Did a little exploring today

Mondays are my new weekend. It's nice to have a day off after the last several years. I've been spending Monday mornings and lunch doing office stuff and hanging with my girls. Afternoons, then, have been wide open for riding. I've been jonesing to do some exploring for a while. Actually, I've been contemplating this very ride for quite sometime but timing has never worked out until today.

After a big ol' ham and roast beef sammich, I got the Jeep loaded up and I was off. The beginning of the ride went well enough. Much of today's route was on familiar terrain, but I specifically wanted to explore an option that I'd been riding by for a few years. As I climbed, I daydreamed about what this new trail would offer. After the hard technical climbing was behind me and I was on a steep but relatively smooth section something started feeling and sounding a little funky.

I was just riding along :) and my cassette seemed to want to expel a few teeth!




My number 3 cog had exploded into a few pieces but the rest were fine. Unfortunately, though, I couldn't use the 4 cog either because the 3 was bent into it. Never one to let a minor thing like missing gears hold me up, I decided to keep going. It took a little relearning how to shift, but I managed. Missing a couple of cogs is potential chain breakage territory and I wasn't in a mood to have to deal with that. I'm glad I managed. I had asked about this particular trail a few times. Recently, it had been described as the cherry on top of an area that is already ripe with fantastic riding.

Cherry on top, indeed. It was good. There was mellow singletrack thru Aspen groves,

There were a couple of really rocky steeps. I was thinking that this was a Lion Gulch character of a descent.

And there was plenty of water. Water seemed to be the them of the day, as I would cross this drainage back and forth several more times. It was hub deep at times, but clear and calm so as to make riding thru an easy task.

Finally, I came to a junction. One I had seen before on the map, one that I had been told about, and one that I was eagerly anticipating. The map suggested to go left and everyone I talked to indicated that I should go left. I did as any self respecting mountain biker would do, though, and I opted for the singletrack. I knew it would be steep, but I couldn't resist.

The bottom section was surprisingly very rideable, but I was hiking soon. It isn't a real mountainbike ride unless your hiking. This shot somewhat accurately depicts the grade of the hike,
And combined with this one, looking backwards from the same position, shows the hike so far.

really, though, it was tolerable. Only a few hundred feet vertical of hiking and I was back on familiar terrain. Thank goodness. I was starting to get a little tired.

One last section of climbing before the descent to the car. One look back and I was on my way.
There is nothing for me that can touch exploring uncharted territory in the backwoods but it has been a very long time. Today was good. Today was really good.

Hopefully, I'll see a few of you for the ride on Tuesday. It's all familiar enough terrain for me, but hopefully someone will learn something new.

**as a disclaimer, 100% of this ride was mapped and legit. Get a map and start exploring!