Anyone up for a ride at Noble...I haven't been there since the burn and I really want to get back there. Mike, Rabie, Andre, anyone???....D
So where to this Sat? 7th
- Thread starter BMXman
- Start date
R
Rabie
Guest
I'm down for whatever. I think Mike said the top of Noble still sucks, though.BMXman said:
The top of Noble doesn't suck, but it's different.
Climbing from say, Penny Pines or the intersection from the BLT, the trail is pretty much as it always was, except that you can see further off the right side of the trail as you climb. You see dead, brown trees and some burned stuff, but the soil on the trail is what you've seen before.
Once you crest the climb and prepare to descend at that left turn, you're in where it burned the worst, and things have changed. All the brush that lined both sides of the trail burned back, so now you have sightlines way up and around each turn. The trail is silted with ash that looks like chocolate sand but is more "woody", so it's easier to ride in. However, since the brush is burned back, you'll see all kinds of cheater or just idiot lines that cyclists have been taking
...better to stick to the old trail even if that means slowing to make turns you can now cut or berm-shot around.
After the first and second crossings of the pavement, the trail surface is silty like above, and the rocky climb is a little smoother than before. I think the trail crews that put in drainage nicks and did some repair may have scavenged some of the rocks for edgework. After that climb, you descend toward the intersection of the trail and the silt is pretty much done, but all those switchbacks are now easily viewed...because there's no big brush lining the trail.
After the last pavement crossing at the gate, Noble is as it always was, except that when you get down to Devil's Backbone or The Stairway, you may run into commando "pavers" seeking to smooth out the rough spots in the trail by filling them in with loose rocks. :mumble:
Climbing from say, Penny Pines or the intersection from the BLT, the trail is pretty much as it always was, except that you can see further off the right side of the trail as you climb. You see dead, brown trees and some burned stuff, but the soil on the trail is what you've seen before.
Once you crest the climb and prepare to descend at that left turn, you're in where it burned the worst, and things have changed. All the brush that lined both sides of the trail burned back, so now you have sightlines way up and around each turn. The trail is silted with ash that looks like chocolate sand but is more "woody", so it's easier to ride in. However, since the brush is burned back, you'll see all kinds of cheater or just idiot lines that cyclists have been taking
...better to stick to the old trail even if that means slowing to make turns you can now cut or berm-shot around.After the first and second crossings of the pavement, the trail surface is silty like above, and the rocky climb is a little smoother than before. I think the trail crews that put in drainage nicks and did some repair may have scavenged some of the rocks for edgework. After that climb, you descend toward the intersection of the trail and the silt is pretty much done, but all those switchbacks are now easily viewed...because there's no big brush lining the trail.
After the last pavement crossing at the gate, Noble is as it always was, except that when you get down to Devil's Backbone or The Stairway, you may run into commando "pavers" seeking to smooth out the rough spots in the trail by filling them in with loose rocks. :mumble:
All the hip nicknames for sections of Noble are lost on me. I think I know what Stairway is, just from Steve's angry emails. Devil's Backbone? Where's that?
I'm up for something, but I've also got friends coming in to town, so Sat. might be out for me (then again, maybe I can drag them along...). Sunday's good, but I'm sure Donnie is working...
I'm up for something, but I've also got friends coming in to town, so Sat. might be out for me (then again, maybe I can drag them along...). Sunday's good, but I'm sure Donnie is working...
Well, I've been learning them from Steve, too: it makes it easier to decribe sections so everybody knows what we're talking about instead of my usual, "that rocky section after the stream crossing, right where I crashed OTB"... etc...MikeD said:
Devils Backbone is a section of trail uphill from the Stairway. As you're descending a relatively flat section that curves to the right, the trail vaults up over an arched, one-piece rock section that slants to the left. Just after the big rock, the trail is rocky and then makes a switchback left through a sometimes water crossing, before you have to make a climb up a not steep, but very rocky section. This is the area that Steve is having paved over so we can go faster. Wait, I may have that confused with...
neaky:
R
Rabie
Guest
So does this have any chance of happening? I think I feel the chairlift calling...
oh well I work on Sunday so looks like I'll be spending time with Wendy instead this Sat....maybe next week...D