I Rode My Bike Today...

Titus said:
First ride in Tahoe. 14 miles, lots of breaks to catch my breath! Altitude is no joke. Absolutely beautiful up here.View attachment 75587
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Great photo....

I have no idea of snow levels but if you're in the area and have time, check out the Christmas Valley trail. Absolutely my favorite ride in Tahoe that @pdqmach26 and I did while we were up there. This is the TF link but we rode in from the road/highway and climbed and climbed before getting to the XMAS Valley trail. https://www.trailforks.com/trails/christmas-valley-trail/
 
Life gave me enough time for a simple luge lap this afternoon around 5:30.

It started out inauspiciously, with a couple on ebikes chasing me down on Santiago Cyn, and a Douchebag Porsche driver coming within a few inches of being a homicidal douchebag Porsche driver.

But the ebikes stayed on the road. And as I turned on to Modjeska Grade, a car passed. That was the last person I’d see until I was back to the parking lot. I even hung out at the top for a while, certain that someone would be catching up.

It felt odd.
 
Yesterday bagged Strawberry Peak on foot. Absolutely insane scrambling straight up boulders. Down and around via Gabrielino. To save time we cut up to hwy 2 where another insane climb was had... Sore AF all over today so a recovery ride was planned. Bagged Josephine for the first time.:cool: Strawberry in the view.

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Spin class again. Nothing exciting, aside from the fact that it's the first time I've ridden (albeit short rides) twice in a week in probably 3 months. Felt noticeably stronger than last time out, and the DH felt fast. Longer and more regular rides are right around corner. Woot. 9ish/like 1200.
 
tick said:
...That was the last person I’d see until I was back to the parking lot. I even hung out at the top for a while, certain that someone would be catching up.

It felt odd.
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I too was all alone on STT and at the Luge flag at about 1:00 pm. Not a soul to be seen or heard. 72° and sunny, on a Sunday in June, on one of the most popular trails in a congested corner of the universe. And nobody out. Not even an e-bike.
 
mtbMike said:
Great photo....

I have no idea of snow levels but if you're in the area and have time, check out the Christmas Valley trail. Absolutely my favorite ride in Tahoe that @pdqmach26 and I did while we were up there. This is the TF link but we rode in from the road/highway and climbed and climbed before getting to the XMAS Valley trail. https://www.trailforks.com/trails/christmas-valley-trail/
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Thanks--I'll check it out. Plan to ride every day this week (as long as my legs hold up!). Hitting a section of TRT for sure.
 
I had a appointment yesterday morning in J's Garage, so it meant getting out later in the day....which has kinda been my M.O. on Sundays anyway.

So many choices, so many thoughts....landed on Whiting/Rose Canyon.

Rolled from Ridgeline about 3:45 and it was a little breezy. Made my way up the Grade and onto STT. Shortly after got passed by and ebiker....and he flew by me. I'll say it once again....."no ebikes aren't fast, no one ever climbs in high/turbo. We keep it on Low to help make the climbing a little easier"......cough/cough.....Bulls*it.

Anyway caught and passed a real mtn biker on FU Hill. Legs were still a bit slow to show up after Saturday's spin. Rolled through the Flag, there was a several riders there, but I didn't stop. Up Goat Hill....she's getting really loose. No breeze here and it felt pretty toasty. A little ways up got run off the trail by an ebiker....didn't know you needed full face helmet and stormtrooper gear to descend STT. As I approached Rose Canyon, I decided to push on a little bit. Before I gave myself the option, I went past Cadillac and was now committed to Old Camp.

On the way to Old Camp, was run off the trail by ebiker #2(same d!ck that passed me earlier) not willing to give up any of the trail. Made it up to Old Camp and turned around. Apparently I PR'd the Gate to Old Camp segment...who knew. The pace back down wasn't blazing, but not cruising. Dropped into Rose Canyon and had the place to myself. Today was a leisurely pace down. Plus I was helping someone out on J's Garage Online Support. Got to the bottom....and the gate was closed...and locked. :eek: No worries you can get around it. Down the pavement to the main gate....and the corral gate was open. o_O

Through O'Neil I made the call to climb up Live Oak. This hurt today. Dunno why, but the legs were at war with the rest of me. I'd clean it, really ugly if you ask me. Before long was on Santiago Canyon head back up to Whiting....even past my truck...could have called it quits. Nope, continued on and entered up by 4 Corners. Down Cactus, down Sage Scrub and through the standard fare out to Portolla. Roadie to the main gate. Borrego was quiet. I just plugged along.

Made the turn up to Cattle Pond....ouch. Wasn't looking forward to Mustard. Saw at the top of Cattle Pond I was already at 4000'....I was aiming for 4500'. Mustard felt like a wall....a never ending wall. :bang: Put my head down and just pedaled. Never looked up until I reached the last turn. Got to 4 Corners, met my elevation goal and called it a day. Back out to Santiago Canyon and DH back to the truck.

29 /4500'

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Happy to hear about those that rode in relative solitude. CHSP (Lambert) was somewhat on 7AM ascent to Four Corners and "small" extra credit up and back on Sycamore, but teeming with riders and hikers on the return. One e-biker apparently hadn't heard that AFAIK, they're ticketing ($271) there.
 
I've had three good weeks in a row numbers wise. I have a goal in my head to hit by the end of June... Today was supposed to be a rest day, though. :gag: @SnakeCharmer was really excited to get his bike back with a little extra bounce in his bouncy bits. So, we arranged to meet near the bottom of Lower Sam Merrill around 6:00. Snake Man took the lead, and I did what I could to hang on. My legs were nowhere to be seen for the duration of the ride. :p

We were in the soup for a good amount of time, and it was really thick at Inspiration Point... The mist was downright chilly. :eek:


:inlove:
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Middle Merrill was a hoot. No PRs were in danger, but the Moxie felt really smooth today. The motor, however, had some issues and I walked a few things that I've been cleaning lately. Between the low visibility, the moisture, and my weak legs, there was not a lot of confidence. Today should have been the day to push the pace a little, as there were no hikers. On Sunday, there were around 50 from top to bottom. :confused:

The connector trail over to Sunset was a little painful on the legs, but Sunset was a riot... As always! :inlove:

Fun morning on the mountain... :thumbsup:

16.4/3600
 
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Yep, wonderful ride. I have learned that I have to ride with @Faust29 when he is already tired in order to somewhat even it out. :laugh:

The LSM climb went by quickly. Nice to have relatively empty trails today. The gentle climb up Mt Lowe Railway was good and then the climb up the fire road to Inspiration Point was nice. It was fun watching the wind play with the marine layer at the lookout. It was calm when we arrived there but before long we were engulfed in strong/cold winds so we got the heck out of there. At the Middle Merrill trailhead, we had a nice little patch of sun to partially thaw us out before we got rolling. MM was nice but it was odd to descend the mountain today in very moist air but still having to deal with dusty trails. I stayed back a bit to avoid the dust as much as possible. My bike was an absolute dust pie when we finally got down off the mountain. The trails were not as scary to me today because I could not see the death drops due to being enveloped in fog. But that also made visibility in front of me limited at times. The second climb up Mt Lowe Railway hurt a bit but I was running on the adrenaline from the MM DH so I motored up at a good pace. Then came the Sunset Ridge DH which is always a blast. We did see a few hikers along the way on that one, but no biggy. The finish on Horsey Trail is always icing on the cake. When we popped out on Chaney Trail Road, we got rolling fast, as usual, and rolled by a pair of parked L.A. County Sheriff cars. We were clearly exceeding the speed limit but luckily, they didn't seem to care. I think that if we were rolling at that speed in a car, we would have been pulled over and cited. :eek:

Good times! :inlove:

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Faust29 said:
It was such a good ride we completely forgot to mention the two guys with “arm extensions” who were climbing Lower Sam Merrill gorilla style…

That was a new one…
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Yep, that was weird! I had just passed them when I rolled up this morning to our meeting spot. I asked them if they were simulating how gorillas walk, not expecting them to take me seriously, but sure enough, they said yes! o_O The extensions looked like shortened crutches.

We saw them again just after we reached the bottom of MM (I think that's where it was?) and I busted them for walking upright, just carrying the extensions. They didn't appreciate my comment. :laugh:

What is it with LSM??? We see the weirdest things on that trail! :facepalm:
 
Faust29 said:
I've had three good weeks in a row numbers wise. I have a goal in my head to hit by the end of June... Today was supposed to be a rest day, though. :gag: @SnakeCharmer was really excited to get his bike back with a little extra bounce in his bouncy bits. So, we arranged to meet near the bottom of Lower Sam Merrill around 6:00. Snake Man took the lead, and I did what I could to hang on. My legs were nowhere to be seen for the duration of the ride. :p

We were in the soup for a good amount of time, and it was really thick at Inspiration Point... The mist was downright chilly. :eek:


:inlove:
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View attachment 75651

Middle Merrill was a hoot. No PRs were in danger, but the Moxie felt really smooth today. The motor, however, had some issues and I walked a few things that I've been cleaning lately. Between the low visibility, the moisture, and my weak legs, there was not a lot of confidence. Today should have been the day to push the pace a little, as there were no hikers. On Sunday, there were around 50 from top to bottom. :confused:

The connector trail over to Sunset was a little painful on the legs, but Sunset was a riot... As always! :inlove:

Fun morning, even though it was a little painful... :thumbsup:

16.4/3600
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I'm probably the only one here that still giggles every time he sees a side photo of the Moxie. ;):D:thumbsup:
 
mike said:
I'm probably the only one here that still giggles every time he sees a side photo of the Moxie. ;):D:thumbsup:
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Voodoo Tom said:
Nope I giggle too. It’s a badass looking rig and knowing that he took apart his Hightower to build this one up says a lot, especially on his trail menu...:thumbsup:
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SnakeCharmer said:
He most definitely rides it better than I ever saw him ride the Hightower. I totally get, too.... Hardtails rule!
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She definitely prefers to be photographed from the side. :D

Moxie is coming up on 600 miles... When I hit 1000, I'll have to do a long term review. The Hightower frame should probably go up for sale... :eek:
 
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