I Rode My Bike Today...

Took the day off from work today since I was scheduled to work tomorrow. Rode up Skyline again on the SS. Seems to be my go-to spot lately. Been scoping the canyons out for some future insanity.:whistling: Chilly weather and almost hero dirt. Made it to Beeks then kept going to bag Hagador. Peaceful. Back down at the start just before the rain. :cool: 18/3600. The job for tomorrow got canceled. 3 day weekend yay!:thumbsup:
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Btw, anyone loose a blingy mtb part on Skyline? Lmk.
 
Grego said:
Took the day off from work today since I was scheduled to work tomorrow. Rode up Skyline again on the SS. Seems to be my go-to spot lately. Been scoping the canyons out for some future insanity.:whistling: Chilly weather and almost hero dirt. Made it to Beeks then kept going to bag Hagador. Peaceful. Back down at the start just before the rain. :cool: 18/3600. The job for tomorrow got canceled. 3 day weekend yay!:thumbsup:
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Btw, anyone loose a blingy mtb part on Skyline? Lmk.
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Blingy like a derailer hangar? ;)
 
I rode up Maple Springs around 1:00 pm today. I made it within a mile of where the pavement ends when light rain turned into medium rain. I was feeling really good. I was thinking about so many things I don't remember the climb being bad at all. When I made it to the end of the pavement my pants were soaked and all I was thinking at that point was weather would be better next week and If I turn around now I would only have to deal with minimal Friday freeway traffic. So I did. 14 mi. 1,800 elevation.
 
mountaingirl sara said:
I don’t have a spare, maybe I should order one..or just order a new bike:confused:
The chain kept jumping behind the big ring stopping me cold. After a while I was riding like a granny, afraid to shift or really mash the pedals.
:bang:
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Take it to your LBS tomorrow and have them straighten the hanger (enough to work for now) and then go online and order a spare hanger. It's a small extra part that you should always have in your spare parts pack.
 
I have bent two in 100 years of riding. One I limped out with 600 feet of HAB, the second was on the top of Rosewood on the tandem, I bent it back using the RD as a lever and took the bike and headed down the hill so there was no turning the crank and then a limp back to the trail head. Thank goodness Rosewood is 99% single track down hill for 900 feet of glorious switchback goodness. One time I was riding Alabama and had a chain break right at the crest of the butte. Three mile coast to the trail head.
happy trails when mechanical breakdowns happen at just the right place.
 
I found out that @mtnbikej, @Faust29, The Professor and J2 were doing Maple Springs and points east or west, so I tagged along. Mostly - as in mostly well behind everyone else. :p

Kinda drizzly in a few spots, but temps were about perfect. Kept from overheating on the climb and didn't freeze to death on the descent. I had planned on going to 4 Corners and did. I thought everyone else was going farther, but they weren't.

Rode the last few miles of the ascent with J2 (Professor's offspring) and I have hope for the future. Extremely articulate, widely-read, knowledgeable 13 year old with an obvious huge interest in the world around him. And best of all, he rides at my pace. :thumbsup:

Thanks for the invite Steve. Great to ride with all y'all again. :thumbsup:

Edit: I had just over 2,800 feet at the gate, so of course I had to ride back up a little to hit 3,000 feet of gain. Hilarious that everyone asked "extra credit?":laugh:

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Runs with Scissors said:
I found out that @mtnbikej, @Faust29, The Professor and J2 were doing Maple Springs and points east or west, so I tagged along. Mostly - as in mostly well behind everyone else. :p

Kinda drizzly in a few spots, but temps were about perfect. Kept from overheating on the climb and didn't freeze to death on the descent. I had planned on going to 4 Corners and did. I thought everyone else was going farther, but they weren't.

Rode the last few miles of the ascent with J2 (Professor's offspring) and I have hope for the future. Extremely articulate, widely-read, knowledgeable 13 year old with an obvious huge interest in the world around him. And best of all, he rides at my pace. :thumbsup:

Thanks for the invite Steve. Great to ride with all y'all again. :thumbsup:

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I was in the FB kit and waved at you guys on the way up and then back down. Epic conditions with the exception of 4 corners where it suddenly got cold, foggy and windy. haha I was planning on going further but turned around and headed back (I parked at Cooks).
 
Yep... Fun day out there. We ran into quite a few familiar faces. :thumbsup:

I would have liked to go further, but two in our merry band did not come prepared... After descending in the cold rain with no helmets, gloves or jackets, I think they learned a valuable lesson. :p

It was nice on the way up until a mile or so before Four Corners. Mid 50s, which was warm enough for short sleeves. :thumbsup:

Fun day... 6,000 feet from last year’s total.

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The lady bugs have taken over the end of the pavement. Anything reddish in this picture is lady bugs...
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"Coast to Coast to Coast" went down today. South Mountain AZ, National Trail from east to west and back. Variations possible, as I did today.

Think Palm Canyon meets UPS/Porcupine Ridge. Rocky desert ST on ridges and peaks, with ledgy drops and steps on the east end. 30.5 miles and 3700' tells an incomplete story of this ride. So much rocky ST, about 26 miles. (A dirt road gets you a couple miles in.) Physical riding with continuous consequences/need for focus. 7:26 to finish, with a snack break halfway.

I went up Mormon Trail where I could, because National is very ledgy thru there, and later veered off onto Ranger Trail and Bajada mostly by accident. But would have missed the big, fat javelina if I'd stayed on National. :) Bajada goes through a nice area but is a kind of forgettable trail. If you do C2C(2C), stay on National on the west end. Spectacular positions and fun ST on Natty; you'll swear you're on Whitehorse Peak. I got burned by not going down it but still ascending it...chock it up to a workout. :oops: Ranger had some testy rocky drops and switchies, if short.

Years ago I got beat down pretty good on this ride due to fitness and skill. So it felt good to send the MF handily. Notwithstanding, there is tons of brutal HAB and constant tricky riding to negotiate. Trailside exposure on just a couple spots on National, but unforgiving downslope landings regardless. I tipped over at 0 mph in one spot and got reminded how nice bushes are to land in. Because I rolled on the rocks bad enough to elicit a are you okay? from a hiker. I get bummed that, usually, nobody sees my blunders, so that was a positive today. Nice lady.

Dropping the finish, I begrudgingly rolled into the Waterfall on the dumb left line because I'd never done it. I dismounted halfway down because it felt, uh, dumb, and dragged my Smash back up, rolled in on the rock spine for a precision, fun line on the crux of the route.

I grabbed a couple bits of trash, but the trails are pretty much impeccable. A dog shyt bag and some cidiot piss paper was the only trash I left. Walkers and riders were very nice. Low 70s felt warm, but all the oxygen down here is dreamy.

A classic endurance ride with loads of tech – put it on the list for winter riding. :thumbsup:
 
SnakeCharmer said:
Interesting. That's not what the first image in your post depicts. Everyone else in that image is all bundled up as though it was wet and chilly. Mark is acting as though he is all comfy on a bright, sunny day.
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Some of us were there a while longer. :whistling:

I tried to give him the single speed on the way up. He said he only wants to ride @herzalot 's bike. :cautious: :p
 
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