One nice thing about riding close to home is when we found out that Erik forgot his camelpak at home, he could drive home to fetch it while I rode around the parking lot doing my drills. It was meant to be a short ride on the last day of our long weekend, so we just went around the perimeter clockwise at Skeggs: Fir, Sierra Morena, Steam Donkey, Spring Board, Blue Blossom, Lawrence Creek, Virginia Mill, South Leaf, the new Connector, Methuselah, North Leaf, and El Corte de Madera Creek trails.
Steam Donkey is rated Most Difficult according to
the ratings map, so I was quite excited when I went down it with only one rolling dab despite my pumped forearms. But then I noticed my GPS had just turned itself off. Guess it was so much of rough bumping up and down that the GPS couldn't handle it any more. But to be honest, Steam Donkey was not that bad. Despite being loose and bumpy at sections, there is always at least a good line where you can just roll over stuff. I wouldn't fancy going up it though.
The new Connector Between South Leaf and Methuselah was only opened two weeks ago. I was surprised how smooth it was. It was a nice break for me from the hike-a-bike sections on South Leaf Trail. But Erik was disappointed that there was not any challenging section on it. I read on
MTBR that "...the new trail ...has the potential to wear in a lot like Resolution has. ...The new South Leaf Extension has large roots and rocks near the surface that are likely to become exposed as the tread compacts." So he should not have anything to worry about.
My GPS went blank a couple of times, so I didn't get the complete loop recorded (didn't miss a whole lot, maybe 0.5 miles). As it is, it reported 14.32 miles with 3700' of climbing.
Since it was only two of us doing a casual ride, we stopped and took pictures.
The straightline on the left side of the loop is where GPS went on strike.
Mud in his improvised headband -- from the MudnCrud bandana.
We saw many beautiful blue lillies on the side of the trails.
Coming up a climb.
Just one of the many blurred pictures, but we both kinda like it.
After we got back to the car, Mud went around the parking lot as if he didn't get enough riding in. He was doing wheelies, dips, figure 8's, etc.
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