Death March version "b"
Hit up Redstone Cyclery's Memorial Day Death March. There was the "a" (hardcore) and "b" (semi-hardcore) options. I choose option "b". The "b" option promised to be a ~5 hour total time - 16mile ~3000ft elevation gain ride with a gnarly descent down Lions Gulch. the "a" consisted of 32 miles with ~6000elevation gain and 8 hours of total time.
course elevation pic poached off of the redstone blog. ;)
I know I could *suffer* through the "a" ride but i wanted to ride big on Sunday and ride again on Monday and didn't want to to torpedo myself. Kim and Dan opted for the "b" ride
There were 20 people in our group with 8(!) of them being women. pretty cool, eh?
Of course Kim and Dan were up front with me trying to keep them in sight. There was some steep climbing and loose descending. I felt a little out of sorts on the technical stuff and fell a few times. Once Kim said all she could see was my red helmet at ground level and sideways and thought "hmm..that doesn't look right!"
Lions Gulch was as advertised - gnarly, gnarly, gnarly. There was plently of walking going on on my part. But some riding too. ;) I can't wait to go back and try this trail again.
Dan cleaned the Lions Gulch - pretty good considering he hadn't seen the trail before. Kim was riding well too - I tried (and didn't always succeed in following her lines) I esp. liked this move where we approached a steep loose switchback and she smoothly popped her wheel over a rock at the exit point. fun stuff for sure!
All-in-all the ride only lasted ~3 hours and we were a bit disappointed but that meant we'd have legs to Indian Creek the next day.
Here's Kim's version. :)
Oh and there was a death on this ride - the death of my camera. It was working fine on Friday and today - here's what I got when I tried to take a scenery shot. big time bummer - the camera is only 6 months old.
course elevation pic poached off of the redstone blog. ;)
I know I could *suffer* through the "a" ride but i wanted to ride big on Sunday and ride again on Monday and didn't want to to torpedo myself. Kim and Dan opted for the "b" ride
There were 20 people in our group with 8(!) of them being women. pretty cool, eh?
Of course Kim and Dan were up front with me trying to keep them in sight. There was some steep climbing and loose descending. I felt a little out of sorts on the technical stuff and fell a few times. Once Kim said all she could see was my red helmet at ground level and sideways and thought "hmm..that doesn't look right!"
Lions Gulch was as advertised - gnarly, gnarly, gnarly. There was plently of walking going on on my part. But some riding too. ;) I can't wait to go back and try this trail again.
Dan cleaned the Lions Gulch - pretty good considering he hadn't seen the trail before. Kim was riding well too - I tried (and didn't always succeed in following her lines) I esp. liked this move where we approached a steep loose switchback and she smoothly popped her wheel over a rock at the exit point. fun stuff for sure!
All-in-all the ride only lasted ~3 hours and we were a bit disappointed but that meant we'd have legs to Indian Creek the next day.
Here's Kim's version. :)
Oh and there was a death on this ride - the death of my camera. It was working fine on Friday and today - here's what I got when I tried to take a scenery shot. big time bummer - the camera is only 6 months old.
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