I did my first ride with the regular Tuesday Night LPQ crew tonight, and it was an eventful one. I had mentioned this ride to Dave G. last week, and thanks to some midday scheduling efforts, was able to get everyone to agree to a 7 PM start time that allowed him to come along.Dave and I hadn’t ridden together since the Hodges ride earlier this year, though we had emailed back and forth several times since then, so it was nice to ride with him again
I picked Dave up at 6:40 at his house and we drove over to the Park Village trailhead. We met Dennis, who I had never ridden with before, and we spent a few minutes getting acquainted while we waited for Sean M. to arrive.
We set out right around 7:30 and Sean led the way. As we rode up powerlines, Sean and Dennis pulled away, and eventually Dave did as well. We quickly regrouped at the top of powerlines and then headed for the singletrack around the mesa. We did a lot of the mesa trails, including one that I know had some decent exposure off to the left that we couldn’t see because of how dark it was. I was riding in my customary spot at the back of the pack, but was hanging pretty well. The pace was a little slower than the last time I had ridden here with Evan and Doug and Scott, but we were still going faster than my usual speed when I’m solo. Throughout the ride, my bike was continuing to ghost shift like crazy, and it is definitely time that I have that issue addressed once and for all. Every time I’d try to pedal hard coming out of at turn or up a short steep section it would shift, which was extremely frustrating.
We spent some significant time up on the mesa singletrack, and then rode down the main tunnel entrance and through some of the tunnels. I found myself falling farther and farther behind at that point as I gingerly picked my way through the low-hanging limbs and tight turns. Sean had promised to stop at each junction, but I did come to one spot where I wasn’t sure which way the group had gone.
The foliage is so dense down there that I couldn’t see their lights, but I was pretty sure I knew the route Sean was doing, so I made the turn and continued along, hoping to catch up at the next junction.Being alone in the tunnels was a little disconcerting, so I tried to pick up my speed and push it a little bit to catch up. All of a sudden, my world was plunged into darkness and I slammed at a pretty good speed into a tree branch. I managed to keep from falling over and stood there for a minute feeling stunned.
I knew immediately what had happened; my light battery, which had been strapped to my down tube with Velcro, had fallen off, disconnecting from the handlebar light. It was absolutely pitch black all around me.
Like, “can’t see my hand in front of my face” black.
I groped around on the ground for a minute, looking for the battery on the trial, but couldn’t find it.
Fighting a little bit of a freak-out, I took off my pack and felt around inside for the keychain LED flashlight that I keep in there.
I found it and turned it on, and immediately started to feel better.
My battery lay in the middle of the trail a few feet behind me, and I picked it up and began trying to reconnect it to the cable attached to the headlamp.
After a minute of fiddling with it, I got the two connected and turned the light back on.
Sweet beautiful light flooded the area, and I was almost ready to go.
I firmly strapped the light to the downtube again, double checked it, and began pedaling up the trail.
Just as I was getting underway, another group of riders rode by in the opposite direction, and mentioned that my group was waiting for me a little ways up ahead, which was a relief.
I hooked back up with the guys a minute later, and after explaining my mishap, we continued through the tunnels.
I was able to stay closer this time, and followed the group as we rode through the stream crossings and out the tunnel with the bike at the entrance.From there we rode up the fire road, then over toward Carmel Mountain road and did some more of the mesa singletrack.>We then dropped down into the Rocking Horse tunnel, down to the main trail, and then did a short section up on a ridgeline above the tunnels that I hadn’t ridden before.
While on the ridgeline trail, I was continuing to ghost shift like crazy, and Sean took a few minutes to try to adjust my rear derailleur. Both he and Dave looked at it, and couldn’t see any visible problems. The chain was aligned, the hanger was straight, and neither of them had any idea of how to fix it.
Discouraged, but grateful for the help and understanding of my fellow riders, I soldiered on with my annoying bike.
From the ridgeline trail we dropped back down into the tunnels, then through the main tunnel trail and out the main exit.
I began to fatigue pretty hard toward the last ¼ of the climb out, and even had some HAB for the first time in that section in a long time.
From there we rode across the mesa for a minute, then down into Tunnel 5.About halfway through Tunnel 5, I ran over a tree branch and immediately heard a hissing sound.
A second later the hissing was followed by a thump thump thump sound, and I knew I had gotten a rear flat.
I yelled ahead to the other three guys, and pulled over to start to fix the flat. As I was digging through my pack for my spare tube, Sean immediately got to work changing my tire without me even asking.
He basically acted as my one-man pit crew, quickly and efficiently changing the tire in less than 5 minutes.
My role was limited to handing him the tube and the pump and watching intently as he worked.
When he finished I thanked him repeatedly, and we were once again under way.
(As a side note, I officially can not figure Sean out at this point.
He did a tremendous time organizing the Kernville Sequoia trip, and I thought I expressed my gratitude and appreciation both during the trip and afterward, but he never seemed to receive it.
Tonight, he did an amazing job leading this ride through the labyrinthine trail network in the dark and helped me with two mechanicals, but when I tried to thank him, he barely seemed to acknowledge it.
I wasn’t mad at his reactions (or lack thereof), just confused.
Maybe he just doesn’t like me.
This is a mystery to me.)
In any event, after we replaced the tube, we finished the rest of Tunnel 5 and rode through the meadow at the end.
The rest of the group saw some deer in the meadow, but I missed them.
We then rode up the paved road to Del Vino, then down Cobbles.
The ride down Cobbles was maybe the most fun section of the night.
I stayed off the brakes and held Sean’s wheel the whole way down, flying over the little jumps and taking the turns with speed.
It was awesome.
We reached the bottom of Cobbles and just before the fun roller coaster section, my front wheel dropped into a small rut while my rear wheel stayed up on the trail.
I saved myself from crashing and was able to keep going after a short dab, but was now in the third position after Sean and Dennis.
Then, just as I was riding up the fun steep section that leads to the steep drop off in the roller coaster section, I stalled out right at the top.
I had tried to pedal hard at the apex of the steep uphill portion when my drivetrain ghost shifted, causing me to stall and almost become a hood ornament for Dave, who was right behind me.
I really need to get that shifting fixed. Pronto.
After that we spun through the main LPQ canyon trail, then back up the lower portion of powerlines and back to the cars.
I’m really glad Dave was able to come along, he’s a neat guy and I enjoy riding with him.
It had apparently been 15 years since he had ridden at LPQ, so it was fun to be able to show him some of the trails that I enjoy so much.
I remember my first few times through the tunnels, and how much fun they were, and it was neat to watch Dave experience them for the first time tonight.
It was also nice to meet Dennis, who is apparently a Tuesday night regular.
Sean remains an enigma to me. After thinking about it more, I don't think he likes me, but don't know why. He is an extremely helpful and resourceful person, and I really appreciate his leadership, expertise, and helpfulness, even if he is annoyed by me for some reason.
I didn’t take any pictures because it was dark.
My TriNewt light worked great for its second outing, and was bright and projected a wide beam.
I may try it on my helmet next time, which would alleviate the problem of strapping the battery to my downtube.
LPQ is a fun trail, and is pretty different at night, though having some course knowledge helped. The temperature was also unseasonably warm, in the 80's I think.
All in all it was a fun ride, even with the mechanicals.
I continue to wish I was in better condition, which would have enabled me to keep up with the group a little better.
Having a well-functioning bike wouldn’t hurt with that either though.
Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 12.28 miles
Total Time: 2:23:24
Ascent: 1385 feet
Average Speed: 5.1 mph
Top Speed: 18.8 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:
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I had a lot of fun the last time I rode at Spring Canyon, and today had a chance to get back there with the Skyline MTB group. It was billed as a beginner ride, and I thought it would be a good chance to have Rachel come along and get a few more dirt miles in at a place that was close to her speed. It was also a perfect place for the maiden voyage for the Spider. I wanted my first ride on the new bike to be at a place where I could familiarize myself with the new geometry and make sure that all of the parts were assembled properly. 
Eventually we reached a good rest spot, and Nate decided to explore some of the singletrack to the northeast. Billy tried to give him some directions:
Rach was still doing great at this point, and I was glad to see she had a smile on her face.
After parting ways with Nate, we continued up the singletrack toward the north end of the canyon. About half a mile from the end, Rach was starting to tire, and we spent a few minutes hanging out and catching our breath. I used the opportunity to take a few pictures of the new bike for posterity. Its pretty.
After our rest, we decided that heading back was the best option for this time, and began the ride back to the cars. Rach was a little nervous on the downhills, but shouldn't have been, because she did great. She had two nice saves that kept her from crashing, and negotiated several turns and short climbs perfectly.
After our final rest, we headed out of the canyon and back toward MTRP and the parking lot.
It was a fun spin through the canyon, and I was so glad that Rachel was willing to come along. I was also really proud of her for how well she rode. She said she was nervous, but I couldn't tell from watching her. She made good decisions and fought the instinct to dab whenever she started to get wobbly. As a result, she cleaned several sections that I thought she would have trouble with.
