Super-bowl?
What is this “Super-bowl” thing you speak of?
Another sunny weekend beaconed us out to the trails again. The warm, blue skies fostered our expectations of dry conditions, but the reality was there had been reasonably heavy rain since last Saturday, probably somewhere in the last 48 hours. Scat had forgotten his SPD shoes in his rush to get out of the house. Rubber zori’s were not the ideal substitute, so he borrowed socks from Ckucke and BMX shoes from me.
A lot of the deadfall had been moved off the trail, making for easier navigation. The climb up Government Road was greasy at points. The equestrian who preceded us up the trail had also encountered traction issues, as evidenced by horse hoof skidmarks – even with the small contact patch and comparatively high mass, even horses were challenged by the slick clay. We rode the side loop, the slippery roots attempting to throw us off the trail at every chance. The Ditch was significantly muddier than the weekend before. Disturbingly, there was a lot of motorcycle activity on the trail. The mud puddles were covered with dirt bike spoor. The outlaw motocrossers that usually keep to the Old Kal Highway side have been venturing onto the State trail. Not good.
After the rest stop, Ckucke, Root and I went up the secret side trail. Jeff and Scat went along the regular trail. When we dropped back onto the main trail, there was no sign of anyone. We continued along to the turnaround, but didn’t see anyone at the log-over, the mosquito hill, or the cardiac hill junction. Scat called Ckucke when we were looking for tire tracks, saying that they had gone all the way to the end of the trail and sortied to the road. The three of us continued and met them back at the trailhead. Even though the weather was great, the muddy conditions made the enjoyment level plummet, so the ride got cut short.
Pictures here
D = 10.17 km (6.32-miles), Vavr = 10.3 km/h (6.4 mph), Vmax = 33.2 km/h (20.6 mph), T = 58-minutes
0 Responses to “Sunday, Muddy Sunday”