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07-09-08, 09:52 AM
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of breaking my leg last year riding the Hole In The Ground trail in Truckee, CA. I made it my goal after the break to ride that trail again on the one year date. I did it :D :D
The ride almost didn't happen though, due to the smoke over Northern California. One of the guys riding with us has a place up in Tahoe though, so he scouted the smoke situation and researched with the locals what the smoke pattern had been. The reports were clear mornings with increased smokiness starting around 12pm or so. Excellent.
Here's the details on the trail:
The route of the trail from my Garmin:
http://www.turbocheese.net/hosted1/hitg-sat.jpg
Elevation profile:
http://www.turbocheese.net/hosted1/hitg-profile.jpg
To give an idea of the smoke we've been dealing with, here's what it's like in Sacramento where I live as seen through my dirty, cracked windshield. ugh..
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03706.jpg
Loving getting out of that.
Reminding me to stay focused:
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03710.jpg
This jeep road leads to the trail head. The trail head is just under a mile away.
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03712.jpg
The trail head sign. Here we met a hiker who had just run in to a couple who was hiking the PCT from Mexico to Canada. Pretty darn impressive.
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03717.jpg
The ride starts with a pretty good climb. What makes the climb truly hard is the elevation. I think my house sits at 18 ft above sea level, so sucking air at 7000 ft is a challenge, but I made it to the top without any issue, well, except for the fact that I have a bush for legs:
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03725.jpg
The ride almost didn't happen though, due to the smoke over Northern California. One of the guys riding with us has a place up in Tahoe though, so he scouted the smoke situation and researched with the locals what the smoke pattern had been. The reports were clear mornings with increased smokiness starting around 12pm or so. Excellent.
Here's the details on the trail:
The route of the trail from my Garmin:
http://www.turbocheese.net/hosted1/hitg-sat.jpg
Elevation profile:
http://www.turbocheese.net/hosted1/hitg-profile.jpg
To give an idea of the smoke we've been dealing with, here's what it's like in Sacramento where I live as seen through my dirty, cracked windshield. ugh..
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03706.jpg
Loving getting out of that.
Reminding me to stay focused:
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03710.jpg
This jeep road leads to the trail head. The trail head is just under a mile away.
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03712.jpg
The trail head sign. Here we met a hiker who had just run in to a couple who was hiking the PCT from Mexico to Canada. Pretty darn impressive.
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03717.jpg
The ride starts with a pretty good climb. What makes the climb truly hard is the elevation. I think my house sits at 18 ft above sea level, so sucking air at 7000 ft is a challenge, but I made it to the top without any issue, well, except for the fact that I have a bush for legs:
http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/mtb-hitg-782008/images/dsc03725.jpg