Sunday was a big day on the bike for me. An early morning interval workout on the road bike was followed up with an MTB ride that somehow turned epic unexpectedly. Chloe and I were setting off for a 40 mile ride that encompassed two loops off of Reddington Rd that would end with us near our starting point of Agua Caliente Park. I figured that it would be 4.5 hours or so, figuring some time for a couple brief stops and perhaps a mechanical adjustment of some sort. All standard procedure when you leave for such a ride.
I got the first flat of the day, about 20 miles into the ride. I had put a small cut in my rear tire, but the Stan’s sealant seemed to do the trick and I only had to add air. I had to stop a couple times to top it off, but no biggie at it would hold for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. Flat number two also had my name on it. This time I gashed the front tire while turning over an outcropping of sharp rocks. This one went flat quickly and required a tube install, only after I pulled out the 20 odd cactus thorns that were in the tire. The tube was aired up and we were on our way, but not really since my rear slow leak was now also 100% flat. Pumped it up and we were rolling down the Bellota Trail.
With some sweet downhill delight going on, the clouds darkened the skies and rain began to fall. Chloe says, “At least it isn’t hailing!” I say, “You should ask for that.” No more than two seconds later our backs were being pounded with pea sized hail. I could only laugh at the perfect sequence of events. It only lasted for a couple minutes, enough so that we were completely water soaked.
Now we are finally descending La Milagrosa Trail and I’ve got two slow leakers since I’ve picked up multiple cactus thorns in my front inner-tubed wheel by now. More stopping and more pumping. Chloe managed to pick up her first-ever sidewall slash, bringing our cut up tire count to three for the day. It was a good cut and required a tube, which we had. More pumping and we’re rolling again, over many more pointy rocks and cactus debris. With my tire pressure dropping too low without me realizing I managed to bounce off the trail and land my right side into a prickly pear. Of course my front wheel hit if first and received about 20 thorns, all hitting the tube I’m sure. I wasn’t hurt anymore than the 20 or so thorns that also went into my forearm and hand. By now, my riding was pretty much over. I didn’t want to pump up my tires any more and I didn’t want to crash again due to the 15 psi. Chloe’s tube had been punctured enough too that she wasn’t able to ride more than five minutes without needing more air so we started walking it out at hour 4.5.
Over an hour later we had reached the bottom and made it out to the roads. I pumped up my slow leaking tubeless rear and swiped Chloe’s front wheel so that I could go get the car from the park. The sun set on my way and I found that the car had been locked in behind the gate. ‘Park closes at Sunset’ it says on the sign out front. I called a series of phone numbers mentioned on the sign, but the lock companies all claimed to have dropped this particular account months ago. Paul came to the rescue and got us out after our mis-adventures. We had had our fun, but were happy to finally get out of the brush.
All of this happened of course, after nearly spending the night out there just earlier this week. That one was with Paul and ranked much higher on the ‘you’re lucky you made it out scale’. To hear more about this one, you’ll have to read his post - pictures included.
So not much luck with the mountain bike rides lately. Let’s hope the road riding continues to treat me well through this weekend. I’ll be racing the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix. Stop by for the first race reports of 2007. Now I’ve got something to blog about,
TJ
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