Sunday, July 16, 2006
Rocky Hill Ranch
This morning I made it out to the Rocky Hill Ranch (http://www.boomersrockyhill.com) which is situated a few miles north of Smithville Texas. This is a favorite spot for mountain bikers. I had ridden there once about 5 years ago but did not actually ride any of the more serious trails. Today I planned to test them out in preparation for the 2006 Texas Chainring Massacre bike race next month. Even with a map in hand, I managed to miss the turn for the trail and was making my way up the service road which is off limits to bikes (see pic). :) Duh!
I finally back tracked and got on the trail. My new Trek was handling nicely although riding with front suspension does take some getting used to. It's like riding with a large sponge between you and the front wheel. I'm still learning how to ride efficiently with it. The trail for the race is a 9 mile loop through windy, steep trails and gullies. Most of the riding is also through a thick forest of pine trees which is nice but the mats of pine needles can be very slippery when making sharp turns. I was trekking along nicely but by mile 3.5-4.0 I was getting exhausted. By then I was pushing my bike up hills because I simply didn't have the energy to pedal up them anymore. At mile 4.5 (the halfway mark and furthest point from the start) I had my first wipe out. I was going down an incline and wasn't paying attention to the tree root jutting out of the ground. My front wheel hit it and before I knew it I was thrown forward. I lay there in a cloud of dust and sat up blinking in the sunlight. It happened so fast it took me a while to process that I had just wiped out. I think I landed on my shoulder but didn't notice it at the time. Luckily, my camera wasn't damaged. I picked up my (new) bike and noticed that the chain had fallen off. The rear derailleur was bent. Not good. If I couldn't get my chain back on that meant a 4.5 mile hike back to the starting point whilst hauling my bike. Luckily, the chain went back on fairly easily after I bent the derailleur back a bit. It wasn't perfect but it worked! I eventually reached one of the more difficult parts of the trail called "The Wall" (see pic). I managed to bike down it alright. When I got to the bottom, I started to push my bike up the steep hill. Just as I got to the top, I lost my footing and fell hard on my side. Perhaps this is where I hurt my shoulder. I don't know. You know it's funny, I don't mind wiping out or falling down so much. It's just the thought of someone seeing it happen to me that bothers me the most. It's funny how were are so self conscious about things like that. It's like "Eh, I broke my femur but thank God no one saw me do it!"
So, I'm in the home stretch cruisin down this trail getting close the end and then all of a sudden "boom!" I wipe out again. This time it was because of little bumps in the trail that did it plus I might have hit the front brakes a little hard. This wipe out was the best because it literally threw me 10-15 feet from my bike. I got a nice little raspberry on my right elbow from this one.
I finished the course in about 2 hours mainly because I took my time to stop, rest and take pictures. All in all, it was a great ride and full of outdoor scenery and trail challenges. Can't wait to go back. After I got back to Austin the bike shop fixed my rear derailleur in no time. Woohoo!
I finally back tracked and got on the trail. My new Trek was handling nicely although riding with front suspension does take some getting used to. It's like riding with a large sponge between you and the front wheel. I'm still learning how to ride efficiently with it. The trail for the race is a 9 mile loop through windy, steep trails and gullies. Most of the riding is also through a thick forest of pine trees which is nice but the mats of pine needles can be very slippery when making sharp turns. I was trekking along nicely but by mile 3.5-4.0 I was getting exhausted. By then I was pushing my bike up hills because I simply didn't have the energy to pedal up them anymore. At mile 4.5 (the halfway mark and furthest point from the start) I had my first wipe out. I was going down an incline and wasn't paying attention to the tree root jutting out of the ground. My front wheel hit it and before I knew it I was thrown forward. I lay there in a cloud of dust and sat up blinking in the sunlight. It happened so fast it took me a while to process that I had just wiped out. I think I landed on my shoulder but didn't notice it at the time. Luckily, my camera wasn't damaged. I picked up my (new) bike and noticed that the chain had fallen off. The rear derailleur was bent. Not good. If I couldn't get my chain back on that meant a 4.5 mile hike back to the starting point whilst hauling my bike. Luckily, the chain went back on fairly easily after I bent the derailleur back a bit. It wasn't perfect but it worked! I eventually reached one of the more difficult parts of the trail called "The Wall" (see pic). I managed to bike down it alright. When I got to the bottom, I started to push my bike up the steep hill. Just as I got to the top, I lost my footing and fell hard on my side. Perhaps this is where I hurt my shoulder. I don't know. You know it's funny, I don't mind wiping out or falling down so much. It's just the thought of someone seeing it happen to me that bothers me the most. It's funny how were are so self conscious about things like that. It's like "Eh, I broke my femur but thank God no one saw me do it!"
So, I'm in the home stretch cruisin down this trail getting close the end and then all of a sudden "boom!" I wipe out again. This time it was because of little bumps in the trail that did it plus I might have hit the front brakes a little hard. This wipe out was the best because it literally threw me 10-15 feet from my bike. I got a nice little raspberry on my right elbow from this one.
I finished the course in about 2 hours mainly because I took my time to stop, rest and take pictures. All in all, it was a great ride and full of outdoor scenery and trail challenges. Can't wait to go back. After I got back to Austin the bike shop fixed my rear derailleur in no time. Woohoo!
My gear
Entrance to Rocky Hill Ranch
Funny art
Nice view from the trail
On the service road where I didn't belong! :)
Cool spiderweb
Pine trees
The trail-1
The trail-2
Taking a break
An unfortunate biker
The Black Trac (Cool!)
The Grind-1
The Grind-2
The Wall-1 ("If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you
have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?")
The Wall-2
I survived!!
# posted by Robert : 12:56 PM
