RR: Ted Williams

For the second time in a week, I had an opportunity to do a ride in a spot that is considered "confidential" for most local riders. Doug once again invited me out to an afternoon ride, this time at a spot known as Ted Williams. TW is generally considered a downhiller's ride, and some even shuttle to the top and bomb down. We would be climbing, and for me at least, there would be no bombing. But the downhill was a lot of fun.

I met up with Doug and Sean (GP Pilot) after work after a little trouble finding the trailhead.

They were just finishing their first preliminary run when I arrived, having gotten to the trailhead about an hour earlier. I got geared up and we headed up the main trail toward the top of the mountain. At the bottom of the hill, we passed a large section of jumps and stunts that looked pretty hardcore. Halfway up the mountain we stopped at an outcropping of rock, and could see where some of the maniacs would launch from. Ridiculous.

The climb itself was steady, but not too technical or crazy steep, and while I hiked a couple of short sections (10 feet or so) it was mostly ridable. The views were impressive.

We could even see Black Mountain off in the distance.

We made it to the top, and spent a little time playing around on the concrete launchpad that is there. I jumped off of the sides, which were about two to two and a half feet, but never went off the end, which is closer to three. I wish I had, since it wasn't a particularly big deal, so I'll be taking care of that next time.

From there we did a short downhill section, and then traversed over to the south side of the mountain, where we wrapped around and began another long climb back up towards the top. That one did get to me, and I ended up HABing about the last third. It wasn't techy at all, just steep and sustained. Sean flew up it, and Doug was able to ride the whole thing as well.

Once we finally made it back to the summit, we headed back down again, this time on a less-traveled trail that looked fun. It was, but had several sections that each of us elected to walk down because the penalty for failure was substantial.

Doug did huck one medium drop, which was pretty cool. He did his own RR here.

I had a great time, and was able to cross another new trail off of my to do list. While this one wasn't specfically on my 2008 Ride List, I did add it later in my Q1 State of the Union, so it was nice to get over there. Its very close to home, and was more cross-countryish than I had expected, so I intend to get back there soon.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 5.72 miles

Total Time: 1:45:41

Ascent: 1266 feet

Average Speed: 3.2 mph

Top Speed: 20.4 mph

Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite

Map: [Undisclosed]