Am I getting boring yet. ;-) I did my usually Sunday afternoon ride
but decided to throw in a hill climbing working. The conditions were
slick. Wet leaves and mud covered about 70 percent of my ride.
It will be a while before the fallen leaves disintegrate into dirt,
but for now I just needed to lay off the front brakes a bit and make
sure my front tracks into the squishy corners. I was running at a
utra-low pressure up front (as measured by the thumb and forefinger).
I was just waiting to get a snake bite. I had the rear just a tad
tighter.
My first decent was slow, it was very hard pick a good line without
going off trail. I was looking for the dry patches, but there were
none. I felt the front tire bottom out a few times over some hidden
baby heads. ... no snake bite yet. I knew then that the climbs where
going to be brutal.
I started my first short climb up the Morning Choice trail right after
you cross the stream at the low point in the trail. I wanted to keep
as much weight on the rear wheel as possible without going over. My
front was hardly touching the ground at all. I'd put more weight up
front just to get the bike turning where I wanted it to go, then I
shift my weight back again. This was a good warmup climb and the
legs were feeling good.
I passed through the open field where they're re-foresting. Again
after another stream crossing there is a short but semi-technical
climb. There as a lot of stair like but smooth logs buried around the
turns. It could get tricky if you get caught with both wheels between
the risers (you can get locked in so to speak). On this climb at
points it felt like I was on a Unicycle. The front only came down
when I need to get leverage off one of the risers (front down rear
up).
So now I'm working my way to the Rockburn Branch trail and plan on
climbing up and working my way to the opposite end of Morning Choice.
The Rockburn Branch is a medium length climb with no real obstacles,
besides the slick roots to worry about. At enter section of Rockburn
and Morning Choice I shoot across to keep my momentum as I start up
MC. I did my first dab of the day, but hey that okay nobodies
perfect. I get past the ruins and decide to connect to the Ridge
trail.
Down the Ridge I go to the low point of my ride. The decent was
tricky what it was nice to start going downhill again, the lungs
definitely needed some recovery time. From this low point on the
Ridge I have about a mile of tech, uphill climbing. There's no
momentum so it's a complete grind. I dab once more at the start but
I'm still moving. I make it to the cross connector trail and take the
uphill switch back with no issues. This last part is where it gets
real fun. If you end up stopping you'll end up walking it to the top.
I was able to find all the traction I needed, my weight back and front
just bobbing barely touching the ground. There's not much room to
tack back and forth so you really need to just grind and bare it. I
remembered the days when I couldn't make this on my geared pig.
There's still a lung out there somewhere.
Once again, I connect back to MC, dizzy and out of breath. I'm not
stopping until I fall. I was able to recover and work my way back
home. This was without a doubt one of my best rides this year.
Totals miles about 10. Short but jam packed with hills!
Peace,
Bill