Well one ride got cancelled, another never materialized, and yet another ride filled up. So what's a Skook to do?
Ride all weekend in the mountains that's what.
i got a call from a gal pal on Saturday. i being dead tired from nonstop working and riding decided that Saturday would be a good day of rest, so much for that idea. She wanted to go ride and ahhh hell, who am i to refuse a lady.
So for months i've been spying some trails on maps, and one that caught my eye is Cooper River/Pete Lake trail. It's roughly an 8 mile trail, so to do it as an out and back of course double it up to 16 or so miles with around 1000 feet or so of guesstamated cumulative gain/descend.
The fall colors are here.
There are a few stops along the way to catch a view of the nieghboring peaks.
Me and my pal have do about a ride a year, and this is our best one yet. Definately since she's riding a horse we have to find a trail that's relatively flat since she can smoke me on the uphills and i drop the horse on the descents. It works out alright though and it's always fun, we got plenty of looks and even a pompous statement from a hiker of if there was a circus going on. i didn't hear her, otherwise i would have retorted that if it were a circus she would have been the escaped elephant.
Stupid hikers.... Not even smart enough to ride something on a trail....
Anyways here's my pal she took some good shots with my camera.
You know just about every frikkin time i forget or just not wear my knee/shin armor i crash and smack my knee or leg on a rock. This time on a tough climb. It never fails! Of course i ride a much more technical trail the next day, i wear my pads and i don't crash at all, go figure...
One more pic, this was a fun rock to play on, it looked like a huge petrified whale.
A super nice trail, i'll definately be back. It would be even longer as the trail continues on to Pete Lake, however the trail ends at a Wilderness boundary, and bikes are not allowed. i'll always be of the stance that this rule is utter crap.
Welp anyways, on a super difficult loop ride done in the same mountains last weekend i never got to the ascend Jolly Mountain. The group myself included thought better to save some gas for the remainder of the ride. Was a good idea, i wound up cramping at the very end of the ride.
So i called a pal up and i thought up a route, and we set up a shuttle plan. A ride with a guesstamation of 2500 feet climbing and a hearty 4100 feet of mostly gnarl techy dh in a bout 17 miles. i put out a last minute invite for other riders (victims) to join up. One rider (sucker) Boostindoubles answered the call. He was a great rider and was stoked, and i was glad to meet and ride with him.
So after parking the shuttle rig we're still faced with a steep climb up to the top. Here's a look down at what i rode the day before. The valley is where Cooper River runs on up to Cooper Lake which is roughly the halfway point. The trail would continue on up to the right.
i've ridden up this section before when it was a forest road. It's been recently converted into trail which is pretty cool, although it makes climbing it even tougher. It was grinder even being able to cheat by snaking up the wide road, now you're forced to just hammer and die, haha.
Alot of hike a bike along the top, but a decent enough amount to get on and grind up.
The final push to the top.
This kind of reminded me of those tags you have on your new mattress.
This is what it's all about. Tippy top.
Well best not to let all this elevation go to waste! Thundering down the gnarly dh, many a steep rocky loose section. My arms were screaming at times, and this time i rode with 2 guys who were faster. i'm fast enough though to keep up just fine, except for times like when i found this baloon i believe floated up and over the mountains travelling anywhere from 70 to 150 miles to land on this trail. My pal mentioned he thought a family went for a hike and the kid left the balloon, but i seriously doubt that, considering how high we were still and how gnarl the trail is.
So i tied the balloon to my seatpost, and it survived miles of gnarl. i was truly suprised. i was hoping the helium would help me out for the remaining climbs.
On our way over to Paris Creek Trail for one final descent. Boostindoubles enjoyin the day.
Paris was just as gnarl as the other trails we did that day, just not as relentlessly steep. Actually leveled off into a forest road to the end, but drops off the road into a last mile of just some of the nicest wickedest stretch of singletrack. For me the end was like the cherry on the top.
All in all yet another great weekend, doing that which is what i do.
Check this out boys and girls. :heart: PANORAMA
Ride all weekend in the mountains that's what.
i got a call from a gal pal on Saturday. i being dead tired from nonstop working and riding decided that Saturday would be a good day of rest, so much for that idea. She wanted to go ride and ahhh hell, who am i to refuse a lady.
So for months i've been spying some trails on maps, and one that caught my eye is Cooper River/Pete Lake trail. It's roughly an 8 mile trail, so to do it as an out and back of course double it up to 16 or so miles with around 1000 feet or so of guesstamated cumulative gain/descend.
The fall colors are here.
There are a few stops along the way to catch a view of the nieghboring peaks.
Me and my pal have do about a ride a year, and this is our best one yet. Definately since she's riding a horse we have to find a trail that's relatively flat since she can smoke me on the uphills and i drop the horse on the descents. It works out alright though and it's always fun, we got plenty of looks and even a pompous statement from a hiker of if there was a circus going on. i didn't hear her, otherwise i would have retorted that if it were a circus she would have been the escaped elephant.
Stupid hikers.... Not even smart enough to ride something on a trail....
Anyways here's my pal she took some good shots with my camera.
You know just about every frikkin time i forget or just not wear my knee/shin armor i crash and smack my knee or leg on a rock. This time on a tough climb. It never fails! Of course i ride a much more technical trail the next day, i wear my pads and i don't crash at all, go figure...
One more pic, this was a fun rock to play on, it looked like a huge petrified whale.
A super nice trail, i'll definately be back. It would be even longer as the trail continues on to Pete Lake, however the trail ends at a Wilderness boundary, and bikes are not allowed. i'll always be of the stance that this rule is utter crap.
Welp anyways, on a super difficult loop ride done in the same mountains last weekend i never got to the ascend Jolly Mountain. The group myself included thought better to save some gas for the remainder of the ride. Was a good idea, i wound up cramping at the very end of the ride.
So i called a pal up and i thought up a route, and we set up a shuttle plan. A ride with a guesstamation of 2500 feet climbing and a hearty 4100 feet of mostly gnarl techy dh in a bout 17 miles. i put out a last minute invite for other riders (victims) to join up. One rider (sucker) Boostindoubles answered the call. He was a great rider and was stoked, and i was glad to meet and ride with him.
So after parking the shuttle rig we're still faced with a steep climb up to the top. Here's a look down at what i rode the day before. The valley is where Cooper River runs on up to Cooper Lake which is roughly the halfway point. The trail would continue on up to the right.
i've ridden up this section before when it was a forest road. It's been recently converted into trail which is pretty cool, although it makes climbing it even tougher. It was grinder even being able to cheat by snaking up the wide road, now you're forced to just hammer and die, haha.
Alot of hike a bike along the top, but a decent enough amount to get on and grind up.
The final push to the top.
This kind of reminded me of those tags you have on your new mattress.
This is what it's all about. Tippy top.
Well best not to let all this elevation go to waste! Thundering down the gnarly dh, many a steep rocky loose section. My arms were screaming at times, and this time i rode with 2 guys who were faster. i'm fast enough though to keep up just fine, except for times like when i found this baloon i believe floated up and over the mountains travelling anywhere from 70 to 150 miles to land on this trail. My pal mentioned he thought a family went for a hike and the kid left the balloon, but i seriously doubt that, considering how high we were still and how gnarl the trail is.
So i tied the balloon to my seatpost, and it survived miles of gnarl. i was truly suprised. i was hoping the helium would help me out for the remaining climbs.
On our way over to Paris Creek Trail for one final descent. Boostindoubles enjoyin the day.
Paris was just as gnarl as the other trails we did that day, just not as relentlessly steep. Actually leveled off into a forest road to the end, but drops off the road into a last mile of just some of the nicest wickedest stretch of singletrack. For me the end was like the cherry on the top.
All in all yet another great weekend, doing that which is what i do.
Check this out boys and girls. :heart: PANORAMA
ink: 
layer: :rock on: