Yes.

Wherever there's parking down there. Look for a big green titan, an older guy by a minivan or that guy from Reno 911 by a Chevy (Tahoe?) SUV of some kind.

 

So today ended up being interesting. Cronan Ranch looks like a cool place to ride, though we only got to ride a half mile of it (more on that in a minute). The drive out was fun - I took Salmon Falls Rd. to 49 and got to pick on a Lexus IS300 .

So for the ride. I parked at Cronan Ranch and listened to some older women talk about a poker weekend in July, which devolved in to **** sex jokes, before they all took off for home. I looked around, it looked like a neat park to ride in. It's a lot like Hidden Falls in that it's got a bunch of short (<1 mile - 1.5 mile) trails all over the place. It looks like this place might have a lot more climbing than Hidden Falls though. I couldn't tell you because:

Pozzi's chain snapped (the link came off the riveted end of the pins oops) at .4 miles and ended our ride.



Thankfully it was all downhill back to the cars and that was pretty fun.



Pozzi headed home, and I was doing the same, but I decided that since I drove all the way up there, I was gonna ride. I decided to do Clementine Loop. There was a motorcycle accident on 49 between Cool and Confluence though. Apparently the rider wiped out in a corner, then slid in to oncoming traffic. He was concious, but was being life flighted. They landed the chopper at the confluence, creating this jam:



So I parked at the Western States trail parking lot, and rode down from there. It was fun passing all the traffic .

Trails were pretty dry today, only a little wet on the trail between the parking lot on clmentine road (at connector trail) and the confluence trail. Some on clementine trail too, but it was like one small puddle, pretty minor.



Some definite rock slides on confluence though.



Speaking of confluence, let me tell you about the fun I had. I was kicking butt today. I was climbing fast, I was descending with tons of control, tons of speed, the bike felt great, I felt great. It was awesome.

Then I came upon the jump (this pic from two weeks ago).



I went in a little hot. Not intentionally, I was just riding in, and I felt good, and I was going a bit fast. I jumped high and far, and basically landed in the small tree and brush area there at the far left of the frame.

The damage. I need a new helmet. I can't move my left arm too well and it's pretty swolen in the shoulder area (I may be going to the doctor tomorrow if it's still as painful as it is now) and I got quite a few cuts.





My shoulder:



I got a huge bruise on my forehead from the impact too. The worst part about hitting my head wasn't pain (though it did hurt), rather that it squished the head pad and shot all the sweat in the pad out in to my glasses. That was gross.



The impact also messed up my rear brakes - when I got home I had to re-center the pads because they were dragging on the wheel. That sure made climbing to the western states parking lot fun

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to ride tomorrow. My left arm is weaker than before the accident, and it hurts to pull up on the bike (like when I lift the front wheel over an obstacle). I'll let you dudes know in the morning.

All pics: 28 Images

 

Dude!!!! You're way too out of control there Matt! Full suspension and more travel you will enjoy my friend, yes.

Glad you’re not totally out of commission. I just picked up a Giro Xen yesterday at Mike’s! I’m very happy with the style, weight, and wicking material in the helmet.

 

Nice! I just went and got a Specialized Air-8. Looks almost the same as my old helmet, just without all the damage and it has better ventilation. I'm not going to ride tomorrow unfortunately - my arm is getting worse

 

Ouch.

I hope it heals up quickly. At least the bike damage was minimal.

 

Ouch,

Sorry to hear that.

Yea I also just picked up a Specialized Air 8 too last week. Great helmet for $60. (Got the Red and Silver).

There is absolutely no way I will be taking those trails at the speed you did (Unless my brakes completely fail, that is). I have a XC bike (96 Specialized Ground Control A1 Comp) It has approx. 3-4 inches in the front and maybe 1" in the rear. I can't even imagine the impact I would feel if I took that jump at 1/4th the height your picture shows. I would probably grow 2" in my inseam if I tried.

Hope your scrapes and bruises are just that & nothing more. I can also relate with how Accident injuries feel like. (My backs still hurts from one over 2 yrs ago).

Hope to see ya next week.

Cheers

Ed

 

Thanks, dudes. I went out and bought the new helmet hoping I could still ride tomorrow. But when I was trying to change so I could go downtown to Mike's, I had to get help with putting my shirt on . My arm is pretty bad

New hotness helmet though:

 

That jump is tricky because the lip at the top can really throw you off if you hit it wrong. I think the pic above is the cleanest I've ever jumped that, every other time has me flying way up in the air with a look of "OH @*#$#@#@!" on my face hoping for a soft landing. Today the soft landing never came.

And no excuses about limited rear travel, I ride a hard tail!

Oh, guys, watch out tomorrow on Confluence - there were a TON of hikers on that trail today. I was cooking down that fireroad section (>25mph) and rounded a corner to a trail full of (now scared to death) hikers. I stopped with ease, but it could have sucked. Also passed some young kids (they were probably 18, I hate that that is young to me now) on the trail in one of the really tight, rocky sections. They were kind enough to not hardly move, so I got to buzz the cute girls with my pedal as I owned cleaned the section

 

Glad to hear you're ok. I wouldn't ride tomorrow. Give your shoulder some rest. You'll need it. Ice is your friend.

 

Hey Sonic...Hope you mend up real nice like!

I will try to join you all next week. I'm trying to get my Jeep ready for Moab and I have a lot to do so this weekend is being spent in gear oil and busted knuckles.

 

Alright, I wont use rear travel for an excuse. I'm just used to jumping with a vehicle that has plush suspension, mainly my quad.

I hate doing this....but I may not make it tomorrow (& not because I am sore). It all depends on if I can get most of my homework done tonight. I was expecting to have completed much of it today, but the statistics assignments are turning out to be time consuming. Trust me, I would rather be riding tomorrow then stuck at this desk doing statistic and drafting problems all day. But when each semester costs over $1600, I got to be realistic.

I'll let you know early tomorrow morning (before you take off) if I can make it or not.....but its not looking promising. I don't want to seem being a flake.

Talk to you tomorrow....I got to get to work.

Ed

 

Just come on out next weekend - we'll be out riding again.

 

I know how you feel. I'm going to be spending tomorrow doing homework. I'm pissed though - I had planned to do my hw tomorrow night after the ride, then get in a nice road ride on Monday and do any remaining homework in the afternoon. I'll still get my homework done but I would have liked to get in a few more miles on the bike, and I haven't ridden with these guys for two weeks

 

Yea, I'm definately not going to make it today. Was up till 1:30am last night still working on the stuff....yuck. I should have a lighter load this week (instructors don't give much homework right after midterms, go figure), so there should be no excuse...I mean reason for me not showing up next weekend, ready to ride.

See you then.

Ed

 

Went to the Dr. today. No breaks :wiggle:. She said I could probably ride next week . How was today's ride?