Freeze thaw here dry firm tread there. At night the temp remains chilly, sometimes and places it’s below freezing keeping ice on puddles. Yesterday I rode out Western Gateway system encountering less mud than on the 3rd. Today I tried Llama loop again. Less and shorter pieces of wet but none the less more than enough to shorten the ride.
Yesterday’s ride was the same loop that Doug and I rode on the 3rd. The climb up Rupp for me was the first time ever, I made it under duress. Yesterday the climbs seemed to be less difficult. 13 mile loop 1082′ climbing. Cockscomb massive is dominant.
Dry Creek is still running low enough to leave stepping stones above the flow.
I sessioned several places on Girdner to satisfaction. One I made for the first time, felt so good I climbed it 3 more times. 3 riders rode up. One was Tyson who was laid out the idea of these trails and Beth, and another woman. I have known the first 2 for years. I met Beth in Asheville back in maybe ’09. Wonderful to visit with people I have met along my way.
Holiday crowds have returned to where they came from freeing up space. Yesterday I drove down the hill to the Y on an almost empty road. traffic zoomed around the rotary and Tlaqapaque was dead. Scored MP4 spot again.
Tomorrow’s forecast wants precip and lower temps putting more moisture in the ground and freezing overnight to regress the drying process. OK it is to be expected because it is Jan 8. Which made today a ride day.
I parked at VOC spot: sunshine, no wind. Checked the van temp: 35 degrees. WTF? Should be warmer than that. Gotta ride. I wore a short sleeve wool T shirt under my wool jersey and knee warmers. Half mike pedal uphill to Bell Rock TH and dirt. I warmed up a bit as did the temp. On the dirt Bog Park and Single track Bypass were dry. The piece at the steep roll was dry. Llama should be much drier. Well, the wet spots were shorter and some dried up. My chain sent dry chain sounds causing me to pull off the trail and lubed the chain. I was off the trail partially hidden by a juniper. A rider appeared, it was Doug riding from the other direction. We visited for awhile. Another rider joined, local Al. The 3 of us have done trail work. Report was mud on my route. I modified my route and returned the way I came with the other 2. We pedaled Llama riding over what I miss by taking the trails to the roll down. Muddy but not as much build up as earlier.
Tonight I scored my favorite spot off Beaverhead. Many users over the years have created other spots nearby. Way more primitive campers as years have gone by. Still a compliment to the users’ ethics as there is no litter.
The new parts on the engine have increased the boost which lessens and almost eliminates the Sprinter rumble strip clanking which must have been from the transmission attempting to chose the correct gear. The boost allows the engine to pull in proper gear.