It hardy ever rains much here. When it does, it moves on quickly. Yeah,
right!
I had two groups of friends come to ride this weekend and we both got
some quality rain time in at Hartman's, which is pretty unusual.
First a couple of tele skiers came by on Friday evening. It's always
nice at Hartman's in the evening so we headed out around 6:00 despite
threatening clouds. As we climbed the first trail (Jack's) in a sprinkle
but then the rain just started coming down harder and harder. We ride a
little ways and then David's cleat screw fell out and that locked him
into his pedal. The poor guy had to take his shoe off to get off his
bike! That sealed the deal so we quickly turned back and called it quits.
Then Saturday morning GeeDubb met me at my house at 8:00. It's always
clear in the mornings, but this one was an exception. It was raining
steadily and had been all night. We were planning on doing Agate Creek
off the continental divide (Monarch Pass area). We drove up there to
meet Ride-A-Lot and a couple of Salida guys, Shawn and Tom. I was hoping
we'd get up above the rain but when we arrived at the summit it was
pretty clear that that wasn't going to happen. We chatted a bit, milled
around and then decided to try Hartman's back in Gunnison instead. It
was going to be wet, but Hartman's drains well so we figured it was
worth a shot. Tom and his friend had already climbed Old Monarch in the
rain, and they were done for the day. The rest of us decided to meet
back at my place and try for Hartman's. The weather looked like maybe it
was moving out while Garrison, Gary and I had breakfast in town as we
waited for Mitch and Shawn to get some things in Salida and then came to
meet us. After breakfast me all met up again just as the rain resumed!
With high hopes and low expectations we went to Hartman's and started
riding. We climbed up Jack's and made our way to Beck's. From there we
did Rocky Ridge to Broken Shovel to Skyline. All the time the rain was
increasing in intensity, but it wasn't very cold and the climbing kept
us (or me at least) pretty warm. Most of the trail surface was
decomposed granite and that was staying pretty nice in all that water. A
couple of spots had more soil-like conditions, and that was starting to
get muddy and slippery. The rocks were still riding well and after
seeing Garrison roll a drop I hadn't done in a while (making it look
really easy) I decided I had to give it a shot too. On the way down, as
I shifted way back my shorts snagged on my seat. I'm not sure exactly
what happened, but as I transitioned from the drop back to flat my bike
made a weird crack sound.
Here's a photo Shawn took as I came out of the move. Note the
self-destructing seat. I'm lucky I didn't get impaled (or worse)!
http://tinyurl.com/gd82z
A (titanium) rail sheared just behind the seat post clamp and the nose
of the saddle had separated from the rails.
So we had to stop and try to come up with a fix. First we moved the
clamp so it clamped the broken rail together. Then Garrison, who works
at a bike shop and had the good idea to use a tube and some zip ties
(from Shawn, I think - Thanks!) the secure it. Now I was getting a
little chilly!
http://tinyurl.com/fpygx
The resulting fix wasn't pretty or comfortable, but it was less likely
to sterilize me than removing the seat or leaving it all broken and jagged.
http://tinyurl.com/fbc4f
So from there we back tracked to the parking lot, playing on a fun
granite slab on the way. Things were a little too slippery to do a line
I wanted to play on, but we still had a little fun and watched young
Garrison try to overcome the lack of friction.
Then finally, we took our requisite group photo in the parking lot and
called it quits.
http://tinyurl.com/lxoko
So it wasn't all I had hoped for but it was fun. Good to see you again
Gary, and good to meet you Salida guys and Mitch finally too! Of course
now that it's Monday and I have to work it looks like the kind of day we
needed to ride Agate. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.
Matt