I planned a Fall Ride for Oct 4, 5, 6, but early in the week, a storm blew in and dumped snow on the trails, forcing me to cancel; sigh, ...the best laid plans... Firefighters DerekT and TimV had planned to drive up from Texas and join us, so they looked for somewhere else to ride. They ended up in NM riding the Jemez with TerryH and JimBg.
The
weather was perfect in NM, and DerekT and TimV rode a few South
Jemez trails on Thursday as a warmup. On Friday, they joined TerryH
and JimBg for some North Jemez riding. The trails were in great
shape, and the riding brought smiles to everyones faces. Fall
riding in the Jemez is usually great.
Unfortunately, TimV had a minor accident. He took a spill as he was trying to get over a down log and ended up breaking his collar bone. This was confirmed by both Texans; besides being firefighters, they are also EMT certified. TimV, escorted by the group, limped back to the trucks, and the Texas firefighters headed back to Texas.
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Meanwhile, here in CO, the sun did its work, and the snow beat
a hasty retreat. Mid-week scouting confirmed that many of the
higher elevation trails would be rideable. I rode some of the
Summit Tr (see Cameron Park, left) and over to Pitkin (right)
and didn't see any snow to speak of. I put out a call for riders,
but Malcolm had already returned to CA, and WA had skipped out
to do an enduro in TX. Others were AWOL with flimsy excuses also.
That left me with SteveV as a riding partner for Sunday, Oct 13.
We parked at Daly Gulch and got dressed quickly in the chill morning
air. SteveV brought his new KTM450, and I rode my trusty KLX.
We rode Daly Gulch (saw some deer) and Quakey Mtn (saw some hunters),
then did the FR769 alternate to South Quartz Cr and stopped in
at Pitkin for some gas. SteveV took a few minutes to adjust his
forks. There were very few hunters in evidence in town or on the
roads; Sat through Wed was a draw hunt. We didn't see any other
riders or mc tracks. We saw no snow on the trails, only on the
higher peaks. The recent snow had put some moisture in the ground,
so the riding was not as dusty as in September.
We rode up to Terrible Mtn and through some snow on the road over
to Fairview Tr. We peeked over the edge and couldn't see any snow
on the trail, so we crossed our fingers and went for it. We did
run into a few snowy spots but nothing too serious.
The views of Fossil Ridge from Fairview Tr were spectacular, as usual. It looked like Fossil Ridge Tr had snow, so we crossed that trail off our ride list.
A short lunch gave me an energy lift, and I resolved to ride with more elan. SteveV already had more than enough elan ;-)
Once down to Gold Cr Tr, the snow disappeared completely. I got a pic of the Great Pumpkin before he got away ;-)
A quick trip down Gold Cr Tr and on to some back roads to Pitkin lead us to the Horse Trails east of Pitkin.
After picking our way through the Horse Trails and rocky snowmobile routes, we rode over to Stridiron Cr for a nice dose of single track, then back to the trucks on roads. The weather was fantastic all day, even a bit warmish in the afternoon. We ended up with 75 miles on the odo and smiles on our faces. That evening we watched Denver lose a close one to Miami, and we lost the smiles.
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MarkT showed
up to ride with SteveV and me on Monday, Oct 14. We rode the Crest
Tr (one log obstacle and a few snow patches of no consequence),
Agate Cr Tr, Lime Cr Tr, and an old 2-track to Indian Cr.
SteveV struck disaster as he rode by a rather large rock. He didn't see the rock and hit it with the right side of his bike, severely banging his right foot in the process. He figured he broke a few toes, so we decided to skip the Summit Tr and head back to the trucks via dirt roads. We ended up with only 50 miles on the odo, but the weather was great, and the trails were great, so we called it a qualified success.
SteveV later confirmed that he'd broken two small toes; he even reset the bones in one himself. Ouch!
So the 2002 Fall Rides were not without problems, but injuries were minor and everyone promises to do better next year.
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