Not really, just really fast & hardly a break, 20.31 miles in 3 hrs 16 min, climbed 2772 feet.
Slept w/o heater again last night. Dawn brought warmth to 47 degree interior when i got up. Let sun warm up and wore my Pisgah wool jersey.
Stopped @ NY bagel store for normal supply of 2 cinnamon raisin and 1 blueberry. I like the bagels. Jimmy & friend Kevin from Long Island told me that there are different NY bagels.
Made Bike & Bean just after 9:00. Say hello to all. Jimmy introduced me to Dave who will be putting on the Turner demo days around the country. Gonzo was supposed to ride w/ them but he didn’t show. I offered to guide him, his wife Bev, & their friend Bob. They were going to ride system trails. I suggested Highline from shop and thought that would be good enough for them. Dave is riding a DW Spot like mine. Both he and his wife’s Flux have 650 wheels which are a bit bigger than 26″ but not quite 29″. Experiment continues of optimal wheel diameter. Bob rode a very old Cannondale hard tail w/ rim brakes, and all but bald tires. Oh well I thought to myself. This guy is in for a tough ride. Turned out he had things in hand.
Pace was brisk w/ just several munchie breaks. Dave is a live wire and just splatters everyone w/ his drive. Let him go w/ request to wait @ every intersection. fast rider & quite skilled. Amazing how he negotiated the tech features first time thru. He & Bob were pretty ecstatic riding the social trails made by mtn bikers. Dave was looking for more riding time. OK, my idea for a longer ride is to ride the Hogs for maybe another 90 mins. They threw down. Rode up easy sleezy wash where my skills were finally better than dave’s. Whoopie.
Off to Chicken Point on Little Horse trail then up & down on Broken Arrow for a ways until the nondescript start of High on the hogs trail. More fun. Bev elected to return to TH. Bob rode in front of me and smoked that ancient bike. I finally rode a tricky uphill left turn exit. Returned on Hogwash which is a undulating sketchy single track a ways underneath High on hogs. Tricky trails. Further diminished the walking spots. Rode chute on Little horse again picking a line around Bob who bailed just ahead of me. I told him to freeze so I could squeeze by down. Challenge is 15 foot elevation drop in 10 feet horizontal and there are 3 rock steps roll downs, rock surface is broken smooth bedrock, I don’t think is slick rock. Confidence to let gravity pull forward, for the suspension to suck up the drops, and I can steer a committed line.
Rest ride was system trails back until crossing hwy 179 to pick up lower Made in the Shade for a mostly downhill back to shop. Dave & Bob split for parking lot while I choose a longer route back to B & B.
What a hard ride. I have a spent feeling different from others, maybe a bone tired.
Hung @ B & B afterwards. Defrosted the fridge. Jimmy let me put my cold foods in the shop fridge.Down canyon further to Beaverhead flats camp spot. Dry Beaver creek is swollen w/ snow melt from Flag.
Smoked the Spots.