schnauzers.ws

Then up Evergreen Mountain the long way on Evergreen Trail East.

Having not suffered enough (I told you I was feeling good), I did the summit loop.

Then down Evergreen Mountain East.

A short spin on Wild Iris to Meadow to Silver Fox trail.

Turning onto Sisters trail for a little climb and finishing up with the fun downhill on Didese Trail.

The ride turned out to be a "now I know why I didn't take that trail the last time" ride. It started with the bottom of White Ranch and not the top as I did the first time I rode here. So that meant the climb up Belcher. Having only done a short amount of it the last time, I now know why it is so nasty. No, not the rocks. Just a relentless climb.

On and on and on.

A quick pause to catch my breath and a view.

Then more %$#!^*& climbing!

It really doesn't seem like it ever ends.

After reaching Rawhide, I make my second mistake. I take the fire road down. That means climbing up again. I should have done it in reverse as coming up the fire road would have been far easier than the water bar steep ass singletrack climb I ended up doing. It sure would have been fun to go down it, though.

eventually rawhide does end up going down again and on my third attempt I get the timing right.

I finish off with long horn to whipple and that was another mistake. Last time I took short horn which saved me the nerve racking endo laden long horn. None-the-less I manage to clean 75% of the downhill save for one moment where I was doing a rear wheelie for about five seconds. As I am looking straight down at the boulders I figured I had to choices. One was I was going to get hurt and the second one was I was going to get hurt. Some how I pull it out and land back on the wheel. It was at that point that the 25% I did not try happened. Still a fun ride and since it will be my local I better get used to it.

Looking back from where I came.

GPS Stuff:

If you have read past year’s ride reports, then you’ll know I have always liked the valley of the sun. In fact the Phoenix area was on my top 3 list of places to move to. Denver won out because that’s where the jobs were. In any case, I continue my goal of getting there at least once a year. Usually as an add-on to a conference I am attending as was this case. Given the start times and golf tournament (I don’t play), I would get at least two and maybe three rides in.

When I arrived on Friday, Gary called to say he had kid duty and couldn’t ride. So after an uneventful unpacking and assembly of the bike, I was off to one of my favorite solo riding areas. McDowell Mountain Regional Park was empty as I pulled in and started the long loop.

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Yeh, nothing very technical but it is fast and flowing. It also prevents me from doing something stupid while I am alone. Still, I find this "race course" very entertaining.

First thing I notice having been in the front range for a while is there are no climbs. Just flat out fun speeding along the desert trail.

Occasionally, you come across a drop into a wash, but if you know they are there it's no big deal.

The turns are banked and what little loose stuff there is does keep you awake.

It was not easy getting the self-timing shots to work. This was the third attempt.

I like the south ridge the best and it's probably the most technical section of the trail, which is not saying much. None-the-less I like babyheads.

Great views, warm weather, and desert landscape. Excellent!

Saturday I met Gary (GeeDub) and his friend John for a Trail 100 ride. John was inspiration for any rider. 62 years old, built like a twenty year old, and very fast! I was prepared for a death march, and they made sure I got it.

We ride from Gary's house to the trailhead and a speedy start into the rising "hot" sun.

The pace continued quickly as we continued on mile after mile of singletrack.

Every now and then some technical sections are thrown in, but i think the main thing about this trail is endurance. I can usually go the distance, but the lack of long exhausting climbs was taking it's toll.

Gary was nice enough to stop every once in a while so I could quench my parched throat. I was drinking water like a fish.

some of the technical areas began to take their tole on equipment. In this case, I'm right behind Gary as he rounds a fast downhill over some babyheads. He manages to catch a triangle shaped rock on the edge of his tire and pop. Ssssssssss. A hole right through the sidewall.

After patching it (which held for the rest of the ride) we continue on.

John poses along the singletrack.

What you don't see in the next picture was the harder line straight up. I tried an alternate but came unglued.

We continued on for 28 miles (a few along the canal). Thankfully there was a place to refill water (and it was refrigerated) along the way.

It was a long hot ride and the death march at the end did me in. Brats for lunch were a good pick-me-up though.

Since that ride had drained me and created a nasty chaff in a few areas, I cortizoned the affected areas and waited to see what Sunday would bring. Though the redness had eased, my legs were screaming no mas. So I did a 20 mile ride along the dirt road through the Indian reservation with South Mountain (I think it was) in the foreground.

The plan was to head up trailheads until we found one that was ridable. We start at the golf course.

I have no idea what the names of these trails are. All I know is that there are ten trailheads around the lake house. We tried to stay on the sunny side facing trails when possible. But sometimes your way can be blocked by other objects.

It's amazing how tame these elk are. We were just a few feet away.

We gather to collect the group and then head out again.

I'd say that about 75% of the trails were clean.

But the 25% that were not clean, well…

In spite of the snow which was never more than 3" deep, everyone had a great time.

For some odd reason I found myself in the front of the pack on this ride. It must of been my superior NJ ice riding skills or more likely everyone going slow so they wouldn't get hurt.

Miles of fun, snow, and hidden rocks. Fun!

And then a slide down Didisse trail to the food, beer, and great people.