I Think I Lost My Courage

Well I am back and hopefully the rest of the post will be entertaining to read.

The rider behind me made it up the trail about five feet higher than me before coming to a stop after having his rear wheel spin out on the 2” piece of exposed root crossing the trail. At this point we all started the hike-a-bike up to the right hand switchback. I don’t believe this spot will ever be rideable in the uphill direction, but I would like it to be less challenging in the downhill direction.

As I studied the difficult section I noticed the possible key to making the switchback rideable in the downhill direction. I will need the expertise of our head geologist, rockman, but I believe there is a horizontal crack about one foot down the face of the steep that bikes have to ride on to make the turn. If that section could be lowered one foot I believe it could become rideable downhill by advanced skilled riders. Possibly Hans Ray uphill type riders might even be able to climb it.

After making it halfway up the left hand switchback before walking, I was able to ride the rest of trail to the top out point. From there we headed over to Slim Shady and on up to the SS/H…..E intersection. When we reached the intersection there were about six riders standing in front trying to decide whether they were going to ride up H…..E. Several had singlespeeds and some had hardtails.

Rather than being sociable we picked up our bikes and walked into the secret entrance w/o saying much. As usual I try and pace myself to be able to make the difficult uphill spots ahead. There is one particular spot up a steep rocky section that I have only made once after resting for about five minutes.

As I was getting close to that difficult spot I was running out o gas quickly. As I ducked under a low limb before the climb, I noticed the climb had changed, apparently in the last day or so some ahole had come in and totally reworked the climb. Rather than a bunch of small rocks on the face of the climb this terrible human being had come in with a large piece of equipment and rocked in the climb with huge rocks at a lesser grade than the previous trail builder had used. This person must have studied under Michael Angelo, the climb was pieced in beautifully and due to the beautiful rock used may even earn some type of landscaping award.

From this point on I was able to make the rest of the climb w/o dabbing. When we reached to viewpoint we stopped for a break while my group and ten other riders joined up with us. It was a beautiful day and everyone had big smiles on their faces.

I asked a couple of the unknown riders how they found out about the trail and one guy said 12 hours previously one of his buddies told him it was a must do ride. Many in the group had never been on the trail so I headed out to lead the way down the super cool Moab like slickrock area. This section is getting super flowy with time and it was fun being out from leading the charge with my buddy cakewalk behind me.

When we got to the super steep notch section I stopped to have our group re-organize and put their game faces on. Cakewalk had never cleaned the whole section ahead and I was hopeful this would be the day. JP Nuts was at the back of the back and he had a very CONCERNED look on his face.

As I rolled off the top into the notch I tried to show cakewalk the safe speed to ride the drop w/o loosing control. I couldn’t look back but I could hear his tires grabbing for traction as we descended the super sketchy off-cant section before the steep bouncy 90 degree right hand turn section.

As I made the right hand turn I heard tires screeching and suspension compressing behind me. There wasn’t any crashing type noise so I hoped all was going well behind me. The next section rode nicely and when I made it past the cliff band I stopped and looked back. CW was right behind me and he had a HUGE smile on his face. He had made the drop w/o dabbing and to celebrate we did the high-five hand slap.

The next section down the super switchback section rode nicely and it will be interesting how that section matures over the future decades.

When we rolled into the wash at the bottom, I felt as though we had just enjoyed one of the most fun rides in the southwest. Even the ride through the wash was fast and flowy even though the riding surface is rather chunky. When we made it to the top of Baldwin JP Nuts commented that on the notch he "thought he had lost his courage.” I asked him how he compared this ride with the rides he had experienced in Tucson and Phoenix? He indicated that Sedona riding is “unbelievable and that due to the varying terrain it doesn’t compare to those other areas.” It was amazing that a sustainable trail was developed down that section of terrain. It will be interesting how that section of trail rides a hundred year from now.

After a short break we highballed it down Baldwin to Templeton. While making some of the turns I could only hope that the bike riders were being cautious on the somewhat blind turn sections where people could be coming the other direction or just hiking down the trail.

When we reached Templeton we hung a left and headed to Red Rock Crossing. While reaching the Crossing we caught up with two bikers who looked like they were from out of town. I asked them where they were headed and they said to the Airport Loop. I told them that that trail sucked and that they could join us on the Pyramid Loop. They asked where that was and I pointed to the Pyramid rock feature to the north of us about ½ mile away.

They initially declined the offer to follow us until I offered them $200 each to join us. Upon my offer they re-thought their declination and decided to join us. We rode about 200 yards up the paved road and dropped down into the Carol Canyon Wash to head over to Red Rock Upper Loop Road. For some unknown reason the tourons once again re-thought their decision to follow us and opted to head back to the Red Rock Crossing Road.

Well I wasn’t too happy to see them leave since it saved me $400. I am really curious how they got to the Airport Loop trail and how much they enjoyed that trail. Maybe they log onto MTBR and they can share the experience with us.

Once we got off Red Rock Upper Loop Road we headed up Pyramid. During the ride up to the saddle JP Nuts followed me while the other riders took off in front of us. I told JP that we had some steep section ahead to try out our climbing skills and I am not sure if that stimulated his interest in the ride ahead.

As we got to certain steep sections we challenged out riding skills to see if we could make them w/o dabbing. Two sections I made and the other took two tries to clean it. When we got to the top of the drop I called my wife and told her to meet us with the 8 bike trailer at the bottom of Pyramid.

Jim headed down the trail first on foot before the rest of us since he is uncomfortable riding this steep section on his Epic. While he walked down the trail the rest of us got ready for the super techy section. After a minute or so we followed Jim and made the drop w/o crashing.

Just below the slickrock viewpoint we hung a left on Witch Doctor and rode that fun section back over to Pyramid where we headed out to the pickup point where we waited a couple minutes before being picked up and driven back to my casa. I felt that we had just completed a pretty special ride and I think the others in the group felt the same way.

Hopefully tomorrow we will do something just as enjoyable like Damifino or Hangover.

TD

traildoc, Jim probably told you that he and I were riding H.....E Saturday. He took me on several of the newer trails in that area. After cracking my rear hub riding in Phoenix last week I switched wheels and the cassette was so worn the chain was skipping as we approached H....E. We decided to run down to Absolute and get a new cassette before proceeding. I think the trail work is astonishing. The views up on top are the best in Sedona. I have no idea how you ride down that crack at the end without hitting that wall of rock on the left. I really enjoyed the run down from the high point. I experienced a little vertigo on the initial climb on the highly exposed sections. Jim wondered why I was not keeping up with him and I tried to explain by standing my Canzo next to his Specialized. My bike is 8" taller than his and I'm about 7" taller than he is. As a result, I was getting picked off by the low tree branches. First my helmet got snagged and then it was my wingnut bag getting hooked. I was nearly pulled off the bike and tossed off that steep ledge. I find on most of the trails in Sedona, there is a penalty for being a talled rider. That uphill brush dangles over the trail in a way a rider under 5'7" might not even notice it, but us tall guys get tangled in it and can't focus on the trail.

About that climb up Templeton. We were surprised by how well the new tread was manicured just below the spot where you all stalled out crossing that tree root. I think with enough accelleration, a rider could blast over those roots and move to the right side of the trail and possibly make it to that huge step-up switchback. I stared at that turn and step also, and concluded it is a significant challenge. I wondered about continuing the trail to the left, into that wash and finding a way to switchback the trail maybe 30-50 feet into that drainage before returning to the ledge with a better attack position. You wouldn't have to worry about both making the turn and climbing the ledge. Then you could "adjust" the ledge by shaping the rock with some sledge work to ramp it and allow a rider the chance to clean it as long as he came at it with good speed.

The ride around just before the steps and Buddha seems like a good solution but on my long frame 29er, I got hung up making the tight turn. I think I would have just removed the steps and sloped the trail but your solution will probably last longer.

Just curious, as we enjoyed the views from the top of H.....E, I commented to Jim that I once did some riding on the south side of Verde School Road years ago. Looking out at the amount of land to the south, I was wondering if there are any options for a long loop of 20-30 miles out in that area where a guy could get stretch out and gallop in bigger gears for hours, as an option to techy chunky riding that dominates Sedona? Jim and I attempted such a ride a few weeks back on the Hot Loop and ended up on badly eroded trails mired in mud. It didn't help that equestrians use that loop and had turned the trail into a muckfest.

Thank you for enriching our riding experience in Sedona. Keep up the good work.

"The reasonable man accomodates himself to the ways of the world. The unreasonable man attempts to get the world to accomodate itself to his ways. Progress depends on unreasonable men."

- George Bernhard Shaw

+1

Poi Boy said:

Please don't touch that switchback. That's the only challenging section of the trail. It is ridable as is. I cleaned it and I know others that have too. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

yes, please leave that switchback alone! It's the only real challenge coming down to Budda Beach...