|   sweet brown ribbon of joy - a ride report | little b
Jun 16, 2002 7:33 PM | | I had been planning to ride today for a few weeks, since tomorrow morning i'm off for a two week vacation in france. it was my last chance to ride before two weeks of chocolate croissants, camembert and red wine. I called the usual suspects, but only kelly could join me. we decided to hit the gulch. oooooooo.
kelly had a suggestion to liven up the usual gulch trip. why not ride freund canyon in leavenworth on the way out to cashmere? it's an 8 mile loop, it will only take an hour.
what a sweet hour it was. after a quick mile up the dirt road from where we left the jeep, we turned onto a sweet piece of singletrack which made it's way up the left side of the valley. it was a nice grade, middle ring sort of climb. the lupines were blooming, along with the queen's anne lace, a bit of fireweed, and mini sunflowers. beeeautiful. we kept climbing up the side of the canyon until we hit the saddle. i commented to kelly that it would also be a great downhill. he assured me that the downhill that lay ahead was better.
so down we went. the singletrack went down the next drainage over, down an old road bed, now turned to flowing singletrack. every few hundred meters, there was a berm to deflect water from the trail. the first few were perfect jumps, and we hooted an hollared over them. then came the berms of death. they looked just like the good ones, but they were evil. throw the back of your bike up evil. turn your beautifully planned jump into a stomach churning nose wheelie evil. it was fun. too quickly we were back at the jeep. time to go to the gulch.
we arrived to a full parking lot and realized we'd meet the shuttle bunnies coming down the trail while we were riding up. oh well. they will have to yield. off we went up the singletrack. all 12 miles of it. up up up. the creek crossings were very high and fast moving, so that by mile 2 we had wet, cold feet. the motos haven't been on the trail yet this year, so the dust was pretty minimal. it looked like a few people had gone skidding off the trail in a few places though, the side hill trail was narrowing where they met their fate.
at the saddle, we continued up to the parking lot. the final 3 miles. i always debate whether those miles are worth it, since my legs are always complaining for that part. but then i come back down it and remember. perfectly banked turns, a few jumps, great views. we headed down all 12 miles of trail, whopping, leaning into berms, grinning like fools. don't be distracted by the edge, keep to your line through the spooky scree fields, don't forget to downshift before the creek crossing so you can try to get up the steep bank on the other side.
what a great day. 32 miles of riding. 31 miles on singletrack. i'm ready to go to france now. |
| bon voyage, b | AK Ken
Jun 16, 2002 7:52 PM | | sounds like quite the farewell ride. I realize that you're used to being the photographic subject, but it's okay for you to take a camera with you, too!
I've played lots of phone and e mail tag with your buddy Greg, but have not hooked up. Then Clare came home from work this week and said "Guess who I met."
He had wandered into the visitor center, was talking with her, and happened to notice her name tag and put two and two two-gether.
Bon appetit, croissantivore.
Ken |
| I don't have a camera | little b
Jun 16, 2002 8:23 PM | | but soon I will. then i'll post pictures, promise.
i'm glad that clare ran into greg! funny how these things happen sometimes.
i'll eat a croissant (or two) for you! |
| That's why she's so fast... | Finch Platte
Jun 17, 2002 9:38 AM | | She doesn't waste any time stopping to take pics- it's all ride, ride, ride.
Besides, who wants pics of
i guys,
anyhoo?
fp |
| re: sweet brown ribbon of joy - a ride report | bigboulder
Jun 16, 2002 8:22 PM | | You mean your not taking your bike to France?? Lots of great riding in the south.
Are you still going to NM?
Will you make it to Tahoe?
Inquiring minds want to know.
s |
| no, yes, no | little b
Jun 16, 2002 8:24 PM | | no bike for me in france. maybe we'll rent one day, but mostly we'll be walking and hiking.
yep, we're off to NM at the end of july. hopefully it will rain down there by then so we can ride.
nope, not going to make Tahoe. we're going home to visit family before moving south. next time, hopefully. |
| Nice ride report.... waiting on Camembert, I mean Photos NM | Battman42
Jun 16, 2002 8:28 PM | | |
| have fun in france and... | red-haze
Jun 17, 2002 6:11 AM | | please make a better impression on them than i did in paris (almost got into a bar fight, believe it or not). maybe they like americans better now...hehehe.
looks like you had a great last mtb trip, i've been hearing great things about the leavenworth trails, gotta get up there soon.
take care and
bikeON
bob |
| I don't think it was because you are a 'murican... | elperro
Jun 17, 2002 7:06 AM | | it was becuse you are BOB!
Have a great time b! I promise to post my Thailand pics while you are gone ;^)
_EL Perro |
| hey i was up there! | Kafin8ed
Jun 17, 2002 6:56 AM | | I can't remember seeing you though, i got a late start and headed up the gulch at about 12:00, rode to the top and then came back down, when I got to the junction i decided to descend the mission trail instead of the Gulch. everything was in pretty good condiitons & the water was actually flowing much lower than 2 weeks ago, you had to practically wade across in 4 differen places then. i'm kinda surprised i didn't see you coming down, or at least i don't remember it, i was on the red ventana wearing marzocchi threads. I crashed pretty hard coming down mission, knocked the wind clean outa me & hit my head, maybe i got amnesia as well??? ... hope not but it was a good ride anyhow, great weather too... |
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