August 5...SNRA (Day 10)

(Kim's Perspective)
This morning we learned that one of our church family members' dad passed away. My heart really goes out to them...it's so hard to lose a loved one. Fortunately, her dad knew Christ as his Saviour and is now in Heaven and suffering no more. That helps. Still, we made sure to stop and pray for them and their family. While his death is a gain for him, it's still a loss for them and one that only time, support, love, and prayer will heal. Do me a favor, and keep them in your prayers too. This is the second time we've learned about someone passing away on our trip. Hopefully, it will be the last.

We had plans to ride the Fisher Creek Loop today, and while we had hoped to hit the trail a little early, we didn't get there till around 3:30pm. In one trail guide, the trail description reads:
"The Fisher Creek Loop is the signature mountain bike trip in the National Recreation Area. The complete loop is a combination of Forest Service road, challenging single track, and a brief strip of pavement on Highway 75. Experience lodgepole and aspen forests, open meadows, and spectacular mountain views along some of the best trails in the West. Elevation gain: 1500 feet, Length: 17.5 miles (total loop), Difficulty: Moderate".

Another trail description from our topo map reads:
"A classic mountain bike ride with beautiful views, dirt road riding on the route up and some amazing singletrack riding on the way down. Note: It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that this loop be ridden in the direction shown on the map. The descent is narrow, steep, and fast in places. Length: 17.5 miles, Time: 2-4 hours, Aerobic: Strenuous, Technical: Advanced".

Okay, so which is it? Is it moderate or is it strenuous and technical? We went anyway. :)

We parked at the Williams Creek Trailhead and asked a guy who was just finishing how the trail was. He said the first part sucked, but that it was well worth it for the downhill. He also mentioned he wasn't very technical so no need to worry about the "advanced" trail description, but again, he was a local, so I was reluctant to believe him. His idea of technical and my East coast idea of technical would probably not be the same.

We rode the 2 miles on highway 75 to Fisher Creek road. Yuck. There was a headwind. A very strong headwind. Yuck. We rode along the F.S. road which eventually turned to off-road trails. It was sand and gravel in most places and totally sucked just like Dude said. I was not a happy camper. Remember - I do not like exercise. This was exercise. Truthfully, it wasn't super hateful...I'm still in one of the most beautiful places in the country, but I always get a little nervous when I keep climbing and climbing and climbing and I have no idea when or how good the payoff will be. Should I ride along in granny gear and save my knee or should I pop up to my middle chain ring and actually cover some distance but strain my knee in doing so? Will my knee hold out for this stupid ride? Where is the downhill????? I need some downhill!!!!!

Fortunately, I was temporarily distracted by the wild hollyhocks blooming and the gazillion hummingbirds that were zipping around me while I stopped to take some pics. I told Bill "Mom would have loved this", he laughed and said "Mom would be in the truck". :P






Fast little boogers. After longer than I care to admit, I finally got a decent pic of one.


We continued along and finally made it to the last viciously steep, rocky (but thankfully somewhat short) climb to the top, and we were finally rewarded with the beloved singletrack that we had both been looking forward to.





Oh, and what a reward it was. After a brief, level jaunt into the woods, it got fun. Ridiculously fun. HOLY COW!! Are you kidding me? This is AMAZING! It totally rocked - it was so narrow, and the trail was perched precariously off the side of the mountain - so much so, that it was too dangerous to actually look away from the trail. Look left, go left. Look right, go right. This is NOT the place where you want to go left and right. If you do, you will likely either A) tumble to your death or B) tumble to the point you'd rather just tumble to your death because once you'd stop rolling, you would be a big broken pile of bones.

Okay, so don't look away from the trail, don't look away from the trail. Eeeekk... I'm sure you think I'm exaggerating. I assure you I am not. It was scary. And FUN! Why is it that scary = fun? I wonder what that says about me? "Stupid is as stupid does"...most likely. The pics I have are where the trail was wide enough for us to stop and relax. It is not indicative of the downhill sections. Trust me on this. I wish I had some video or pics of it, but I wasn't about to stop any part of the screaming downhill to take some pics.

Anywho...the downhill continued for a couple minutes and then abruptly ended. Oh c'mon! That can't be it, can it? We did all that climbing for 2 minutes of crazy downhill?!? That is NOT a net positive. Grrrr.... again...not a happy camper.

Then, we rode along, stopped for some pics here and there...

























...climbed some more, and then, UTOPIA. The most amazing, beautiful, and ridiculously long and FAST singletrack I've ever seen. Yes, this must be what you mean when you say "signature mountain bike ride". Oh, beloved crazy downhill, how I love you. "What goes up, must come down". I sing that in my head when I become an unhappy camper while climbing. Finally, the "comes down" part I've been waiting for. This was PHENOMENAL and seemingly lasted forever. Naturally, I was out of the saddle, blindly following Bill, and we were screaming through the woods at a stupid pace. He was screaming faster than I. Does that make him more stupid? HA! :) The trail was super sandy in spots and my front tire washed out on a couple of occasions. Most times, I was able to recover, two times, I was not. ;P

The trail had a couple hairy berms that at first I was not keen on using, but eventually grew confident enough to shoot up the sides and roll on through. Not nearly as fast as Bill, the maniac, but not shabby for a girl who grew up on a ten speed instead of a BMX bike.

We continued down, and continued down, and continued down. My eyes were watering from the wind, I was eating dirt from the dust clouds Bill was kicking up, I was spitting out bugs, and I kept thinking "how long can this possibly go on"? I was having a blast, but also getting tired. No, I wasn't cranking my pedals, but my upper body was taking a beating. This ROCKS!! I'm not sure I'm making myself clear - it was SPECTACULAR. No, really, it was SPECTACULAR.

We tried to capture some of it on the GoPro, but the batteries died and didn't get but a few minutes of video. Fail. Eh, it will be a long, long time before I ever forget what that trail was like. Amazing. Totally amazing.

Though storms threatened all day, we made it back to the truck before it started to pour. Thank you, God. :)





So much fun, such amazing weather, such spectacular views, really great company....Was the sucky part in the beginning worth it? Oh yeah!! Happy camper...very happy camper. :)


(Bill's Perspective)

Whoooo Hooooo!!!!!!

Kim's assessment was spot on. Though I don't think she quite described the uphill thoroughly enough but we don't use the kind of language that would be required to be accurate. It was unpleasant. The thing about climbing...for SEVEN MILES, is that you have time to think about all the stuff that hurts. It's a bicycle. There aren't many places where your body touches the bike. Do the math. Luckily, there is so much beauty surrounding us at any (or every) given point that it's hard to remember to whine about our piddley little ouchies. We were very lucky in that the climb was mostly exposed but the sun made very little appearance. As moderate as the temps are here, we're closer to the sun so when it's out, it's hot and you burn quickly here. My point is that it could have been much worse.

Once we finally got to the top and saw the singletrack, we were awash with relief. We honestly didn't feel like we'd been climbing the whole time but apparently we made quite a bit of elevation. The first downhill was fun but it was a bit sandy and in the middle of a section of forest that had burned. It was kind of creepy like a scene from just about any Tim Burton film. The sand, and the fact that any mistake could cost my life, kept me from attaining truly stupid speeds on the first run. Once at the bottom, we had to earn the next one. There was a little more climbing but it was easier having been jolted with adrenaline from the blast down. The second downhill was less sand and more packed dirt. Now THIS was my style!! Now it was time for stupid. In all honesty, it's no more stupid than any one of us outdriving our headlights at night around a turn not knowing what's in the road. Same concept but way more fun. Much like I do when motorcycling, I eventually accept that Kim is totally capable of riding her bike without me watching her so I take off. :) Gravity and I have this understanding. It wants me...bad. In this instance, that's a good thing. All I have to do is let go of my brakes and I'm screaming down this tiny little dirt path that is riddled with "drainage" dips which try to claim me as their own. I fight for the self control to slow when the trail disappears. When it reappears, it might be a slight bend that I could have blasted through or it might be a switchback that I couldn't see till the last second. There was an equal mix of both. Roll the bones, baby.

After several bone jarring minutes of this absolute nirvana of mountain biking bliss, I realize that any of those obstacles could claim Kim as well and it's not as fun if you can't hear someone else hooting and hollering too so I slow to wait for her. No sooner do I get unclipped and there she is, plowing down the trail behind me. I clip back in and off we go again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

After a particularly smooth and stupid fast section, the trail wound left where it quickly turned into small jagged rocks (making braking very tricky) then surprised us with a very large rock with a drop off on the back side. Not particularly difficult to negotiate unless you're going too fast, don't have time to set up, and are hurting for traction. It almost got me good and was abruptly followed up by a wicked off camber 180 degree high bermed downhill switchback. After nearly crashing twice, I decided to chill out and wait for Kim. I heard her coming and tried to call out rock but she couldn't hear me. She negotiated the little rocks, made the big rock and then fell over on the high side of the trail for a reason I could not determine. She was fine with nothing to show for her "crash" but some new dust. A very boring wreck. :)

We continued with even more downhill then came into a meadow. Beauty in all directions. Then a little more climbing and yet another long amazing downhill. This time, Kim took point and it was just amazing to watch her control that bike. Maybe control isn't the right word. More like guide. :) This one took us all the way to the parking lot where the truck was. Euphoria from a Maryland biking perspective. I'm no fan of gravity and I'm not a good climber...well for more than a few feet anyway. But I would almost agree that the pain of climbing that horrible fire trail was worth blasting through the woods at ludicrous speed for such a long time. My shoulder blades are still sore in the most delightful way. I can't wait till we go do the ski slopes!!!