[email protected] (Paladin) wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
>
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/parrybike/page8.html
>
> Well, I ran across this website that shows a few pics from the Boise area, to show you friends
> what it's typically like around here. (I used to post binaries, until collecting too many tickets
> from the usenet police) I don't know these guys or anything about them.
>
> We have lotsa trails more technical than those shown, but I know how hard it is to stop and take a
> picture when you're focused on survival.
>
> Paladin
Thanks for the link! I went for a couple rides in Sun Valley last year. Very sweet. The most
technical thing I found consistently was some tight switchbacks, the likes of which I've never seen
out east but seem common in the rides I've done in the West. Otherwise, patches of loose rocks here
and there. Fox Creek was a nice, short loop. I remember a couple rocky sections, but for the most
part it was singletrack. The Greenhorn Gulch ride's elevation went from 6000' to 8000' feet. It may
not sound like much to you inhabitants of the Rockies, but to this sea-level city slicker, it was
noticed! It was mostly singltrack too, similar to the later pics of Boise it it's sun exposure. I
think Fox Creek had a lot more trees, similar to the earlier pics. Gave myself a pretty sweet
little scar on the side of my left calf on Greenhorn Gulch. I was on my way down, around 2/3 of the
way through the ride. After huffing up for so long, I wanted to test out the capabilities of my
rented FSR-XC. I was riding through a flat section, the trail skirting one of the hills, uphill to
my left and downward to my right. I was pedalling through a flat section when clipped a pedal on a
rock. (Either those FSR's have lower BBs than I'm accustomed to on a hardtail and I ignored the
rock, or I didn't see the rock at all, I'm not really sure.) It was the right pedal that hit. You'd
think this would have pushed me towards the left and uphill rather than down, but no. Inexplicably,
I flew off the right side of the trail, landing rolling in a big pile of rocks. As aforementioned,
the fall took a nice bite out of my left leg and elbow, banged up my right knee, scraped up my
shoulder, and the force of the impact gave me that ozone buzz in my sinuses, like when you've been
punched in the nose and feel blurry and crosseyed and might want to cry. I was alone, resting,
assessing the damage, licking wounds, enjoying some time in the sunlight, when suddenly I realized
that I was far from home, and had no idea what kind of fauna prowled around there. In the East,
we've got deer ticks, little black bears, maybe some rabid varmints to worry about. Idaho? What the
hell do I know about Idaho? Rattlers? Grizzlies? Mountain lions? Scorpions? Pterydactyls? Who the
hell knows? Not me! I got back on the bike and the hell out of there. I'll have to see if I can dig
up those pics. /s