Ride 64 or 65? I will have to go back through and count again...they start adding up and its easy to loose track. Big weekend on the FT3 front: NoHandle got moved and a good group of us took down the Pony Express (XP) trail. Great ride on the "not so well marked" and "not so well advertised" new trail connecting Echo to Ice House via mostly single track and dirt roads. I would say the split was about 70/30 single track, but then again I was seeing double by the end so my dead reckoning may be dead wrong. Although it is a net downhill run, the deep sand and steep climbs make the ride much harder than it appears. Ghostrider, B, Bambi, and I all left P'ville bright and early to drop a car and Ice House and head west. We met Taco Spawn atop Echo and headed out into the unknown. B had done the trail before and took the roll of ride leader, equipped with a GPS he played the part well. The ride has several distinct features, not to worry, there is at least one "Pain Cave" entrance upon each section. We hit some high alpine stuff, some deep forest sections, some burned out areas, a couple of dirt roads, deep sandy climbs, and a final section of dirt road that I could have swore I saw Jesus on...in all, well over 4 hours in the saddle and a good day had by all. The Barnes family plan back fired, my better half thought if I was out on a ride the baby would definitely come along, but alas no baby yet. We will see what this weekend has in store...
It has occurred to me we have not fashioned an epic, poetic, Shakespearean call-out in sometime...I will get the creative juices boiling for next week.
Mosquito @ 5:45...Exit 54?
Zero (I might be out for a few weeks as the family grows by one)
Hope you enjoy the images from the weekend. Sorry NoHandle we missed the photos of your move.
B clearing the morning cobwebs with some hair of the dog!
B's HFTU nutritional game plan.
The High Alpine stuff had some sweet spots!
Everyone ones a critic: FYI: The plaque "behind you" stated the campground had been improved thanks to a large donation!
"If these are baby heads, I don't want to see the babies."
"Anyone seen Lars?"
A much needed break for food! My legs could have sparked a new fire!
The final push. Damn, that is a good looking red kit on that guy!
Xteric, B, and I made up the outing last night. The hype over having Utah back in town was put on the back burner by the fact he miss read the blog and took off before we even got to the Knot Hole. Oh well, the pressure of having to keep up with FT3 pace is just too much for some folks...There is some talk of hooking up with Utah for either Pony Express on Sunday or FT3 next week.
The three FT3 riders took the opportunity of a small group to throw down a hard ride at a good clip. We rolled up the qualifier, down wedding march and rock garden, around the lake to the benches, up the horse trail, down to back door and home via road kill. Even with B on board, we had NO MECHANICALS or flats to slow us done. I think three is the smallest roll out is some time, but yet the streak continues. Via news from his dad, we knew Utah was out there somewhere, but we never saw him.
Taco Report: The Hole was a bit crowded when we got there and there was a large group of Frenchies and Aliens at the fire ring. Utah did join us for the taco event, however, he pulled a zero beer order and used his real name...weak sauce man! The friendly bartender actually produced her own hot sauce contribution, a taste of the Caribbean made with lots of good stuff and carrots?!?!? Ghost and Cap'n joined for the taco portion of the night. The were almost unable to join us as a felony charge was looming over their head. Clearly in the state of fiscal crisis that the state of California is in, the rangers of our pristine forests have been forced to confront the most hardened criminals at the reservoirs and campgrounds in the Sierra's. Cap'n had the talk his way out of a surely hard sentence for allowing his dog to swim in Sly Park Lake!!!!!!! The nerve of some people. Cap'n, are you not aware of the serious impact of this situation? I am almost embarrassed to have you in the group. You dog could have potentially gotten some much needed exercise and could have also positively added to your general lake experience, thus causing you to invite more people to the lake to pay fees and generally stimulate the Pollock Pine's economy. Additionally, if everyone let their own dogs swim in the lake, maybe dogs would be less likely to chase cars, bikers, and runners as they too would have some exercise. Clearly backwoods marijuana fields, firework sparked forest fires and the such take a back seat to brazen criminal activity like allowing your dog to swim in a lake! Geesh, some people! However getting both himself and his pooch out of the slammer, Cap'n did entertain us with stupid pet tricks of over the chair, through the chair, and attack the chair, good fun.
Team PBR updated update: Apparently I did not give B credit where credit was due. It sounds like the single A farm team The Mudville Slingers had a scout at the game last week. After witnessing B sacrifice his body for diving catches, they are going to make the call and give B a shot at the big leagues. Additionally, it sounds as if Rock's and Ghost's contributions were equally heroic, although neither were able to produce scars from their efforts.
Sunday Ride: I am petitioning this one pretty hard at home and feel that I might get a shot at a green light. Anyway, it is sounding like a pretty early P'ville departure 6:30ish. A first meeting a Cleveland Corral to drop some cars for the shuttle, and then a trip up to Echo for the ride. B estimated the ride to be in the 4 - 5 hour range. With the shuttle, it will be an all day event. Sounds like Ghost, B, Utah, and possible Rock God are in. I am yo-yoing off the back on my commitment.
So here is a shot at ride corrdination via blog: Meeting @ 6:30 am at Mosquito Park and Ride. Cleveland Corral around 7:00 ish. Echo at about 8:30 Riding by 9:00 am
Moving Day: NoHandles moving fun starts at 8:30 on Saturday Morning! If you can help I am sure he would appreciate it. Maybe if we get him moved he might be able to ride a bike again.
Cap'n and I joined a rival team member from across the great divide over the weekend for an epic ride out Forest Hill way. We were sent off by the self appointed mayor of Forest Hill who had a great cure for the economic downturn that was sure to leave everyone hungry and feeling good, although I doubt productivity would increase much. From the mayors send off we dropped down Mosquito Ridge and then proceeded to climb mosquito ridge for a long, long time. Often getting views from the ridge line we could see the progress we were making and the deeper we were getting into true hillbilly territory, at one point I am certain I heard someone squealing like a pig over yonder ridge! Near the top of Mosquito Ridge we skirted across Forest Service Road ??? of a five mile dirt road with some more climbing and cows. This road dumped us into Robinson Flat campground for the descent back to Forest Hill. Descent is the right term as it was mostly down hill. There were a few more climbs sprinkled in there that took a toll on the legs. We had a good three man pace line for the last 20 miles or so, flying along keeping avg near 30mph. With all the juice I had left, or maybe because I am on the juice....your call, I launched two attacks at the end trying to get away. No luck, we finished mostly together. What a great ride, hope you like the pics! The video is lame but I now know how to do it so we are all go for future clips of FT3 outings.
Tuesday call out: 0809S2FT3 Founding member OG aka Utah Boy aka Taco Spawn is in town. Should be a good ride, hopefully hitting some new trails. There is a loop atop Barnes Back that has elude us for some time that maybe is time to hit. Many of you have been busy with summer business as of late and some are still busy. We will keep the flame burning bright as FT3 rolls on. Capn and I did learn over the weekend that the curiously absent team from the 24 hour race this year has been scared out of the geared category and is revamping to take a run at the SS division. I say bring it on, gears, single cog, or unicycle...the 50 corridor team has nothing to fear! Team PBR Update: The season ended with improved play but no run at the pennant. However, in the greatest moments of need, FT3 rallied for the team providing three players over a few different games. Ghost, B, and Rock God all showed true FT3 by HTFUing and partaking in some true American Past time! As Cap'n stated, "I have never been more proud of FT3 than seeing those guys man up for some high stakes slow pitch softball!"
Fixie Riding: There was an article in the Mt. Dem about three renegade fixie rides tearing up P'ville until the ridiculously wee hours of Saturday morning. Any of you guys part of this? I believe there might be some photos, maybe of some sweet fixie slides on the new trail section...
Mosquito @ 5:45...Exit 54?? Upcoming Rides: NoHandle Moving party Sat all day ish Pony Express Ride Sunday early am departure...takers? Tour de Steeps??? Still on the drawing board. Got some running events coming up, but I will not clog the blog with silly running stuff.
