Still here in Whitefish, MT area. Foliage cover is going displaying their natural colors mixed in with year long conifer greens except for larch which will turn its needles golden brown. I visited with a rider who rode up closer to the US CA border where he said the larch are turning. Here there is a foreshadowing of change.
I use Trailforks for ride selections then use it for navigation. I have ridden several of the local locations. On Friday I rode Tally cliff from where I have been staying. Another road climb mixed in with pieces of ST till I reached the overlook spot above Tally Lake.
As I climbed the former logging road became more primitive. I followed the long Trailforks route passing on a short cut to the overlook. I had run into 2 couples ahead of me. My choice was much hike a bike up fall line trail. From the overlook the trail was local single track going mostly downhill. Balance on my bike is different when gravity is pulling versus pedaling against it. The trails are not signed, Trailforks keeps me found. Except it kept crashing. Tread is narrow with woody vegetation hard against the tread. Keep in the center of the tread in hte blocking brush. I rode back on pieces of ST instead of the road back to my anchorage.
12.1 miles climbing 1529′ pedaling for 1 hr 43 mins. Rode from my home and returned to same.
Sat I picked Spencer mtn trails nearby. Again Trailforks sort of kept me found. In TF I search for a rider’s submitted route seeking the most blue trails and an acceptable distance. I don’t research the actual trail descriptions. I paid a negligence penalty as I ended up on lots of bike park trails. And TF kept crashing. I had a shitty ride. I popped out of woods onto the climb road. A riding couple were resting there. I vented my frustrations to them, locals. He said that the legacy trails were preserved, the bike park trails are new. Land manager is not federal to allow those trails to be built. Perhaps if I researched better I could have ridden those old trails instead of siding mostly go arounds on the features. Short ride 5.79 miles climbing 669′.
Returned to same anchorage where internet doesn’t reach although cell phone reception.
My next ride was down near Kalispel at Herron park trails. Found it on TF. Area has like steeple chase features for horses. Again, TF gave directions on a route that I selected. Big climb leaving the main area on wide tread then changing to newer machine built trail nicely laid out and built. Again I did not research the individual trails. My phone is attached to my handlebar where I kept it turned on for navigation. I stopped for a blow and looked at the battery level icon on the phone. To me the level looked almost empty. Shit, I need the phone for navigation. I decided retracing my ride would be safer as I hopefully remembered the correct trails. Direction was downhill till a short climb was made. I stopped for a blow and I decided to put on my reader glasses to see the battery level. Shit, I had 65%, enough to finish the ride. I turned around retracing my uphill. The route left the main trail and I followed. It turned out to be several pieces of logging haul roads with fall line pieces down to the next haul road below. Another mistake not researching the route. 13.5 miles climbing 1706′ in 2 hrs 6 mins. I would ride there again and stay on system trails. Nice day. Nice colors.
Returned to anchor spot near Tally lake.
My guts are not happy which is making me unhappy.
Today I left anchor spot driving past Spencer mtn trailhead then parked at rest stop outside of Whitefish for internet. I saw a Sprinter pull up along side me, I watched a guy walk up to me. Guy looked familiar by memory would not retrieve his name. It was Sam from The Hub at the Pisgah. Short visit as he had riders with him and they were headed for Spencer.
I will be heading south.
In discussion with laundromat about replacing 5 liners that were damaged by the hot water wash. Guy looked up the Patagonia web site and found said liners. He said shit, they are expensive. Duh, I paid for them, I know, I expect him to make some kind of amends, should be buying me 5 new liners as a result of his machine not using cold water per the machine setting that I picked.
Rain is forecast for tomorrow.
New Freehub mag or book is out. You can read my article ands see pics of me. Movie release date is in November.
Very little mask wearing here, I am an oddity wearing mine.