J
John Spann
Guest
Luckily we hit Hawes before the heat hit. This summer, it seemed like it was Spring here in Phoenix.
A comfortable 85 or so. Next thing ya know, it's 110.
We saw quite a few cars at the trailhead parking by the canal, but since most people ride Hawes in a
counter-clockwise fashion, trail traffic wasn't a problem.
After the first climb up the rapidly degrading waterbars, we met up with a couple of guys resting up
top. A little chit chat and they took off while my friend and riding partner, el Jefe, hit his
inhaler. We started rolling and as we crested the little roll-up to a fairly mellow downhill, we see
one guy down and the other waving for us to stop. So, we hung out for a few, but the guy that was
down was still down. el Jefe has had extensive emergency first aid training and decided to get down
there and see what happened. Turns out the guy that went down had an open wound on his arm worthy of
a Pete Fagerlin photo-op. The guy was fairly freaking out as well as his friend. Both were pretty
shaken up and the wounded guy was bloody as hell. After admistering first-aid, the guys headed back
to their ride, refusing an offer for escort. No problem and good luck.
We continued with our ride and Hawes being Hawes, we weren't disappointed. The trail tooks it's toll
as we rolled over the ridge heading over to the Mine Loop. I don't know if this connecting trail has
a name or not, but it is fun. I clipped a pedal on the descent and took a dive OTB. Derailer busted,
hanger bent and I went down hard. After laying on the ground for a few minutes collecting the brain
cells that were knocked loose, I got up and with el Jefe's assistance, began the trailside SS
conversion. A few minutes later, we had a working bike. I was a little concerned how the ride would
be considering I was on my FS. It was a suprisingly good ride but the larger bumps would cause a
shift in gears and a tight-as-hell chain if it went onto a larger cog. The ride ended up being a new
experience running full suspension as a SS. I did break the chain on the last 100 yards back to the
parking lot, but the walk wasn't too bad.
I do have a a bit of beef with DeKerf though. I never really paid attention to it at purchase, but
the Phenomenon has a propriatary derailer hanger. Two screws and a machined puzzle-like interface.
Weird. I'm not sure if all DeKerfs are like that or not, but I ended up buying two so I don't have
to wait for it to get shipped next time.
Well, y'all have a good weekend.
John Spann
A comfortable 85 or so. Next thing ya know, it's 110.
We saw quite a few cars at the trailhead parking by the canal, but since most people ride Hawes in a
counter-clockwise fashion, trail traffic wasn't a problem.
After the first climb up the rapidly degrading waterbars, we met up with a couple of guys resting up
top. A little chit chat and they took off while my friend and riding partner, el Jefe, hit his
inhaler. We started rolling and as we crested the little roll-up to a fairly mellow downhill, we see
one guy down and the other waving for us to stop. So, we hung out for a few, but the guy that was
down was still down. el Jefe has had extensive emergency first aid training and decided to get down
there and see what happened. Turns out the guy that went down had an open wound on his arm worthy of
a Pete Fagerlin photo-op. The guy was fairly freaking out as well as his friend. Both were pretty
shaken up and the wounded guy was bloody as hell. After admistering first-aid, the guys headed back
to their ride, refusing an offer for escort. No problem and good luck.
We continued with our ride and Hawes being Hawes, we weren't disappointed. The trail tooks it's toll
as we rolled over the ridge heading over to the Mine Loop. I don't know if this connecting trail has
a name or not, but it is fun. I clipped a pedal on the descent and took a dive OTB. Derailer busted,
hanger bent and I went down hard. After laying on the ground for a few minutes collecting the brain
cells that were knocked loose, I got up and with el Jefe's assistance, began the trailside SS
conversion. A few minutes later, we had a working bike. I was a little concerned how the ride would
be considering I was on my FS. It was a suprisingly good ride but the larger bumps would cause a
shift in gears and a tight-as-hell chain if it went onto a larger cog. The ride ended up being a new
experience running full suspension as a SS. I did break the chain on the last 100 yards back to the
parking lot, but the walk wasn't too bad.
I do have a a bit of beef with DeKerf though. I never really paid attention to it at purchase, but
the Phenomenon has a propriatary derailer hanger. Two screws and a machined puzzle-like interface.
Weird. I'm not sure if all DeKerfs are like that or not, but I ended up buying two so I don't have
to wait for it to get shipped next time.
Well, y'all have a good weekend.
John Spann
