June 11th (Afternoon)
Well, the day as sunny and warm, meaning the trail will most likely be completely dry and it was. The ride down into Peterson’s creek wasn’t too bad. I made the first nasty switchback with my foot down (something I haven’t done in a long time), and then the rest of the section to the 2nd nasty switchback I just left my foot down the whole way (still didn’t make that switchback though). The rest of the trail down was a good ride, and then back up was really good. I made it right up and into the sandy switchback, the furthest yet, before I spun out too much and had to stop. Pretty cool, though, to make it that far on a Friday ride.
Frolek’s land was uneventful, but a decent pace. And then the pipeline section at Rose Hill was pretty good, a bit faster than normal so that’s cool that the trails are finally getting a bit better (or I’m getting better at handling them now maybe?)
I met up with Brian at the last valley/peak, he was walking around kicking stones and sticks off the side of the trail where no one rides (so it is very overgrown). I stopped and talked with him a bit and he said that the side of the trail he was on was pretty good condition, really, just very overgrown. So we spent about 5-10 minutes doing some basic trail maintenance (as much as can be done with feet!) and then rode together into Juniper along the main trail. He mentioned that he might come out on the weekend with his weed wacker, but as Taryn’s soccer tournament is on this weekend, along with Levi’s birthday and Mom, Dad and Katie visiting, I couldn’t come help. But he figured he might come out and clean things up a bit.
I did get a chance to ask him about the trail he takes down into Peterson’s creek, and learned that he goes into the creek on the north side of the bridge (the trailhead branch off of the off ramp). I might try to find that trail on the way home on Monday maybe to see if it is a better trail than the one I take. Maybe I’ll even take it up if it isn’t too bad?
June 14th (Morning)
Well, the weekend was gorgeous, hot and sunny without a drop of rain. Today looks to be about the same, which means the trails will be pretty dry by now for sure. The first stretch through from Juniper to Rose Hill was decent. I didn’t feel bad, but I just didn’t feel like pushing it this morning for some reason. Instead, I found myself spinning in a few gears easier than normal. I got new brake pads for the rear brakes and installed them this weekend, and once they broke in they felt pretty good. In fact, both brakes felt really good today. The front was still a bit grabby at the one spot, but not too terrible. And they were as quiet as they’ve ever been, which was cool!
I got to the pipeline section at Rose Hill and indeed Brian did come out as the unused trail to the north of our regular trail was cleaned up and the weeds knocked down. So, I took to that side and it was pretty fun and fast for sure! He even went to the next couple of hills and filled in the gulleys left by the rain, meaning I was able to really let the bike go again like I used to do through here. That was awesome! Maybe I will be back to making it up that one hill now on the way home? I did miss the same hill this morning in this section, but I was going to make it and then spun out and lost my momentum and balance. SOON!
Going down into Peterson’s creek was fun (this side is always fun), and I did make the sandy switchback section again with my foot out. Again, the brakes were very responsive (not too much so, just right) and very quiet so I was happy with that. On the way back up the other side I had quite a bit of trouble again with trying to keep the front wheel planted and in a straight line. As such, I ended up with 4 stops on the way up. And more than 1/2 of the trail was walking. I get on, ride about 10 feet or so, lose control, and bail... Rinse and repeat... It does frustrating, but today I tried to stay positive and just enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, whether walking or riding!
The rest of the ride was good, but again I still felt like I was just spinning. Which I’m not going to worry about too much, as I do want to enjoy the ride more anyways rather than just dying en route... :) Maybe my Tuesday’s rides are generally so tough because my Monday’s rides I push too much! We’ll see how the rest of the week goes, it could also be a result of too many burgers and birthday cakes this weekend! :)
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