Our tentative plans to ride on Friday fell through but Gary and I did
get out for a good ride today. The pleasant temps of the past week have
disappeared and the morning woke dark and chilly. Well, chilly for So
Cal, at least, and not really dark. It was 48 degrees out on the drive
up and ended up being between 50 and 55 degrees during our ride. Gary
originally started out in short sleeves but I think to not embarass me
with my cold weather wimpiness he soon threw on a windbreaker.
I chose a Chilao ride to show Gary some of the fun high country stuff
around here. We started out with the climb from Charlton Flats to
Vetter Lookout, mellow middle ring climbing in the beginning and
steepening a little by the top. We passed a couple of groups of hikers
towards the top who joined us in taking in the views of the surrounding
peaks and the fog and clouds pushing up from the valleys below. The
chilly breeze got us back on the bikes pretty quickly and we were soon
dropping down the initial 8 or so switchbacks of Vetter Mountain Trail.
Thankfully some of the ruts have been smoothed out by traffic but more
trees had been felled across the lower part of the trail to get rid bark
beetle killed trees.
After dropping back down to Charlton Flats we lost more elevation
descending the forest service road to section of the Silver Mocassin
Trail that heads up to Chilao. Gary cleaned most of this and I hoofed
it for a couple of sections, and soon enough we were in the campground.
We cruised through the empty campground and made our way over to 3N14
which would provide a nice long middle ring climb up around the back
side of Mt Hillyer. At the end of 3N14 it's a quick jaunt up Santa
Clara Divide Rd to the singletrack that goes right up and over Mt
Hillyer. I was simply amazed at how much further Gary made it up what
for me was a hike-a-bike. Now was the time for my absolute favorite
section of this ride. The trail off of Mt Hillyer twists and turns
through the granite boulders with some nice tech sections and is just a
playground for mountain bikes. At the bottom we ran into one more
couple hiking at Horse Flats and then we were on our way again on Silver
Mocassin.
I have crashed every single time I've ridden this section and today was
no exception. I didn't make a couple of the moves I made last time but
I still was satisfied with my effort. And sure enough I ended up
jumping over the bars on one failed switchback attempt. We were through
the lower fast section too quickly and were on our way over the hump of
a hill in the middle of Chilao. When the trail turned up I was off the
bike and pushing, and unfortunately as I rounded a corner I saw Gary on
the ground. He had attempted the 18" dia root across the steep pitch
and appeared to have fallen off backwards. He continued on before I
caught up to him but at the top of the climb he showed off his
hamburgered elbow. No ride stopper but it was dripping a bit of blood.
Unfortunately the next 1/2 mile was the last of the singletrack and
it's a nice fast, smooth section so it was over in a flash.
A smooth ride on the road and we were back at the Jeep and on our way to
a burrito and torta at Baja Fresh. Good trails, no mechanicals, a
couple of crashes, a little chilly, all in all, a great day.
Thanks,
Greg