Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Hopefully I make it to Water 1 this time. After which things should be okay. Last attempt around New Years the clay bands crossed on the way up were quite adhesive and stopped my wheels. That day there were two other riders I found and was guiding them to avoid the muck best we could. One was on a new bike, and he was blamed for causing the conditions. The other was from Aridzona where such things as rain is a rarity. They pressed on where I turned back. There have now been a slew of days without precip for it to have soaked in, if that is possible at this saturation level. The tried and true Gopher Mound test in the yard is rendering mixed, but promising results. Keeping fingers crossed a ride can be had today as near half an inch is expected overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRA Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 There's a way around the muck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) Apparently not. On occasion I have gotten lucky and found a way, just not so much during this Monsoon season. Though I've been seeing vehicles with bike racks parked there on the way home from work each day this week and am hoping this is a good omen. Edited January 11, 2019 by Ridenfool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 The 24 hour race re-route works pretty well.  You stay on the double road to the south, look for a path into the weeds.  It intersects into Grey's Way.  That will be the worst mucky part.  That takes you into Fat Chuck's.  After that, there are some sections were you may hit water, but none of the sticky mud. https://www.strava.com/activities/1915269157/segments/48348948408 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natas1321 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Best of luck to you, might head out that way myself. Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 7 minutes ago, AntonioGG said: The 24 hour race re-route works pretty well.  You stay on the double road to the south, look for a path into the weeds.  It intersects into Grey's Way.  That will be the worst mucky part.  That takes you into Fat Chuck's.  After that, there are some sections were you may hit water, but none of the sticky mud. https://www.strava.com/activities/1915269157/segments/48348948408 I can't see Strava routes as I'm not a member, but I think I know what you are talking about. It probably uses a section of Grey's Way I built when Grey asked to reroute the trail up Ike's Peak (he thought he would build a cabin there). This new section starts where Grey's Way from the Upper Campground comes close to the road and makes a hairpin to the right. About midway up that newish section there is a bail to the right onto Fat Chuck's. There are a few off-camber spots on that section that might be problematic if still wet from seepage. Or, it could be the bail before the Carpet Bridge on Mini-Me that also cuts over to Fat Chuck's. My plan is to take the road (Grey's Highway) all the way up to intersect Fat Chuck's between those two bails described above, and take a left and do that last climb up to Water 1. My mistake last time was in attempting to take SuperSecretSwitchback, which goes through several clay layers on that hill. That, and running a 3.0 front and 2.8 rear that loaded up quickly. Once on top my experience has been that the trails are pretty good after a rain. Mostly gravel and sand with much fewer clay spots. Getting up to Water 1 has always been the determining factor for getting the ride started after a rain. (I could also sneak in the back entrance by the 512 area, but that always feels like cheating) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notyal Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Man, I haven't been out there since I first moved here in 2008. All I remember it was brutally hot and the sandy soil was a killer. That, and we lost my buddy for a while, then he came out of the woods with one glove on. When asked what happened to his other glove, he replied that he didn't have any toilet paper. I should probably give it another try when it dries out more. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBaron Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Not 100% sure, but unless AntonioGG's strava is "by request only", anyone should be able to view his route, subscription or not. Cold, wet, mud, doesn't sound fun. -CJB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 Just now, CBaron said: Cold, wet, mud, doesn't sound fun. -CJB Which is why I bailing from work at noon to get in a ride today. The rest of the weekend looks shot for a ride. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 3 minutes ago, CBaron said: Not 100% sure, but unless AntonioGG's strava is "by request only", anyone should be able to view his route, subscription or not. -CJB This is what I see when going to that link. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fontarin Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I grabbed his route and uploaded it to ride with GPS. Can you see this?  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29167075 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, fontarin said: I grabbed his route and uploaded it to ride with GPS. Can you see this?  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29167075 Yes! Thanks. My first guess was the route that shows. If conditions look good that seems a more fun route than riding the road all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Sorry about that. Â Strava changed privacy settings. Â My default now is followers only for when I ride unmentionables. Â I've made my ride public now. Â This was the worst spot for sticky mud. Â From when you turn off Grey's Hwy, until the first left hand hairpin. Â I walked this climb on every lap. Â Not worth the energy for me since I was SS, but Johnnymotox rode this 22x in 22 hours in his SS. Â The good thing is that after some sticky mud, in Karaway, you got to go through the puddle so you rinse off the mud. Â You know in that section where a little ladder bridge skinny has been built but has fallen apart? That was all 3" of water. Â It still sounded awful, but I somehow didn't have to replace anything but the bottom bracket. Â This was the worst part of the trail as far as non-sticky mud. Â Basically the stuff close to the fence line, and before and after that. (fofenique?): Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) It was a perfect day for a ride. The trails were 99% Hero Dirt where the tread leaves its imprint and nothing sticks to the tire, temp was air conditioned, overcast sky distributed light equally, and I had the place to myself. There were three places other than creek crossings with standing water. One on Karaway, one on Frontal Lobotomy, and one on Longhorn Loop. There were plenty of tracks through them as I think these may have been part of the EE last weekend. Here's a photo of the bike after the ride. Afterwards I downed a Modelo Especial and loaded up. Just as I started the engine sprinkles of rain began landing on the windshield. Perfect timing. Â Edited January 12, 2019 by Ridenfool 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, AntonioGG said: his was the worst part of the trail as far as non-sticky mud. Â Basically the stuff close to the fence line, and before and after that. (fofenique?): Â Â That's Super Secret Switchback. The section that turned me around last time out because of the high clay content. When wet it is just slippery, and as it dries it becomes some sort of epoxy. Edited January 11, 2019 by Ridenfool 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throet Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 14 hours ago, Ridenfool said: The trails were 99% Hero Dirt where the tread leaves its imprint and nothing sticks to the tire, temp was air conditioned, overcast sky distributed light equally, and I had the place to myself. And no Killer Bee swarms! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 I think of them every time I ride past the Y-Knot turn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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