Satuday – the big trip

As I had exercised my perrogative to sleep in, and I had underestimated the time it would take to fill my hydration pack and “equip up”.. I didn’t really get started on the trails until 8:45.

I got to the Kwik Mart near the chosen trail head at 8:15… I freshened up, bought ice and filled my pack, then poured the rest in my cooler. I headed on to the parking area, assembled my bike, sorted the things I wanted to pack with me – lunch now? No, I’ll be back to the parking lot before I eat. Food bar? Yes..etc. Then I spent a few minutes stretching, and took off to the east.

The eastern trail section was beautiful, as always. The creek was still running high from the rains overnight, and there were a few places where the path couldn’t drain. There was also a 3 inch layer of silt on the paths, whereever they crossed under an overpass. I did my best to slow WAY down, so as not to splatter myself (I hadn’t thought to pack a “loin cloth” – which hangs out of the back of your shorts and keeps your butt clean from debris). This cost me some riding time…

And, I discovered I have a sticky chain link. *sigh* so if I let up on the chain tension at the wrong moment, it would wrap around the real derailure. I’d have to back pedal for a moment, then crank away. This made me hesitant on power strokes, and often jammed me up on uphills where I needed full power. These problems aside, it was a fun ride.

My modius operandi is to explore ALL trails. So I ride even access paths, and both short-cuts AND long-cuts. This increases my total distance (and exercise) and allows me to check up on more of things (afterall, it is MY path system [see the relevant journal entry] ).

The city park at the extreme east end of the system has done a lot of new construction, and has expanded the main path very nicely. But they also have pulled up/closed alot of secondary “horse paths” – these were almost “unofficial” technical trails; they wound through the trees on dirt paths – but they were maintained by the city. Until now. I guess they thought it was too high maintenance. Its hard to complain when they have invested so much in expanding the main path. Still, the “lost in the woods” feeling was nice. I miss it.

There was still a crossover path – a kind of shortcut, and also a bridle path – which I took after exploring the east path terminal. It brought me back to the junction of the east path and the southeast path. The southeast path follows a different feeder of the main creek, and has a whole ‘nother park at the path terminal.

The people are friendlier earlier in the morning. The women all look at me and smile, the elderly couples all say “good morning!” and everyone seems to be in a harmonious mood. The atmosphere was conducive. Several people jested me that “Looks like you’ve seen some mud!” referring to the growing inverse skunk stripe running up my rear and back. These paths were occasionally still draining off their water. And the silt was very wet and sloopy.

The wet silt is a good thing. The wetter it is, the better it pumps out from under your tires (or shoes) and the better traction you get while passing through it. It still dams up beside your wheels, and locks you into a straight line, and, of course, it splatters my back better (and the insides of my thighs). But it is greatly to be preferred to dryer silt, as I later discovered.

With a couple of long stops to enjoy the solitude and wrangle the foil packaging off of my energy bar, my total trip time was about 1 hour, and aprox. 10 miles. 10 miles an hour is a really pathetic pace, for me. But, I wasn’t out to break any records, and I did enjoy the ride. Plus, I say aproximately, because I consistently forget to turn off my cyclometer when I stop, or turn it on when I start back up! Argh! *grins*

Once back at my car, I put my lunch in my pack and a cold bottle of pop, and took off west.

The trail system to the west is entirely paved, and runs for some 7 miles. Different from the eastern path, which was almost entirely in large city parks, the western path follows the creek, and winds through neighborhoods, behind shopping centers and ball fields, and along the freeway. This creates a lot of variety of environments, and delights me greatly.

It also means, more underpasses. Here is where another biker warned me… in places where the silt was receiving sunlight – on one end, where it is leaving the underpass – the silt was drying. The drying increased its viscosity, but didn’t reduce its lubricating properties. The result? It didn’t pump out from under the tires, and would send you in a sideways skid as I pumped hard to go up the slope from under the underpass! A couple of times I wrenched a back muscle, just slightly, as I rebalanced my bike from the start of a skid.

I quickly learned to be careful as I exited the underpasses.

I reached my planned terminal point in good time. I was at 17. 5 miles, and had averaged around 14 mph. I don’t normally race when I ride, but I like a good steady workout. I usually use the highest (hardest) gears on my bike (as I love the feel of the torque I generate on the pedals…rrrrrrrrr *wink*). And, as a result, 14 is a “good” speed for me, considering I hadn’t ridden as much during the middle of summer as I’d have liked.

Anyway, the trail just kind of stops at an intersection marking the division between two cities. Without crossing the street, you turn left and go about a quarter of a mile, and there is a parking lot – the trailhead. My western terminal.

But, I wasn’t satisfied. Last year, I saw what looked like a trail in the next city over. I knew they were always doing construction on this path system, and I wondered if somehow the two were close to connecting. So instead of turning left, I crossed the street and proceeded down a narrow, rickety slab sidewalk, around a hazard pylon, and beyond a line of trees.

To my suprise, there was a path, taking off behind a neighborhood! Whoohoo, I thought! LETS GO EXPLORE!!!

(cont’d)