Update: Make that a Draper double-header! Mark inquired about my lunch ride and I guess it got him thinking. Next thing I know he's asking (via instant messaging) if I'd like to ride after work. What kind of friend would I be if I said "no"? We needed some trails close to home (south end of Salt Lake Valley) so the choices was Yellow Fork or Draper. Draper won out.
We started at the equestrian center and biked up lower Corner Canyon then took the BST north to Bear Creek Canyon and back. This is such a fun section of trail. It is fairly flat but rolls a lot and is fun to take fast as you use some of those taller gears. I enjoy swooping the turns and catching some air off the many bumps. Just above lower Corner Canyon we take a newly cut trail that took us up to a bridge. The trail continues up to the bottom of the Ghost Falls trail(s). But we took a right and came out at the bottom of the Silica Pit trail then continued down a ways and took another new trail on the left. It side-hills along the west side of the gully. It's a bit rough, and had some too-tight-for-me switchbacks, but overall it was a good ride. Near the end of this new (to me) trail, we crossed the creek on a new bridge and went down the trail we came up at the start.
Near Highland Drive Mark noted that he'd always wanted to try riding down the stone stairs there. So we rode down the serpentine section and I just went right down the stairs. They did look a bit sketchy from the top, but I was rolling so I just kept going. Mark stopped to get a good look at it, then downed it. Then went back again up higher to take it on the roll. I'm glad I got to take the lead this time as I blew my chance on the Bobsled ladder drop and got to return the favor of Mark's lead on that one.
What a great day of riding it turned out to be! I was going to do a road ride tomorrow morning, but with the two rides today I think I'll skip it and sleep in. My wife wants to go ride Lambert Park tomorrow so that will be enough.
Original Post: The snow storm a few weeks ago has me fearing that any day now Winter will arrive and put an end to dirt single-track cruising (and make put a damper on the road riding too). So when Todd posted that he wanted to ride some of the Draper trails at lunch today, I was in.
We started at the Draper Pool and rode up the Oak Hollow trail then when it hit Mike Weir Dr we took the road to Coyote Hollow Ct then jumped back on the dirt taking the Silica Pit trail over to the bottom of the Ghost Falls trail. Todd was intrigued when Mike said it would be tough to make it all the way up without putting a foot down. It started off OK, but got steep quick. I walked 3-4 places. I think Todd made it without stopping. Mike only stopped once or twice.
Then we rode up the dirt road and took Clarks trail down. Todd and Mike ripped it up, I took it easy - my back brake didn't feel right and I was feeling too mellow (or pooped) to open it up on the downhill. At the bridge they continued on the BST while I headed back to the pavement to shave off some time (I needed to get back to work). But I couldn't take the roads ALL the way back down - I was on a mountain bike! So I took Oak Hollow down to the car. As I was driving away I saw Mike and Todd coming down the trail. What a great way to spend a few hours on a nice Fall day.
Read Todd's report.
The End
2 years ago
2 comments:
That was so sweet, Mikey and I were actually trying to beat you back to the car, we were haulin on BST.
I suspected as much. I went at a pretty good clip on the road, but could have pushed faster. Went pretty fast down Oak Hollow, but not really pushing it. I loaded up the car with the bike and gear and tried to get away quick. But I was honor-bound to acknowledge your arrival, dang it. ;-)
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