Over the Easter weekend I went to Gooseberry Mesa on a Mtn bike trip with Micki Steve and some "new" people. Andy did not go because of the hand injury he sustained the weekend before at McDowell Mtn. His hand was swollen for at least 4 days and he wasn't able to grip anything like handle bars. So I decided to go even though the weather was calling for showers on Saturday. Micki and Steve were kind enough to let me stay in their new pop up trailer. Let me tell you... it was sweet! Not having to tent camp, and Friday night it rained pretty hard. Being inside to cook and just relax was terrific! Thanks Micki and Steve you're the best!
Friday mid morning we start off on our first ride. I have never been there before so I ask Micki if she thinks I will need my knee pads for the ride. She says "I don't think so", but I still wore them anyway. We start out and it was nice, dirt trail with some rocks to maneuver around and over. Steve, Micki, Aaron, and Mike didn't start out too fast, so I was able to get warmed up which always help me.
We then get to the "guts" of the ride. You basically are riding over granite rock, you are having to pop up and making sure you pick the right line to get off the rocks... it was very stressful for me, but it also was good for me. I am coming off one of the rocks and it was a good size drop... I should have went to the left a little more, but I didn't, I rolled off and my front tire landed in a rock bowl and BAM! I went head first over the bars. Luckily I was most of the way off the rock and there was sand to land in. Once I land, the bike is on top of me, I toss it off and then start assessing if all my limbs are working correctly and if there is any blood shooting out. The rest of the group comes to my aide and we sit for a moment. All I had was a very large and deep bruise on my left leg where the bike landed on me and my elbow was bleeding a little......on my new shirt!!!!!!!
I broke off my computer mount, (it tells me how far and how fast I am goingn not my macbook) and destroyed my jelly bell.( I use this to get hikers out of my way) We continued on, we did more rock riding. You can see what I'm talking about from the picture. This is Micki on the rock.
Here are some pictures from the mesa we were on.
Mike, Steve, Me and Aaron...
We get about 1/2 to 3/4 the way through the ride and we come upon a route marker. Steve brings to my attention that I am on a black diamond ride. The rating system is just like skiing... black diamond = very difficult! I didn't feel too bad. I'm slower and more timid around some of the terrain. They wanted to go on another section which again was black diamond, I opted to take the road back to the trail head!
We return in one piece, Micki and I decide we are going to take a nap! Oh was that good! After we woke up, another group arrived and the rest decided they were going to go for another ride, but it was a super hard down hill ride, so I stayed back. The ride was so gnarly that they all had pads from head to toe with full face helmets!
NOT my cup of tea.
The next day we did the Jem trail. That trail was more my speed! I really enjoyed this one. It was all on dirt, there was some climbing, some fast track down hill, some rocks to go over, more climbing and you finish on a down hill! It took us about 2.5 hours to complete the 21 mile loop. We had a couple of mechanical issues, but that was a good time to eat and take pictures. Sunday morning I left about 9:30 and the rest were going out for another ride.
I really had a good time, but missed Andy. He would have liked the trails too but his hand definately would not have made it.
Pics of me on the trail.....
You can see we were worried about the rain, but only sprinkles came down and not for very long. It was a nice day over all.
