Oak Mountain 2007_10_16

Once again we planned an afternoon trip to Oak Mountain. I met Brian there at about 4:00 and we hit the trail shortly afterwards going Counter-Clockwise from the southern trailhead. We had discussed climbing up to blood rock, riding down, then taking the road up and riding back down blood rock to ride something different. This sounded good to me as it should be about 17 miles and I was up for trying something a bit different.
We started out warming up slowly and after we finished Johnson's mountain and started the climb to Blood rock I could tell Brian was struggling. He almost didn't ride because he had been sick but decided to go anyway. Another rider caught us about halfway up and chatted as we climbed the remainder of the way. His goal for the day was to find a good line and ride up blood rock. I told him I had never seen this done but had heard it was possible. Unfortunately I have never been able to do it, but it is not for lack of trying. I attempted to ride it yet again and didn't make it very far. We wished him luck and headed on our way. When we made it to the Jeep trail/BUMP connector Brian said he didn't think he could continue. I decided to just ride out the rest of the loop instead of the different route we discussed earlier because I really wanted to scoot through the trail on this bike. At this point we were about 5.4 miles in and it had taken about 49 minutes.

I decided to let loose on the bike and see if I could finish in my normal 1 hour from that point (I usually take right at 30-32 minutes to get there when moving at a good pace putting me around a 1:30 lap. I took off (being more rested than usual helped) but climbed the rest of the way to the top without too much trouble. This bike made me feel as if I was going the same speed as usual, but I was using larger gears than usual and my speed was up a little. At the top of the hill I made the normal quick check of the bike before the downhill and started on my way. This time instead of just coasting, I was actually pedaling down. The bike just feels so great I was in greater control at more speed. Right after I crossed the bridge (about 1/2 way down) I went around a corner and unfortunately there was another biker peddling up. I got to test my brakes as I tried to stop from I am guessing 22-25 mph. I was trying to get out of his way and he was trying to get out of mine. I ended sliding off the trail trying to take the worse line so he could climb easier, but he was acting like he was trying to block me. All I ended up doing is getting so far off the trail he would know I was not goingt to collide with him. After apologizing profusely (I am sure he was cursing me but I did everything I could to give him the right of way) I was back on my way. When reaching the bottom I looked at my time and was supprised as I was a little ahead of schedule. I rode the rest of the way out enjoying the singletrack slolom through the trees at a good pace. The climbs seemed slightly easier for such a good pace, but I partially attribute that to the comfortable start at the beginning of the ride. I passed a few other riders wandering through the trails and finally got back to the road. I locked the suspension out for the 3/4 mile or so on the road back to the parking lot and it made a difference in the amount of energy exerted climbing the small hills. At the truck I looked at the clock and couldn't believe I ended up with an 1:39. I managed to take over 10 minutes off my normal riding time for this part of the trail. I will have to attribute it to the bike as I felt as if I was going about the same pace.

I can't express it enough, but I am extremely happy with this bike. I feel I finally have the suspension almost perfect for me now and the bike feels extremely solid beneath be.