Feeling Dangerous

This last Saturday our little group rode a San Juan super loop in order to train for Vision Quest. San Juan super loops are basically 45-50 mile loops that always involve San Juan. Simple enough!

The big complication for me was that I had to ride the loop on my old Trek hard tail. Not cool. The bike just had its drive train replaced, so that was good. The bad news is that the front tire is the same tire the bike had when I bought it 4 years ago! The tread is thrashed. The final kick to the nuts was that I realized the front fork has about 1-2 inches of travel. Great.

I'm going to divide the ride into a few sections. I'm going to give each section a color code of RED, GREEN or BLUE.

RED means the section sucked.
BLUE means it was "just ok".
GREEN means it was good.


Section 1: West Ridge (BLUE)

I got left behind a bit on West Ridge because of the lack of suspension - riding over ruts from the rain with little suspension freaking hurts - and because I had to adjust my saddle height.

Adding insult to injury I managed to ride through quite a few muddy sections. The ride was not off to a good start.


Section 2: Oso (RED)

I hated going up Oso. We had to ride across a few creek crossings to get to Oso and every climb seemed to be steep, loose and void of good lines.

I was in the front of the group at the base of Oso but I stopped so I could drink some Cytomax. I had to stop to drink because I forgot to put a water bottle cage on the bike and so I had to carry it in my Camelbak.

Stopping to drink put me in the very back of the group.

The climb was tough and the bike sounded horrible due to all the mud and sand that we had been through. It had only been maybe an hour and a half into the ride and I was already upset and frustrated.


Section 3: Cold Springs (GREEN)

Every now and then I get surprised on a ride. This was a fantastic surprise. I thought we were going to have to ride San Juan Creek backwards to get to San Juan from Casper's, but instead we took Cold Springs.

It was an awesome feeling to ride through these two wooden posts in the middle of nowhere on a secret fire road to connect to San Juan. The terrain was not suited for a hard tail, but it was an amazing shortcut.

It just feels cool to ride a "hidden" trail, especially when it's super green and remote.


Section 4: San Juan to Cocktail (BLUE)

This wasn't that much fun. I tipped over on one of the lower switchbacks and when I put my hand down I jammed my right thumb and it still hurts a little.

Andrew and I both noticed the Trek's seem to handle the lower switchbacks better than our full suspension bikes. Not sure why that is.

I realized something on this ride as well. Whenever we break I always let almost everyone in our group go ahead of me. Then I get pissed that they are always ahead of me later on. Makes perfect sense though right? If they go ahead of me it makes sense they are going to stay in front. Haha.

I was surprised at how much I rode on the Trek going to Cocktail. I really love the last few miles to Cocktail because there is no exposure and it's just plain fun. I had to stop to adjust my bike seat (the bolt got loose and changed the angle dramatically), but otherwise it was good. I even cleared almost everything that I would normally clear on my full suspension bike.


Section 5: Cocktail to Blue Jay (RED)

Lame. Stupid. Frustrating. Crotch numbing. Painful. That's how I felt about the ride from Cocktail via New San Juan to Blue Jay. The hard tail really showed how annoying it could be on this section.

Andrew and I stayed in the back again and ended up getting passed by a couple that started out from Cocktail maybe 5 minutes after we left. Normally I would ride 100% of New San Juan before the climbing begins, but this last Saturday I walked quite a few sections. I just don't have the confidence in the Trek. It's a bigger frame and just feels awkward going over technical terrain.

Also the trip up Upper San Juan was really tough. There are quite a few technical spots that go for maybe 5-10 yards and the hard tail carries no momentum at all in those sections. You get over a rocky spot and then come to a stop. You have to constantly push and fight to keep the bike moving forward whereas on the full suspension bike you can roll and keep your momentum going.

Two quick notes: A stupid boy scout almost killed me by not moving over on a very narrow section of trail with exposure. Thanks little asian punk dude.

I was on a tight line on a climb and rode into a branch that left me with a pretty cool scar on my right arm.


Section 6: Blue Jay to Trabuco (GREEN)

This was pretty easy for me actually. I managed to stay in the front of the group and felt good the entire way. I just spun away and was surprised at how well I did. Made me feel like my slow trip up San Juan was more due to the bike and not my fitness.

Also I saw this girl I rode behind on Counting Coup at Trabuco when we stopped. Dang that girl is freaking cute.


Section 7: Trabuco (BLUE)

This wasn't much fun. I won't label it as RED though because I rode everything and didn't crash or have to stop. However the combination of no traction on the tires and the lack of good suspension made it harder than it should have been.

I really missed my hydraulic brakes on Trabuco. The brakes on the Trek engage quickly which is good when you want to feel like you have some braking power, but bad when you want to save your hands.

It's nice to have hydraulic brakes because you can get them to engage really close to the grip and yet still have power. The closer you can get the brake lever to the grips and yet still maintain power, the better. The farther away the engagement happens, the more energy you spend trying to hold the lever and keep the bike under control.


Section 8: West Horsetheif (RED)

The trip up Horsetheif was really difficult for me. Hiking with a bike is not one of my strong points. I can hike without a bike really well and I can ride up hills, but hiking with a bike ... not so good.

I timed myself and it took me 43 minutes to get to the top. My plan was to walk the entire thing and to be consistent. I think on race day I won't have the energy to ride any of it so I wanted to try to simulate that as best as possible.

I took several breaks on the switchbacks to give my back a break. That must be what having a failing back feels like. I would have to slowly straighten my back out because it hurt so much. I couldn't just stand straight up.

It was definitely a mental challenge because the hike feels endless and the footing is so poor. Every step felt like it was a step on ice. I had a hard time keeping my feet from slipping.


Section 9: West Horsetheif to Holy Jim (GREEN)

I actually felt pretty good on this part of the ride. Physically I felt strong and mentally I was in a good place. Just like the climb from Blue Jay to Trabuco I started to work my way towards the front of our group, but when Troy got a flat tire I decided to stop and wait to make sure he got it fixed ok.

It took a little longer than I thought it would, but that was fine. When we finally got rolling the rest of our group was long gone.

Troy and I ran into a guy that was lost on his motorcycle on Main Divide at the gate for Indian Truck Trail. He was trying to get around the gate on this huge bike and we stopped to help him because it looked like he was going to roll down the hill and get really hurt without some support. What a guy.

I felt really strong as Troy and I came rolling in to the top of Holy Jim.


Section 10: Holy Jim (RED)

"What the hell?" "Uh oh." Those were the thoughts going through my head. Actually "going through my head" is not the best way to put it. Nothing was really going through my head because I started to space out on Holy Jim. It's more like:

"What the ... Hey look! A flower! I was thinking about something ... oh yeah, I like jelly beans! Oh wait is that a turn?"

Jake said it best when he said he was "feeling dangerous". I couldn't describe it any better. I felt dangerous. I felt like I was well on my way to a gnarly crash because I was so gone mentally.

So I didn't exactly set any records coming down Holy Jim. I took my time and walked a lot to try and make sure I didn't get injured before race day.

I need to figure out how to get my mind to be more active and engaged so I feel confident on descents.


Section 11: Trabuco Creek to Finish (GREEN)

Felt good again. I rode in the big ring and the hard tail actually didn't bother me much at all coming out back to the cars. I seemed to have a lot of energy and it felt cool to pass cars on the road.

Also some girls we rode past gasped when they saw us and that made me feel good. It was an, "Oh my gosh those guys are so hot on their bikes" gasp. Nice.


So to wrap up, the ride was good for training, but tough for morale. I don't like finishing rides feeling dangerous. I also cramped up later when I got home. It had been a few hours after the ride and I was trying to sleep when my right leg cramped up. I thought I had the cramping under control but I guess not.

I think it cramped in part because I was standing a lot more than I normally would because of the hard tail. The muscles that locked were muscles that I don't think have ever blown up on me before.

I was considerably slower than the rest of the group for the ride which is a little discouraging. I can make a laundry list of excuses but that's lame. I just need to work harder I guess to keep up.