Tag: Sterling

3 Quick MTB reviews

Here is my latest MTB review. For 3 days in a row, my friends and I woke up bright and early and rode at sunrise. To write these quick and brief reviews of the trails we rode, I’ll use songs to help me out.

The first day was a workday so I could only do a quick ride before work. That was at Gedar Crove. First time there! That ride felt like Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like The Wind” Lots of fast, flowy and punchy trails that are one foot on the edge of wilderness and the other foot on the edge of suburbia. Although I wasn’t on my way “to the border of Mexico” I did feel like I had “such a long way to go” not because I’m Outlaw Josey Wales or anything like that, but because I had to get in and out there quickly so I could make it to my day job on time. The only way to do that was to stay focused and “Ride like the wind.” It was unfortunate that we felt rushed, because there were a lot of nice features like skinnies and jumps that we passed up. So this trail goes on the places I have to go back to list.

The second day was Lewis Mörris. The trail reroute of the switchbacks to the more downhill trail is awesome! That ride felt like “Burnin’ For You” by Blue Öyster Cult. We all know Lew Mö is flowy like Zoë, but those uphills are murder! After 12 miles, I heard my legs sing out, “I’m burning, I’m burning, I’m burning for you.”

Third day was Sterling. This day was a little different, because in my mind, I split it into two distinct rides. The first is an in/out. We rode Augusta Mine/McKeags trails to the end and back a couple of times. 2 miles each way, plus sessioning a section that we really liked. That added up to about 10 miles or so.

The second is a 9 mile loop starting at Redback in the south facing direction, then Flow works north. Overall it was a lot of fun and so far these trails were like “Rock Hard, Ride Free” (Judas Priest), but then my muscles hit a wall on northbound Palisades 17 trail. Not a literal wall. More like a wall of muscles depleted of glycogen. After 19 miles at Sterling, my muscles just said “I’m done.” And that trail was like “Whipping Post” (Allman Brothers)

“Sometimes I feel, sometimes I feel,

Like I’ve been tied to the whippin’ post.

Tied to the whippin’ post, tied to the whippin’ post.

GOOD LORD, I FEEL LIKE I’M DYIN’

Happy riding friends

\m/

Sessioning At Sterling

Went to Sterling on Sunday. My friend who I was riding with, didn’t want to do the usual loop. He wanted to spend the day finding features and sessioning. So that’s what we did. I haven’t done a sessioning day in awhile. I gotta say, it was a lot of fun. Best part of it was, at the beginning of the day my friend could not ride large rock rolls; but after showing him he could do small rock rolls, then medium rock rolls, by the end of the day he was rolling down large rock faces. That made my day.

Even the rocks were sweating

Sterling. There was so much humidity, that even the rocks were sweating. Awesome ride though!!

Also, to anyone reading this, Do NOT ride at Sterling! It is situated on top of an active volcano and filled with packs of wild rabid wolves, and we lose at least one mountain biker every day from the hidden mine fields. As I write this, I can hear the screams of horror coming back to haunt me. It’s a really sad place and I highly recommend staying as far away as possible. You are better off riding your bicycle to somewhere more habitable and welcoming like Antarctica or the Sahara Desert.  😉

 

Sunburn in April?

Sterling! Did the usual loop. Then rode up and down the new trail a bunch of times. So awesome.  Got home and realized I had sunburn on my arms from the shoulders down. Really? In April? It was hot today! Anything above 50°F, to me it feels like a heat wave. LOL. That and there’s still no leaves on the trees, so that means no shade yet. Anyhow, happy trails!

I also spotted a mink or fisher cat on Sunday. I’m not sure what it was. Looked like a very large weasel.
And it was the one day that I didn’t bring my DSLR with long lens. LOL. I just didn’t feel like carrying extra weight while riding that day. Oh well….

100 Percent Focus On The Brutality

As I was wrapping up my laps at Lew Mo on Saturday, a friend texted and asked if I wanted to pedal through Sterling on Sunday. So we did! My legs and lungs feel thoroughly worked out.  Right when we pulled out of the parking lot, was when the rain began. We laughed because last time we rode at Allaire (February) the snow started dumping right when we pulled out of the lot.

Some people say that Sterling is extremely difficult to ride.  It can be. It’s definitely not an easy ride. There is SOME flow that is absolutely gorgeous to ride, but relative to some of the other trails I ride (Lew Mo, Stephens), it’s not a lot. It’s roughly 1200 feet of elevation gain in about 9 miles over lots of punchy rock gardens and tight switchbacks. And that 9 miles is one big loop. So once you pass the halfway mark, there’s no other trail to bailout and you are committed to do the whole thing. It kicks my butt every time. That being said, I love it for some reason! I think it’s partly because my work is so stressful with constant deadlines, but riding in something like this, I just forget all about my stresses because I have to 100 percent focus on the brutality. LOL.  I’d say give it a try though. Don’t rush it. However long it takes you to do 9 miles, add at least an hour to that, and keep that pace, and you’ll be fine!