Last night my sleep spot was full on exposed to strong gusty wind. Van rocked me in my nest. Sun came up shortly the wind quit. Just sayin that’s what happened.
Lingered. Time is 1 hour ahead from last Monday morning. Having no commitments allows leisurely synching to local time. Didn’t feel like riding. Fixed scrambled eggs, drank a cup of cold brewed coffee. Cleaned up. Started twitching for a ride. Just maybe I could go for a ride. Plan ride is to drive to Mack exit TH to ride Troy Built up to Mack Ridge then down Hawkeye. I self help talked to myself as I drove towards the interstate and the TH.
The TH is right off I 70. Pedaled a distance on gravel road to the start of old style single track Troy Built which climbs at first then contours with ups and downs. A bit of push my bike uphill and short “bursts” of pedaling till blow up then gasp recovery. Repeat. Old style trail build. Lots of rocks. Not flowy.
Spring colors
Trail finally rounded the ridge crossing Lions Loop, a beat up double track, that I pedaled uphill to Mack Ridge. This route eliminated the real nasty climb a bike uphill that I climbed previously. Today I sought the lesser pain. Picked up Mack Ridge road for final climb. years ago I rode up the road from the bottom, it was a real soul crusher because it was so steep and loose. This was better. Made Mack Ridge.
Mack Ridge single track is also very rocky. New trail Hawkeye joins. Trail is built using current ideas. Old and new are sustainable. This new is 3.8 miles long dropping 622′. Old school would have made a short descent and prolly would have been like Troy Built. New style is “playful”, it goes to the same place but the fun lessens the effort. I have only ridden this trail downhill. I ran into a couple from Winthrop, WA who pedaled up then worked a loop to ride back down. I clipped a rock with my left foot pretty hard. Little toe is fine but parts to my knee are reporting strain. Fun descent. Didn’t stop to take pics of trail.
Drove back to upper north side of Rabbit Valley above I 70. Windy, sunny, no shirt warm. I am easing into sun tan by limiting my sun exposure.