rock garden, picked my line & thought "well, I'll try it, but
I'll be walkin'" and next thing I knew I was through it.

While setting the shuttle, my friends had asked if I wanted to do the
Oakridge finish, which they described as "switchbacky". I'm always up for
switchback practice. Especially steep, gravelly, high-penalty-for-failure
switchback practice. Yeah. (I've since discovered that others recommend
attempting the Oakridge trail only if you're a masochist. Yay, bike S&M.)
I rode all but 4 of the switchbacks (of 20+ total). They were scarier
than the switchbacks on Dog River, but in most cases, the penalty wasn't
as bad: instead of free-falling off the cliff wall to certain death, you'd
merely bump & bounce down a steep hill to certain serious injury.
According to my map, Oakridge starts at 3700' and ends at 1800' but
stretches only 2.3 miles. Steep! It actually was really fun - though I
would not like to do it later in the season when it's dusted up.

Now I'm sitting at home feeling that post-ride buzz. Got a beer in one
hand and an eclipse bar in t'other, watching the thunderstorms roll in.

----
Flowers: last of the calypso orchids, candy stripe, anemones, bluebells,
balsamroot, manzanita, trumpet vine.

Wildlife: hawk, flicker, ground squirrels, deer.

dabs: <10

Walks: 3 (short!) spots additional to those 4 switchbacks.

Biffs: ZERO! yay me!

Most embarassing moment: I took the lead on the lower switchback section,
whoopin' & a-hollerin'. I hazarded a glance behind me & caught what I
thought was Eleanor's red shirt & started telling her how much fun I was
having. Then I started singing the Smurfs theme "Laa laa lalalalaaa la
lalala laaaaaaa" and heard this masculine "Can I get a pass here?" OMG.

Hours on the trail: 3:30, probably about 2:45 of actual riding due to New
Jersey's flat and a snack stop for you-know-who.

----
gabrielle

Nice being able to ride real mountains, huh? 😉

10 days and counting.

Great report and very entertaining.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

gabrielle said:

Sunny skies, 60F, perfect weather. The trail is in great shape - just
enough moisture to keep it tacky. The baby-butt smooth doubletrack turned
to smooth singletrack, then technical singletrack. It got progressively
more difficult, roots & rock gardens coming with greater frequency.

Cool! Its been way too wet here on the other side of the mountain, though
it looks like its finally starting to dry just now. I figured Hood River
would be just as wet. I'm gonna have to talk the guys into getting over
there again sometime. The one time we rode it was in early May a few years
back, and it was covered with blowdown (and snow in spots).

Nice RR!

--
-BB-
To e-mail me, unmunge my address

Quoted post said:

Quoted message said:

Sunny skies, 60F, perfect weather. The trail is in great shape - just
enough moisture to keep it tacky. The baby-butt smooth doubletrack
turned
to smooth singletrack, then technical singletrack. It got progressively
more difficult, roots & rock gardens coming with greater frequency.

that's the one you wanted to take me on, right? But the weather wasn't
cooperating.
I am so jealous I could just spit. Right now even loading groceries makes me
sore.

p.

small change said:

that's the one you wanted to take me on, right? But the weather wasn't
cooperating.
I am so jealous I could just spit. Right now even loading groceries makes
me sore.

I was going to take you on Whoop-de-doo. 🙂 Also fun, but of a
different type.

gab

BB said:

gabrielle said:

Sunny skies, 60F, perfect weather. The trail is in great shape - just
enough moisture to keep it tacky. The baby-butt smooth doubletrack
turned to smooth singletrack, then technical singletrack. It got
progressively more difficult, roots & rock gardens coming with greater
frequency.

Cool! Its been way too wet here on the other side of the mountain, though
it looks like its finally starting to dry just now. I figured Hood River
would be just as wet. I'm gonna have to talk the guys into getting over
there again sometime. The one time we rode it was in early May a few years
back, and it was covered with blowdown (and snow in spots).

It's been cleared for a few days now. 🙂 If you're ever stuck for a
riding partner & don't mind waiting for my slowness & frequent snack
stops, drop me a line.

gab

Ride-A-Lot said:

Great report and very entertaining.

Oh, I forgot the funniest part. After one particularly hairball
switchback, during which I questioned my sanity, the very idea of trying
this on a bike, whether I'd live through this, etc etc I was so surprised
that I made it that I grabbed two big fistfuls of brake & stopped dead in
the trail & did a Sam Kinison: "Ah! Ah! AHHHHHHH!" then I realized I was
doing a trackstand...which I've been attempting for *months*...and did
some more SK before I could unclench my hands from the brakes. :P

gab

gabrielle said:

Ride-A-Lot said:

Great report and very entertaining.

Oh, I forgot the funniest part. After one particularly hairball
switchback, during which I questioned my sanity, the very idea of trying
this on a bike, whether I'd live through this, etc etc I was so surprised
that I made it that I grabbed two big fistfuls of brake & stopped dead in
the trail & did a Sam Kinison: "Ah! Ah! AHHHHHHH!" then I realized I was
doing a trackstand...which I've been attempting for *months*...and did
some more SK before I could unclench my hands from the brakes. :P

gab

Ah, balance! Being able to do that trackstand is how you got through
the switchbacks in the first place. It's great how you can do those
things when you don't think about it, but once you start realizing it is
happening it's over.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot (getting better at balance) o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot said:

gabrielle said:

Ride-A-Lot said:

Great report and very entertaining.

Oh, I forgot the funniest part. After one particularly hairball
switchback, during which I questioned my sanity, the very idea of trying
this on a bike, whether I'd live through this, etc etc I was so surprised
that I made it that I grabbed two big fistfuls of brake & stopped dead in
the trail & did a Sam Kinison: "Ah! Ah! AHHHHHHH!" then I realized I was
doing a trackstand...which I've been attempting for *months*...and did
some more SK before I could unclench my hands from the brakes. :P

gab

Ah, balance! Being able to do that trackstand is how you got through
the switchbacks in the first place. It's great how you can do those
things when you don't think about it, but once you start realizing it is
happening it's over.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot (getting better at balance) o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Regarding Ride-A-Lot, I wanna see a picture of his wife. Or is he the
wife?

He looks & acts like a woman, says he's married, so is he the husband
or the wife in this "marriage"?

He's the wife when he's on a bike, that's for sure.

LOL, not one "drop" not even 3 feet, not one switchback or much less a
switchback that is also a rock garden, not one descent worth speaking
about, no waterlogs, no jumps, no washed out trails even and those are
dangerous because they're all sand & tractionless, all we have from the
woman is smooth dirt trails. If I'm wrong give the URL to a video that
shows me I'm wrong, because all the videos show smooth as a babys back
dirt.

Nothing demanding a mountain-bike yet this freaking witchcraft puppet
boy, who due to no character and no strength within his female soul
gave his soul to a bunch of screwed up sadistic women that need to see
themselves as powerful over men, by using men
who aren't men such as Ride-A-Lot, to attack real men who don't
surrender their souls, like me.

So it's a multi-tiered attack upon me, by screwed up females using a
screwed up "supposed to be a man" named Ride-A-Lot. The female spirited
man body Ride-A-Lot, hahahaha. He feels a sense of "power" by being a
puppet of women who too are very weak and screwed up inside themselves
by & for witchcraft, in order to feel confident against men like me,
they need to see themselves engage in attacks & warfare against me,
such as using female spirited man-bodys like Ride-A-Lot.

How sad the whole scenario is. Ride-A-Lot is a disgrace in a large
variety of ways. First regarding paying over $5,000.00 for a high-end
MTB that is manufactured for hardcore punishment, yet Ridey is not
willing to even go over 2ft bumps or even do 3ft drops. How sad how
sad. I also can tell that his site isn't getting any hits, no one is
watching his videos because after you watch one video, you know the
other ones are going to be the same lifeless wussy wimpy [censored] the first
one was, and I know he's bothered by the fact there are no hits of his
URL. He is known as the "wussy MTBer" who shouldn't be on a MTB.

A crisis in self-value, confidence, and validity is the sum of
Ride-A-Lots life.
hahahah... how sad this big nerd is..

gabrielle said:

Last night Eleanor, New Jersey & I made plans to ride Surveyor's early
today. As I checked (& rechecked) my gear, I got more & more amped until
I was shaking like I had the DTs. I'd been scared off attempting this
trail a few years back by another attendee at bike camp, who'd told me in
no uncertain terms I didn't have the bike handling skills to tackle this
trail. Year before last, I'd repeated that to Eleanor, who said "WTF, you
do too, and we're going to ride it." Various ride plans over the next
couple of seasons always got shot down one way or another (medical
emergency, mechanical issue, wind, etc). Today the planets finally
aligned.

Biffs: ZERO! yay me!

Most embarassing moment: I took the lead on the lower switchback section,
whoopin' & a-hollerin'. I hazarded a glance behind me & caught what I
thought was Eleanor's red shirt & started telling her how much fun I was
having. Then I started singing the Smurfs theme "Laa laa lalalalaaa la
lalala laaaaaaa" and heard this masculine "Can I get a pass here?" OMG.

Hours on the trail: 3:30, probably about 2:45 of actual riding due to New
Jersey's flat and a snack stop for you-know-who.

----
gabrielle

Way to go! You're better than you think. IIRC, you were the only one
brave enough to ride that bridge ladder last year in SV.

Good stuff.

CDB

Ride-A-Lot said:

Ah, balance! Being able to do that trackstand is how you got through the
switchbacks in the first place. It's great how you can do those things
when you don't think about it, but once you start realizing it is
happening it's over.

That's the thing...I have never ever been able to do a trackstand for more
than 0.00001 seconds. Figures my first one would be completely
unintentional & I'd scream all the way through it. 😉

gab

gabrielle said:

Last night Eleanor, New Jersey & I made plans to ride Surveyor's early
today. <snip a great rr>
Most embarassing moment: I took the lead on the lower switchback section,
whoopin' & a-hollerin'. I hazarded a glance behind me & caught what I
thought was Eleanor's red shirt & started telling her how much fun I was
having. Then I started singing the Smurfs theme "Laa laa lalalalaaa la
lalala laaaaaaa" and heard this masculine "Can I get a pass here?" OMG.

Hours on the trail: 3:30, probably about 2:45 of actual riding due to New
Jersey's flat and a snack stop for you-know-who.

----
gabrielle

You go mtb smurf! ;-P