RR: Walker Ranch

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I now know how Walker Ranch got its name.

Estimate: I rode 1/3 (mostly downhill), walked 1/3 because
I couldn't hack it technically, and walked 1/3 because I
was so bonked that even granny gear couldn't save me. I
tried gel for the first time, which maybe explains why I
was able to walk my bike for the last few miles rather than
just lying down on the trail and waiting for the wildlife
to come get me.

It's really beautiful -- I've never ridden alongside a
rushing mountain stream before -- and there's some
incredibly fun singletrack, but man oh man; there are other
places where I can work on my technical and aerobic
abilities without bruising my ego quite as badly.

Hilights:

- I did get up a lot of technical spots I never thought
I'd make, or got further up some of them than others
in my group

- Hubby saying, "Wow, I love how I can see your quad muscles
moving" as I walked my bike up the top of a climb

- Hubby saying, "Wow, that was awesome. You were fearless"
when I rode right down a rock lip, then endo'd on the root
just after it. He was referring to my riding the rock, not
endoing =P

- Getting up a bunch of switchbacks. I've gotten a lot
better at the slow-motion hairpin turn this year.

- Somehow (guardian angel?) not falling after fishtailing in
some loose soil. I felt my rear tire slide out farther
than I would imagine it could go to the left, then the
right, but I just kept pedalling and it somehow recovered.

To be honest, the ride was only one part of an epic day.
Eric and I got up at 5am to ride our motorcycles (my second
time riding a motorcycle on real streets ever) to a balloon
launch site. We helped our friends set up and flew in a
balloon for a while, then swapped passengers and were part
of the chase crew for a while. Our friends made chocolate
chip pancakes, bacon, and lattes right out on the field
afterward -- mm. A siesta, then Walker Ranch, then some
absolutely mouth-watering teriyaki steak kabobs and
daquiris. Talk about a busy day.

--
monique

Monique says:

<snip-de-dip>

Get some rest.... And let Eric get some, too. ;-)

Steve "sounded like fun"

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

>
> - Hubby saying, "Wow, I love how I can see your quad
> muscles moving" as I walked my bike up the top of
> a climb

Is that love or what? ;-)

>
.
>
> - Somehow (guardian angel?) not falling after fishtailing
> in some loose soil. I felt my rear tire slide out
> farther than I would imagine it could go to the left,
> then the right, but I just kept pedalling and it somehow
> recovered.
>

I love the feeling of a good save. It's an indicator that
you are getting more relaxed as a rider, a little looser,
more willing to trust your bike. Some times I still get
surprised when that happens. Wow, I **didnt'** go down
right there!!

Penny

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> I now know how Walker Ranch got its name.
>
> Estimate: I rode 1/3 (mostly downhill), walked 1/3 because
> I couldn't hack it technically, and walked 1/3 because I
> was so bonked that even granny gear couldn't save me. I
> tried gel for the first time, which maybe explains why I
> was able to walk my bike for the last few miles rather
> than just lying down on the trail and waiting for the
> wildlife to come get me.

Intro to Epic 101. Passing grade = surviving. :)

> It's really beautiful -- I've never ridden alongside a
> rushing mountain stream before -- and there's some
> incredibly fun singletrack, but man oh man; there are
> other places where I can work on my technical and aerobic
> abilities without bruising my ego quite as badly.

We did Noble Canyon yesterday. I picked some "interesting"
lines...WALKING! Danger to myself and others...

{snips}

> - Hubby saying, "Wow, I love how I can see your quad
> muscles moving" as I walked my bike up the top of
> a climb

Ah, the old "I admire your quads" ruse. You don't need me to
translate, I'm sure.

Bill "very nice RR, M" S.

On 2004-07-04, Stephen Baker penned:
> Monique says:
>
><snip-de-dip>
>
> Get some rest.... And let Eric get some, too. ;-)
>
> Steve "sounded like fun"

It's one of those things that's much more fun to reminisce
about over cold ones than to do =)

I'm sure I'll be back ... not tomorrow or the next
day, though.

--
monique

On 2004-07-04, pas penned:
> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>>
>> - Hubby saying, "Wow, I love how I can see your quad
>> muscles moving" as I walked my bike up the top of a
>> climb
>
> Is that love or what? ;-)

It's simply an observation of the clear fact that I'm
a beast =P

> I love the feeling of a good save. It's an indicator that
> you are getting more relaxed as a rider, a little looser,
> more willing to trust your bike. Some times I still get
> surprised when that happens. Wow, I **didnt'** go down
> right there!!

Exactly. It would have been a suck spot to go down; lots
of pain and then no momentum to help me up the 4,125th
steep climb.

--
monique

On 2004-07-04, S o r n i penned:
>
> Intro to Epic 101. Passing grade = surviving. :)

*grin*

I don't think it technically fit the definition of Epic --
it was only three hours. Felt like years, though.

> We did Noble Canyon yesterday. I picked some "interesting"
> lines...WALKING! Danger to myself and others...

Eric used to have the shoes with the stiff plastic soles,
and has recently switched to the more normal-shoe-like
rubber tread. After yesterday, he swears by them. I gotta
tell ya, I was missing my hiking boots while carrying my
bike down steep stone staircases. I've honestly never been
as scared of anything bike-related in my life as I was of
carrying my bike down the "Danger: Cliffs ahead" sections.

>> - Hubby saying, "Wow, I love how I can see your quad
>> muscles moving" as I walked my bike up the top of a
>> climb
>
> Ah, the old "I admire your quads" ruse. You don't need me
> to translate, I'm sure.

I took it at face value ... was I wrong?

> Bill "very nice RR, M" S.

Thank you =)

--
monique

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> I now know how Walker Ranch got its name.
>
> Estimate: I rode 1/3 (mostly downhill), walked 1/3 because
> I couldn't hack it technically, and walked 1/3 because I
> was so bonked that even granny gear couldn't save me. I
> tried gel for the first time, which maybe explains why I
> was able to walk my bike for the last few miles rather
> than just lying down on the trail and waiting for the
> wildlife to come get me.
>
> It's really beautiful -- I've never ridden alongside a
> rushing mountain stream before -- and there's some
> incredibly fun singletrack, but man oh man; there are
> other places where I can work on my technical and aerobic
> abilities without bruising my ego quite as badly.
>
> Hilights:
>
> - I did get up a lot of technical spots I never thought
> I'd make, or got further up some of them than others in
> my group
>
> - Hubby saying, "Wow, I love how I can see your quad
> muscles moving" as I walked my bike up the top of
> a climb
>
> - Hubby saying, "Wow, that was awesome. You were fearless"
> when I rode right down a rock lip, then endo'd on the
> root just after it. He was referring to my riding the
> rock, not endoing =P
>
> - Getting up a bunch of switchbacks. I've gotten a lot
> better at the slow-motion hairpin turn this year.
>
> - Somehow (guardian angel?) not falling after fishtailing
> in some loose soil. I felt my rear tire slide out
> farther than I would imagine it could go to the left,
> then the right, but I just kept pedalling and it somehow
> recovered.
>
> To be honest, the ride was only one part of an epic day.
> Eric and I got up at 5am to ride our motorcycles (my
> second time riding a motorcycle on real streets ever) to a
> balloon launch site. We helped our friends set up and flew
> in a balloon for a while, then swapped passengers and were
> part of the chase crew for a while. Our friends made
> chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and lattes right out on
> the field afterward -- mm. A siesta, then Walker Ranch,
> then some absolutely mouth-watering teriyaki steak kabobs
> and daquiris. Talk about a busy day.
>

I could never warm up to Walk-a-lot. Too bad, a lot of the
riding around Salida is that sketchy sandy stuff too. :-)
Have you been to White Ranch yet (most of the way to Golden
off of Hwy
93)? Its more ridable than Walker, but still lots of
climbing.

Shawn

On 2004-07-05, Shawn Curry penned:
>
> I could never warm up to Walk-a-lot. Too bad, a lot of the
> riding around Salida is that sketchy sandy stuff too. :-)
> Have you been to White Ranch yet (most of the way to
> Golden off of Hwy 93)? Its more ridable than Walker, but
> still lots of climbing.

Odd; people talk about White Ranch like it's the ultimate
in terror.

I was there a few months ago for a mtb clinic; we rode
Maverick and I came away with a bloody elbow that's turned
into a nice conversation-piece type scar. Also a huge
bruise on the hip that's still tender. I did manage the
section, though, the third (or was it fourth?) try. It
hadn't occured to me to go back, because everyone talks
about how hard it is.

--
monique

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

>
> Eric used to have the shoes with the stiff plastic soles,
> and has recently switched to the more normal-shoe-like
> rubber tread. After yesterday, he swears by them. I gotta
> tell ya, I was missing my hiking boots while carrying my
> bike down steep stone staircases. I've honestly never been
> as scared of anything bike-related in my life as I was of
> carrying my bike down the "Danger: Cliffs ahead" sections.
>
>

While I road Walker Ranch for years in the counter-
clockwise direction (down the cliffs), I eventually
prefered clockswise. You get more downhill riding, can
avoid the long tough climb up Columbine trail and up the
old double track, and the climb after the cliffs is not all
that bad in nice scenery.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

On 2004-07-06, Craig Brossman penned:
>
> While I road Walker Ranch for years in the counter-
> clockwise direction (down the cliffs), I eventually
> prefered clockswise. You get more downhill riding, can
> avoid the long tough climb up Columbine trail and up the
> old double track, and the climb after the cliffs is not
> all that bad in nice scenery.

Yeah; I had heard there was a "preferred" way to ride it,
but couldn't remember which way. If I ever go back, I'll try
the other direction.

As Eric said today, "I'd rather hike up and bike down than
vice versa."

--
monique