Quiet chilly night @ State park XG. Overslept so quiet.
Needed to be on road by 8:30 for ride. Rushed and made it. TH was just a few miles away. 2nd car in lot just b4 9:00 start. Riders kept pouring in, 21 in all. After the ride there is beer @ leader Hank’s house just up the road.
Congo line of riders snaked over the dry stirring up dust then dropped into a wide sandy wash. Need to keep pedaling and keep the front light while swimming over the sand. And then the trail, sometimes used cow trails as it wound up, around, over, between cactuses w/ all kinds of sharpies arrayed. Prickly pear is knee height & below, Cholla is over head high & bushie, saguaro is just big. Prickly spines can be removed w/ tweezers. The cholla you just don’t w ant to think about falling into. Many riders bear cactus wounds and a few today earned some more. I took 2 long spines in the shin. My arms are scratched from ducking around or brushing against other sharpies.
Trail is over decomposed granite, some places it is below ground level from rain runoff & traffic. To many riders. The technical challenges backed up someone else’s attempt. I walked my share & rode some others didn’t make. I am a midweight.
Baby Jesus is a map named ridge we rode down along over big rock.
Early in the ride I noticed a goodly sized thorn embedded in my front tire. My tubes are slime filled. My safest strategy was to leave the thorn in hoping it plugged the hole and I would remove it back at the van. On the last bit of downhill I rolled down onto a rock, a perfect storm flatted my tire. The rock must have speared the thorn. My tire went flat right now. Solution is to pump up the tube hoping the sealant will coagulate over the hole. No such happening, the harder i pumped the louder the hiss of escaping air. No choice but to replace tube w/ another slimed one in my pack. I held up the group waiting for me. All good natured. earlier a rider had a mechanical which held the group even longer. Tough rugged riding in the desert.
Hank invited all to join him @ his house for a beer compliments of a brewery that I didn’t get. His road back to his house was just driven in. Rocky. Savored the beer & company of some riders.
I split back to XG hoping on sneaking back in on yesterday’s pass for a shower. Successful.
Drove up Oracle rd looking for laundromat i found on line. Clean clothes. Dirtbagging behind a doctors’ clinic off hwy.
Cult rider joined our group. He lives nearby and plays on the rocks etc. Skilled rider. Rides in Carharts, skate shoes, flats, & rides a Turner Spot. The bike is able to do more than I allow it after watching him.
Thinking about driving up 2 lanes to Phoenix tomorrow, maybe a day off after 5 days of riding.
Temp was in lower 70s, another sunburn to go w/ scratches. Blue skies, so blue, no moisture.
Happy New Year, Craig. Tucson sounds nice and warm and the rides sound like just enough mix of technical and nice scenery to make for a lot of fun. Regarding the Cholla, I experienced them in Baja. The cows were all walking around festooned with these prickly bastards. The Mexicans call them jumping cactus since they take almost no pressure to break off and stick to you. Had one in my leg, carefully pulled it off with my hand and the thing embedded in my hand. Pulled it off with the other hand and the thing globbed onto my other hand. Finally took a stick (like your comb method) and flicked it off.
Just got back from 5 days at Big Sky, Montana. Love that place except for the ticket prices. Took the tram to the summit at 11,000 plus feet and had a 2000 ft descent of untracked powder. Lots of new snow over some pretty boney terrain. Really enjoyed the mountain. They say the biggest terrain in the US, 5500 acres and about 4400 vertical. Lot’s of big hair descents down avalanche chutes plus lots of green and blue runs for the big money high brow clients that fly in for their once a year ski vacations. Enjoy reading your adventures, keep it up. Les