There is a rock on the Red Trail that I have yet to ride. I’m sure it looks worse than it is, but I haven’t got the confidence to try it, although Trash got me thinking about it.
Trash and I did a fun ride, today. My legs were screaming and weak from the busy IMBA weekend. His – not so much. Fortunately, we’re both slower climbers.
We started the day with a little motivational ritual of cleaning our drivetrains and lubing the bikes. You know – the usual stuff that we should theoretically do all the time. The nice part is that it got me motivated to ride.
We headed up Garden Brook, took the Blue Trail over to the Mountain Lodge Trails, and cut across to Dancing Bear and rode that down. We took a cut-across to the last half of the Red Trail and rode the more challenging parts. Since my legs were so weak, I couldn’t make it up a particular hill that has such a history of stopping me dead in my tracks. You see, I’ve only made it up this hill once, earlier this season, then twice this month. It’s a tough hill.
We soon came to the rock. He strongly encouraged me to ride, even appealing to my ego by saying, “Amanda rode it. Johanna rode it.” I thought about it. I entertained the idea. I rode my bike up to it and lifted the tire up onto the rock just to get a feel for it and train my eye. I got off the bike and assessed the rock from every angle, telling myself it wasn’t that bad. Ultimately, I decided not to ride it. I just wasn’t feeling spot-on, today, and left thinking I might conquer it this year.
We moved onto Paul’s Plunge. I need to ride it a lot more before the Fat Tire Festival. I rode it about ten times, last year, and made it look easy during the race. I’ve only ridden it three times, this year, including today. I started following Trash down the top part of the Plunge over a slab of bedrock at a 45-degree slant. There are two lines one could take: the slab, or the super loose, rocky, trail down the right. Either way, it’s a gamble, and the best line really depends on your skills and how you feel that day.
Trash kept going and my rear tire slid down the slab. I got off the bike and walked it all the way to the top of the Plunge to try again. The second time was much better. I concentrated on properly weighting the bike and choosing my line correctly to get across the slab and through this first section. The middle of the Plunge is a section of trail that allows you to recover your wits a bit. I assessed my balance and prepared myself for the last part of the Plunge – the part the spectators like to watch during the race due to the entertainment value of spectacular crashes that occur here.
Like the first part, the second part of the Plunge has two lines. The left line is much easier, until you hit the six-foot drop off the rock. Some people are fine with riding this, and this line is a crowd pleaser, for sure, whether one cleans it, or becomes one with the rock in the form of a face plant. The right line is the line I choose to take. It is a series of rocky steps, kind of, that require quite a bit of skill, courage, and maybe even a dose of insanity to ride. I was quite satisfied when I cleared it. “That didn’t seem nearly as hard as before,” I said. Trash replied that he removed a couple of rocks to clean it up a bit. Ah. I wasn’t going to argue with that.
Paul’s Plunge concluded our ride. We had a fun, relaxed ride and returned to town quite pleased.
