How good can a ride be when planned over brewpub fare, chased with
thick stout brew? All parties tend to agree on a relaxed show time
and singlespeed bikes. The rest is easy.
The plan was to do multiple loops with a good meal break in the
middle. Simon had brought various fare from a health food store,
Keith grabbed some bread and roast beef and I dragged a sixer of fine
Oregon porter out of the fridge at home. There was a nice mix of
bikes, a rigid Edge 26er, hardtail Spot 26er, and a rigid Edge 29er.
I think they were all around, or close to a 2:1 ratio, which made the
course very even throughout most of the day.
The trailhead was pretty empty for such a nice day. Shorts and short
sleeves were the norm for locals on a day like this. Right before we
left the parking lot, a van pulled in and out popped another
expatriate Irish lad by the name of Richard. We waited as Richard
hurriedly got his gear together and then spun off into the desert.
Recent rains had made the trail hardpacked and fast in most places,
though it was damp and a little slower in some of the low and North
facing spots. After the first small and somewhat steep pitch up, I
found out what kind of climbing day I was going to have. Simon and
Keith blazed right up it and I made the mistake of looking right at
the only loose rock on that hill and beaned it with my back tire at
the crux point. Relegated, I pushed up the last five feet and pedaled
over to where they were waiting and starting to sweat out the previous
night's libations as well. Richard tooled up a few minutes later and
cursed having a FR type bike under him at the moment.
The rest of us took the cue from Richard and took it easy for a while.
It was nice for me to warm up a little more slowly and dispell some
oatmeal stout toxins of my own as well. Besides, the social
doubletrack that connected us to the next singletrack was a good
chance to BS a little more. I also knew the first "macho match" move
was coming soon and I wanted to psyche myself up for it a little bit
before hitting it.
Up the first singletrack, I got stopped near the top and heard Simon
and Keith running up fast behind me. I did a quick yield, confirming
that I did need some stored energy for the next move. The undulating
track that led to the big V move was especially fast and we arrived
via a wheel-to-wheel romp that reminded me a lot of the old days of
that with Chet and Jon. Keith was simply *on* cleaning it first try.
Simon and I had to take two runs at it, though we both cleaned it on
the second try. I was feeling a little better.
The next climb, both of them walked slowly away from me the whole
half-mile of it and had me gapped by 50 yards at the top. I couldn't
be that spent from that stupid V move, could I? Nah, they were just
being the hammerheads that they really are. Richard was provided with
a little more time to catch his breath on this stop, which only meant
we were going to run full speed up and down the next series of small
climbs and descents. We did.
The next climb that usually challenges me was cleaned easily by Keith,
who was without a doubt, really *on* this day. My first try, I had
accelerated too late and missed it by five feet. Simon missed his
first try as well, but undaunted, he gave it another. He missed the
second as well, but then realized he was doing the same thing I had
done and cleaned it on the third. I could not leave without a second
try, so I rolled back down and rode right back up it, using a slightly
earlier acceleration point. Momentum is your friend.
A few climbs and descents later, it was time for a little sustained
downhill. It's not a particularly steep or rough downhill, but is a
downhill nonetheless. I wanted to try a chainless, but was outvoted
into pedaling and Simon led off like he was shot out of a cannon. I
managed to hang on his wheel for a while, but he was accelerating out
of the tighter turns exceptionally well and began to crawl away a bit.
Halfway down, he had about ten yards on me, but the trail was opening
up to my advantage. As he and I pulled into the next stopping point,
I had managed to make it back to his wheel. It was good to get
dropped a bit, though be Lithuanian enough to not let an Irishman get
away with dusting me off on a trail I helped design. Keith pulled up
a minute later, follwed by Richard in another couple of minutes.
With a pecking order established, we all zipped down the rest of the
descent. Simon started out less of banshee this time, though worked
up to another furious pace within a quarter-mile. I made a small
timing miscue on pedaling and his gap again widened, though I used a
few tricks in turns to erase the gap much more quickly this time. I
think he was listening a little too intently this time because in a
sharp righthander he made an uncharacteristic miscue and almost got a
full-on freak t-bone. Luckily I had seen it develop and was on the
brakes in time to avoid disaster and we both spun out the last few
hundred yards of the track in a mellow roll.
The planned lunch break was the goods. Simon took over prep duties as
I cracked a brew for everyone and we commneced to make sandwiches and
chase them with a nice cool porter. The conversation jumped all over
the place and finally ended up on the question of where we were going
to loop for round two. I think beer makes people agreeable because it
was almost too agreeable. We finally agreed to agree on a particular
climb and then go from there.
Richard decided to bail out, so then it was three. Puppy Syndrome had
taken over a bit, making us climb a little more sluggishly at first.
I seemed to recover a little more quickly than Keith and Simon, but
that was to be somewhat short-lived. By the time we headed over to
the traverse that was decided upon at the top, they were both warmed
up quite sufficiently. Luckily, it was time to drop a bit and I
decided to take the lead. What was happening behind me wasn't very
clear, but I did know who was chasing me, so I was gunning it. I
might have dropped them a little because I had to execute a somewhat
high speed tripod in a turn to stay on the trail and wasn't
immediately run over. They were close though because we all rolled
rapidly down to the next low point, wheel-to-wheel.
The next climb out was started with me in the lead, but at the first
wide and relatively flat section of trail, I yielded to the now
refreshed climbers. Keith was still on as Simon and I both missed
making the next steep. Aww, who cares, we'll be descending again soon
enough. When we got to the ridge that Keith was waiting for us, it
was time to agree to be agreeable again.
Ultimately, we agreed to go fast and steep. There's something so
primal about speeding down the top of a narrow ridgetop, it ought to
be illegal. Well, it isn't if there is a trail there and feeling the
adrenalin flow when pushing the speed envelope, knowing that a mistake
would be a long tumble and quite possibly painful event, is
indescribable. Going fast with exposure, there is no substitute.
Still leading, I slowed for the approach of a steep section, which
changes without warning sometimes. It had been sanitized a bit more
than my last visit and was an easy roll into a swoopy fast runout.
The next climb challenge has a fantastic run-in and I felt confident
enough to lead these two goats up it. The conditions near the top
were a little more damp than the rest of the trail and I got stopped
by semi-slick conditions. Simon mad a valiant effort, but was stopped
as well after spinning out. Of course, Keith motored right up it. I
was done at this point, but Simon wasn't and he went at it again,
making it clean.
Again, gravity assisted our flight over and off of another ridge,
dropping us at the base of another climb. I can see where a "serious"
mountain biker might think all of this climbing and descending might
be tedious, but that's what makes them "serious" and the rest of us
mountain bikers. Keith jackrabbited up and Simon and I tooled
meticulously up the ridge slowly, though clean. Keith had run right
off and we caught a quick glimpse of him before the next drop. The
next drop has become so tame the last few years, it has just become
another anonymous drop in the bucket that is this area. The climb
after though, is still daunting to some on singlespeeds.
I've never seen a 2:1 singlespeeder make it up this hill, damp
conditions as it was, nor dry and hardpacked. Keith must have had
some invisible entity pushing him up the hills. At one point it had
seemed he had stalled, but kept his balance really well through it all
and pedaled through it clean. His feat was a thing of singlespeeding
beauty, of which I have not witnessed very many as fine as it. After
watching that, Simon and I made attempts at the hill, though all for
naught.
Keith had completed his mission and relegated himself to the back of
the pecking order again and Simon led us off for the finish. I had
but one mission left between that ridge and the parking lot and that
was airing the jump-turn with a a clean turn and a little style. I
gave Simon a gap of about ten yards and then hit the approach at what
I consider optimum speed for this move. He rolled over it as I
finished pedaling and I hit it better than I have in years, clearing
the top in a nice floaty jump turn and hit the runout downhill with a
two point landing and a chuckle. Chet showed me that move about six
years ago and it's still just as fun as that day.
The parking lot was almost empty when we arrived back. A few vehicles
had come and gone in our time there, but we had encountered very few
on the trails. It was a wonderful day, with great friends, on the
perfect bikes for the trails at hand. One can't ask for much more in
life.
http://www.spokejunkies.com/boardimages/19775-111904%20002.jpg
JD