Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - MTB ride with a hamfisted ending (warning graphic!)

Yesterday I rode another one of my old favorites, the Salmon Falls Trail in El Dorado County, CA. This was only my second real mtb ride in 15 years. The first one was in Auburn last weekend (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/796892-MTB-Fun%21-First-MTB-ride-in-15-years-on-new-bike-%28pics-amp-video%29).

This trail seemed more difficult than the ones I did in Auburn, due to how technical it is. I intended to climb the 2 mile long Flagstaff Hill, but I overshot the trail leading to it.

On the way out I saw people walking and resting on a climb, so I knew this would be a good climb on the way back. Sure enough, it made me live up to my username! :D I made it all the way up without walking or resting. I did pick a wrong line and stall out once, but I restarted and continued on.

I saw another cyclist with a GoPro on his helmet. He was riding with a friend. They noticed my chest-mounted GoPro and that sparked a good conversation. One of the guys was riding a hybrid with 700x35c tires! :eek:

On the way back I saw a lot of dog walkers and petted a few dogs. Then the hamfist of the day occurred when I attempted to descend the most ridiculously technical section of trail I've ever encountered. It was a slow-speed crash too. Yes, it was caught on video! :D

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/149250811

Raw footage, so my standard heavy breathing on climbs audio warning applies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbdq1zN7Bz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbdq1zN7Bz4

Sign I should have heeded, at least on the descent. I had no problem cleaning this climb, but the descent was another story!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7181/6868141967_0ed2a46ff2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868141967/)
caution sign on Salmon Falls Trail technical section (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868141967/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

The section I crashed on
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7178/6868142365_5716bcf5c0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142365/)
extremely technical section of Salmon Falls Trail (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142365/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

The aftermath. It wasn't as bad as it looks, just a few scrapes.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7065/6868142497_4d03e748fd.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142497/)
mountain bike crash aftermath 2-12-12 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142497/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

After cleaning up
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7048/6868142593_a914ed09a3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142593/)
mountain bike crash aftermath 2-12-12 (cleaned up) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142593/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

View of American River from near the above technical section
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6868142183_cb3b7f811e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142183/)
view of American River from Salmon Falls Trail (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6868142183/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

That was either what happens when you take the wrong line

OR

What happens when you don't pay attention to the signs, and try to do more than you should.

Me I am usually in the second group, as I don't care what I can or can't do. I want to learn to do tomorrow, what I can't do today...

I think like you! :D Since I honestly can't remember if I used to ride that section or walk it, I figured I'd ride it.

The guy near the end of the video who cleans that section shows us how it's done! :thumb: I need to study his technique, or walk that section.

Ouch!!

Nice, some of that ride looks pretty harsh...how did your arms/shoulders feel afterwards

Shoulders are fine. Slight scrapes on my left arm, no blood. It's bruised though, as I found out the hard way last night when I tried to lean on it while laying down. YEOWCH!

Bike has a scuff on the left side bar end, but looks fine otherwise. I will inspect it when I lube the chain, which needs to be done after every mtb ride. Road cycling only requires it every few weeks.

Looks like a fun place to ride, thanks for the vid!

You're welcome. :) Hopefully someday I can post a video of me cleaning that section.

You're welcome. :) Hopefully someday I can post a video of me cleaning that section.

Will that be in a fench maid's outfit? ;)

:p

I know, mtb slang is rather odd. There's been some new words added in the past 15-20 years. "Gnar" is one that comes to mind. I don't remember hearing that back in 1992.

Yes, thanks for the video.

Looks like a fun ride. It also looks like falling to your left is a far better plan than falling to the right might be. So when are going back to try it again ??? . From reading your posts I suspect that 100 yards has just become a personal challenge. :)

The old adage for mountain biking is, " If you didn't get bloody during your mountain bike ride, you weren't riding hard enough". In this case, you were riding plenty hard enough!:thumb:

Nice video, but where is the graphic part? When I crashed on my MTB, I was dong about 30 (both times). I'd have to say that even the language was faaaaar more graphic. :p I went tumbling and the recorded stayed on capturing the tumble and the language. I should have kept it.

But I only bled once.:D Second time was a separated shoulder. :mad:

To Ken_onabike: It will definitely be a personal challenge, as long as I don't chicken out right before the descent! :D That's why I need to study the technique of the guy who cleaned it near the end of the video. Thumbs-up to him for a job well done! :thumb:

Hill-Pumper (love that username!): I have heard that saying too. I wonder if that's part of what people mean by "gnarly"?

I really enjoy the technical stuff, which might be another meaning of "gnarly", but I'm way behind on current mtb slanguage. :p

Mr. Beanz. Ouch! I agree, you should have kept the footage. It might have become your most popular vid! :D

I had to give people a heads-up because of the blood. Some people are very squeamish. Like with my raw footage, I think it's a good idea to warn people so they don't click on something they may not like.

I had to give people a heads-up because of the blood. Some people are very squeamish. Like with my raw footage, I think it's a good idea to warn people so they don't click on something they may not like.

I know, I was just conversatin'.:D...Good thing I didn't have ac amera the first time I crashed. Over the bars into a body slam. If I had a camera in the rear pocket at the time, I'm thinking broken bone somewhere.:eek:

Yikes! Good thing you didn't!

My mother likes to watch my videos. She freaked out watching the last one because of the technical sections and the descent speeds, which look faster with the chest-mounted cam than with the helmet mount.

I'm dreading the email I'm gonna get after she sees this vid! :p :D

Hahahaha! I told my Mom that when we ride GMR we ride down real slow to be safe. She saw my GMR Thunderstruck video and freaked.:D

I thought you said you ride down slow? I do, much slower than I used to.:p

I love that Thunderstruck video! Glad you still have it! ;)

My mom hasn't seen that 50 mph Beatty Drive descent from last February, thank God! :D:p

I don't descend really slow, but I'm not reckless either.

I told my father about Mom's freaked-out email and he laughed. I love his sense of humor! :D

Mr. Beanz & freighttraininguphill

I would really like to see those downhill videos if you could find me a link please...

THANK YOU BOTH

Mr. Beanz & freighttraininguphill

I would really like to see those downhill videos if you could find me a link please...

THANK YOU BOTH

If you are talking about my Thunderstruck video, it's a roadie vid not an MTB but here it is anyways. :D My MTB crash video was deleted a long time ago.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6jBSRAO4qY

If you are talking about my Thunderstruck video, it's a roadie vid not an MTB but here it is anyways. :D My MTB crash video was deleted a long time ago.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6jBSRAO4qY

That was exactly what I wanted to see thank you.

How fast were you going? For me the fastest I've done downhill is just under 45mph (I wanna hit 50).

Yikes -your braver than I. iwould be totally paranoid of going over the edge. Then again, I pull my brakes on road descents over 20 mph - cant break the fear factor. ;)

Mr. Beanz & freighttraininguphill

I would really like to see those downhill videos if you could find me a link please...

THANK YOU BOTH
Mine is also a road descent. Short and sweet, but fast! Enjoy! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQ6Jk6aNic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQ6Jk6aNic

Do they make cameras and bike computers that will talk to each other? It would be fun to see a little speed indication in the corner. :thumb:

Ask and ye shall receive! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkdeSSTY0QE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkdeSSTY0QE

I used software called DashWare (http://www.dashware.net/) to sync the data from my Garmin to the video.

Looks more hamburger kneed, then ham fisted. :P

Beautiful

That was exactly what I wanted to see thank you.

How fast were you going? For me the fastest I've done downhill is just under 45mph (I wanna hit 50).

On GMR (video) I've only hit 45 on the straights. But mostly switchbacks in the video shown so maybe 35'ish.

On my single I've hit 46 and on the tandem 56 mph!:eek: 45 is too fast with Gina on the back.:D...Not actually very scary but too many "what if" thoughts.

45 is too fast with Gina on the back.:D...Not actually very scary but too many "what if" thoughts.
The "what if" thoughts are what keep me from repeating my 50 mph ride down Beatty, and what keep my mtb descent speeds in check.

The 29.5 mph you see for a maximum speed on the Garmin Connect page in my OP was either on the short road descent to the trailhead, or the smooth, wide-open fire road descent near the turnaround point in the ride.

The "what if" thoughts are what keep me from repeating my 50 mph ride down Beatty, and what keep my mtb descent speeds in check.

The 29.5 mph you see for a maximum speed on the Garmin Connect page in my OP was either on the short road descent to the trailhead, or the smooth, wide-open fire road descent near the turnaround point in the ride.

What if???
What if???

What if I fell at 30 mph?
What if I fall at 30 mph and get hit by a car ( they come real close to me here, I can reach out and touch quite a few)? :twitchy:

What if I fell at 60 mph?
What if I fall at 60 mph, and get hit by a car ( at this speed they should have more time to react).

To me I'd rather fall at 60, and get hit by a car, than at 30 ( less chance I survive at 60). :eek: I'd rather be dead, than have soemone (maybe) take care of me for the rest of my life.

I will however admitt that the first time I go down a good hill, I keep my speed in check. Once I know how good or bad the road is, then all bets are off. If its Good - Excelent I will try to go as fast as I can, and then some. If its Fair - Crap ( in New England that is pothole city) then I will go kind of slow (20-30 max).

Same here. If you watched that Monitor Pass descent video I posted in this thread, you will see that it is a wide-open, smooth road. The only reason I didn't hit 50 mph or more is because of the lack of high gears. I ended up coasting the whole time.

Did you see the Beatty 50 mph descent video I posted that you wanted to see?

Yes I did see the video, and I liked it.

At times it said you hit 60 mph. I do think you went fast, and into the high 50's, but like when I checked my smart phone (strava) with my truck, they tend to add more speed after 40mph [(or at least the strava did, as did my garmin gps, and a tom tom gps)(But 1 of the stationary radar trailers matched my speed to my speedometer)]. I think part is do to the slight delay of the signal from orbit (I'm not a scientist so I'm not 100% sure). I do however know that there is always a slight delay when sending a signal, be it nano-seconds, or minutes.

Make no mistake, I am saying you went fast, real fast, and faster than I have YET. I am just really saying I don't trust the gps nubers on any of these devices 100%.

Sorry it was your second vid with speeds of up to 60 mph... That road was beyond EXCELLENT. I would kiss the road gods asses for a road like that...

The GPS numbers are notoriously inaccurate at times due to satellite interference. I don't have the speed/cadence sensor because I use the Garmin on multiple bikes so it wouldn't be cost-effective to outfit all of them with the sensor.

On Monitor (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104518888) I hit 43.8 mph. Beatty (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69379436) was exactly 50 mph.

Both roads are about the most perfect pavement a road cyclist could ask for! :thumb:

I run a pos bell coputer on my front tire, and a cateye w/cadance on y rear tire. I also use strava in my back pocket...

Bell - was my first speedometer.

Cateye - more for the cadance, the speedometer is a plus.

Smart phone - So I can track my crap online. PLUS I is cheap, and will not spend hundreds on a garmin. First a carbon bike, then MAYBE a garmin.

Will that be in a french maid's outfit? ;)
Inquiring minds want to know.

I know the Garmin is expensive at $250, but I really like the percent grade, total ascent, total descent, and altitude readouts. Those are the perfect data fields for climbers! :D

Oh yeah, might I recommend:
http://www.sixsixone.com/media/store/product/2012_RAMPAGE_KNEE_SHIN.jpg
Looks like a fun, rocky ride!

Those look like they would make my legs too hot!

It was great fun! Here's some screen captures from the helmet-mounted ContourHD raw video files.

Climb just above the rocky section that I crashed on. This is on the way out.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/6877712701_57fa1ab944_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712701/)
climb just above Salmon Falls 'super gnarly' section (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712701/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Descent after the above climb
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7048/6877712747_7722fe318d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712747/)
descent just past Salmon Falls 'super gnarly' section (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712747/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Fallen tree over the trail (the 'low bridge' section of the video)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7055/6877712799_3052ab6257_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712799/)
fallen tree over Salmon Falls Trail (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712799/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Short steep technical section that caused some good grunting in the video when I cleaned it
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/6877712851_9dce0a745f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712851/)
short steep technical section on Salmon Falls Trail (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712851/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Very technical section that caused me to stall out and restart
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7048/6877712881_fe9fbc0157_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712881/)
Salmon Falls Trail technical section (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712881/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Bottom of steep sufferfest climb you see in the video. This is the one I saw people walking and resting on while I was descending it earlier in the ride.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6877712931_f162d1c50d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712931/)
bottom of Salmon Falls Trail steep climb, near Flagstaff Hill (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712931/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Middle of climb
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/6877712985_49c4495aa0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712985/)
middle of Salmon Falls Trail steep climb near Flagstaff Hill (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877712985/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Tree roots on the above climb. Picked the wrong line here, stalled, and restarted.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6877713031_872021de11_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713031/)
Salmon Falls Trail tree root section on steep climb near Flagstaff Hill (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713031/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Steepest part of the above climb. I really lived up to my username here!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/6877713101_093b08ceaf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713101/)
steepest part of Salmon Falls Trail climb near Flagstaff Hill (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713101/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Short steep technical section right after the "CAUTION WALK YOUR BIKE NEXT 100 YARDS" sign
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/6877713133_362cae0132_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713133/)
short steep technical section on Salmon Falls Trail after warning sign (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713133/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

"Super gnarly" section right before I crashed
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6877713191_dcee397ef2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713191/)
riding down Salmon Falls 'super gnarly' section right before crashing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76286317@N05/6877713191/) by freighttraininguphill (http://www.flickr.com/people/76286317@N05/), on Flickr

Ask and ye shall receive! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkdeSSTY0QE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkdeSSTY0QE

I used software called DashWare (http://www.dashware.net/) to sync the data from my Garmin to the video.

That's rad! Someday I hope to have the same confidence on descents. :thumb:

Thanks! :)

So far, no comments from my mother about this latest video. Whew! :p:D