P
Penny S.
Guest
...at least that's the music I cued in my head as I waited for the usual suspects to show up. Kept
me company the whole ride. The sky has uniform gray cast to it, and it was barely spitting, as the
gals rolled in it was unanimous that we should just ride anyway. ;-)
Today we actually had 4 gals counting me, that's a record for a weekday. That's about the right size
tho. I went up ahead and while I was waiting I thought it'd be a nice spot to set up a shot
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/images/esmerelda2.jpg with the new camera.
I kept on going, this one's not nearly so scenic, it's kind of boring but it's fun to see the grrls:
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/images/esmerelda1.jpg working our way up the two mile climb.
Marla has a flat on top, she's a new "acquisition" to the group but I promised her that waiting was
never a problem. While the mechanical is getting dealt with, a guy comes up the trail, sort of goes
around the herd of four of, doing circles as he's waiting for someone. We had bets going as to
whether it was a buddy or the gf. Sure enough... a beginner buddy comes flailing out of the woods,
overdressed, sucking a bit of wind and most likely hurting.
This is where the fun starts. The area is partially a no man's land... who knows who really owns the
property. It belongs to the bikers and hikers. There are old roads mixed with single track all over
the place. The next part of the ride is old roads with lots of exposed rounded granite and sandy
soil; many lines to choose from. There's a line that I think I want to try but I come to a
screeching halt as I look over; between the slightly damp rock and the armor left in the car I leave
that one for another day. (note on armor, I bring it up here occasionally just to mess around on
stuff if I'm in the mood, it's not a permanent accessory) then we roll down through the power lines,
off of on a bit of singletrack...I hit the zone, fly right around two interesting corners;l one
banked with tires, the other has a big boulder as part of it. Kathleen is the bushes as I fly by...
she's amazed I've nailed these turns and I didn't even slow down to think about them or her . ( the
committee in my head starts to tell me it's a fluke but I tell them to shut up) Then she catches up
to me: she was in the bushes because she came screaming down that trail and poor Fred/Barney had
stalled out right on the rock in the middle of the second corner, she had to come to a screaming
halt.... poor guy, doesn't know what (almost) hit him.
Back to the rain. I'm really glad we decided to go. It's a light, light sprinkle that you don't even
notice. There's humidity to the air, and it's a perfect temp. The sandy soil is damp, but not really
tacky. After a while the rain picks up to a heavy sprinkle, but you don't really notice except when
you tip your forward and get a big splat off the helmet or on a downhill run with some speed.
Between the knowledge of this area that the four of us have, we manage to make a loop that does not
entail going to the paved road to get back. Sure there's more climbing back up to the ridge
involved, but we are super women, we just suck it up and do it. ;-) At some points I get lost in JRA
in the light rain in the spring. The service berries are blooming, and in places the petals litter
the trail and there is a wonderful aroma. Then here were are at the top.. back at the two mile
banked turns s-curves trail back down. Some I'm elected to go first, normally something I wouldn't
let happed because I assume I'm going to be the slow one. Whatever... put it in the big chain ring,
relax, pedal a bit now and then for momentum; let it ride around those banked corners.... wheeee....
turning them nice and night.... no ones breathing down my neck...another corner.... wheyeee....lean
into it....S turns.....pedalpedal and a few more..... breathe in that spring airSHIT it's skunk
aroma!!! Where'd that come from??
anyway we were done then and it was a fun day.
Penny
me company the whole ride. The sky has uniform gray cast to it, and it was barely spitting, as the
gals rolled in it was unanimous that we should just ride anyway. ;-)
Today we actually had 4 gals counting me, that's a record for a weekday. That's about the right size
tho. I went up ahead and while I was waiting I thought it'd be a nice spot to set up a shot
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/images/esmerelda2.jpg with the new camera.
I kept on going, this one's not nearly so scenic, it's kind of boring but it's fun to see the grrls:
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/images/esmerelda1.jpg working our way up the two mile climb.
Marla has a flat on top, she's a new "acquisition" to the group but I promised her that waiting was
never a problem. While the mechanical is getting dealt with, a guy comes up the trail, sort of goes
around the herd of four of, doing circles as he's waiting for someone. We had bets going as to
whether it was a buddy or the gf. Sure enough... a beginner buddy comes flailing out of the woods,
overdressed, sucking a bit of wind and most likely hurting.
This is where the fun starts. The area is partially a no man's land... who knows who really owns the
property. It belongs to the bikers and hikers. There are old roads mixed with single track all over
the place. The next part of the ride is old roads with lots of exposed rounded granite and sandy
soil; many lines to choose from. There's a line that I think I want to try but I come to a
screeching halt as I look over; between the slightly damp rock and the armor left in the car I leave
that one for another day. (note on armor, I bring it up here occasionally just to mess around on
stuff if I'm in the mood, it's not a permanent accessory) then we roll down through the power lines,
off of on a bit of singletrack...I hit the zone, fly right around two interesting corners;l one
banked with tires, the other has a big boulder as part of it. Kathleen is the bushes as I fly by...
she's amazed I've nailed these turns and I didn't even slow down to think about them or her . ( the
committee in my head starts to tell me it's a fluke but I tell them to shut up) Then she catches up
to me: she was in the bushes because she came screaming down that trail and poor Fred/Barney had
stalled out right on the rock in the middle of the second corner, she had to come to a screaming
halt.... poor guy, doesn't know what (almost) hit him.
Back to the rain. I'm really glad we decided to go. It's a light, light sprinkle that you don't even
notice. There's humidity to the air, and it's a perfect temp. The sandy soil is damp, but not really
tacky. After a while the rain picks up to a heavy sprinkle, but you don't really notice except when
you tip your forward and get a big splat off the helmet or on a downhill run with some speed.
Between the knowledge of this area that the four of us have, we manage to make a loop that does not
entail going to the paved road to get back. Sure there's more climbing back up to the ridge
involved, but we are super women, we just suck it up and do it. ;-) At some points I get lost in JRA
in the light rain in the spring. The service berries are blooming, and in places the petals litter
the trail and there is a wonderful aroma. Then here were are at the top.. back at the two mile
banked turns s-curves trail back down. Some I'm elected to go first, normally something I wouldn't
let happed because I assume I'm going to be the slow one. Whatever... put it in the big chain ring,
relax, pedal a bit now and then for momentum; let it ride around those banked corners.... wheeee....
turning them nice and night.... no ones breathing down my neck...another corner.... wheyeee....lean
into it....S turns.....pedalpedal and a few more..... breathe in that spring airSHIT it's skunk
aroma!!! Where'd that come from??
anyway we were done then and it was a fun day.
Penny
