We went to church in RSF again this weekend, and as a result, by the time late afternoon rolled around I had some free time. Armed with a short hall pass, I decided to try the same route I had planned on taking yesterday before I ran into Sean. I wanted to see how fast I could reasonably do the route that I assumed would be my new local ride.
I set out from home, went down the 4S trails, behind the Boys and Girls Club, up Carmel Valley Rd., and up the paved road to the Black Mountain trailhead. Flush with confidence from my dabless run down Canyon Rim the day before, I took it a little faster, and ended up with one small dab near the bottom where I washed out in some sand. Oh well. Still not bad, and I cleaned all the difficult switchbacks.
I climbed back up the paved road, and over the meadow trail that took me over toward the pond. There was no time for exploring today, and I rode and HAB'ed the short distance up the trail along the pond, then shot down the back side toward Carmel Valley Rd.
From there it was back along the 4S trails, and I made it a goal to climb back up the last significant hill in the middle ring up front, which I was able to do. Pretty happy about that.
I pushed it a little along the pavement section on the final stretch before home, and made it in just under an hour. I wasn't riding hard for most of the ride, but I did keep a consistent pace and didn't stop at all. My pace was purposeful but not fast, and I think if I really pushed it I could do this ride in around 50 minutes or even a little faster. That is a good time frame for a local ride, allowing me the chance to do it during the week after work and dinner sometimes.
There are three sections of this ride where I have to HAB: a short 25 yard section up Canyon Rim before the downhill; a short 15 yard section up a fire road before the meadow trail over toward the pond, and a 10 yard section up a loose section of trail along the pond. I'd like to get to a point by the end of summer where I can at least clean the second one, the fire road. The uphill section of Canyon Rim is extremely steep and loose, and while I'm sure some can do it, its pretty rough. I'd like to make it up that section some day, but it may be a while. And the uphill by the pond is less steep, but even more rutted and loose, so that may be a more long-term goal as well.
Either way, this was a good ride, and making it home in under an hour was nice. I'd like to find some variation of this route that cuts out some of the pavement/4S Ranch trail riding and incorporates more dirt. Maybe something through the Santa Fe Valley at some point like my old local ride. We'll see. In the meantime, I have a perfectly serviceable new local ride that fits my needs for the most part.
Here are the stats: (Once again, no pictures, this is becoming a bad habit)
Total Distance: 7.69 miles
Total Time: 56:18
Ascent: 1025 feet
Average Speed: 8.2 mph
Top Speed: 30.9 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:
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