Well the weekend was finally upon me, and I’d already spent the requisite time properly breaking in my new bike locally, so it was time to head off to get in a real ride. Salmon Falls is a somewhat local trail, only about 15miles away, it doesn’t take terribly long to get to, though it does have some downsides when it comes to parking. Of course, stupid me, I spaced out and headed out for the ride arriving around 12:15, not smart considering the temp would rise to about 100degrees. But hey, I too like to live dangerously… or at least, stupidly.

I’d been to this trail twice before, once on my downhill singlespeed, which presented its own unique set of challenges even though I only rode in about 2.5mi on the trip for a 5 mile round tripper. The other time I brought my wife and dogs and we hiked in a ways, but we definitely didn’t go in more than I had previously ridden, so a good chunk of the ride would be a new experience to me. Water bottle full and locked into place I gave the bike a quick once over to make sure I hadn’t forgotten something stupid, you know, like left a derailleur bolt loose or something like that. And with little fanfare, I threw a leg over my trusty steed and headed down the trail.

Did I mention how much I love gears? Man they kick ass, I should have gone back to gears a long time ago. Some short climbing getting onto the trail brings you to the “wall of death” rock climb obstacle. Unfortunately I didn’t carry enough speed to go up it, but coming down it is a piece of cake, next time I guess. Anyway, the first mile or so is really pretty flat and mildly rolling, there is a short little descent followed by some short climbs, but mostly mildly rolling and flat terrain, and in fact I would say that right up until just before you’re three miles in, the trail is beginner level difficulty with some intermediate climbs and drops, but nothing crazy. The trail definitely has its share of really awesome views that much is for sure.

Pedaling along, keeping a nice momentum but not overexerting I was really enjoying the ride, mostly in isolation, but there were a few people I had passed. I counted 4 other mountain bikers, 2 hikers and a small group of guys trail running. Note that everyone was on their way out, while this moron was on his way in. Where’s the hammering self in head smiley when you need it? The temp wasn’t too bad, I mean it was really quite warm, but it wasn’t devastating heat or anything… yet. At a certain point the trail had an offshoot to the right, I want to say probably around 3.5miles in. To the left was more flat rolling, to the right was something of a climb. I figured on the climb and pointed up, and after some serious steepness when I reached the top I felt like my head was going to explode between the heat and climbing. I know I probably wasted more of my water bottle on my head than I should have, but I really needed it.

Anyway, the drop after that was nice and it put me back down almost at water level, where I continued to follow the trail through as it undulated in and around the trees and rocks, weaving a glorious singletrack rollercoaster just begging to be railed. It took some work since it wasn’t all downhill and had short little climbs, but getting on the pedals and powering through it made for one hell of a fun run. Eventually however it started up a hill and when I looked down I had to make the call that I was really pretty much hitting my limit as it was and decided I better turn back while I still had enough juice to make it out on my own power.

There was some serious suffering coming back up some of the more exposed sections of the trail now that the afternoon sun was baking down on me in full effect. I just gritted my teeth, sucked down some of the last of my water and kept pushing. Suffering one exposed hill after another (though there was one really bad section where it was open field on either side, I felt like I was literally in a convection oven, I guess technically I was), I had spent plenty of time out there running with the devil, and I was more than just elated when I finally made my way back off the trail and to my truck where a bottle of Gatorade was waiting for me in my ice filled cooler. Man I suffered on the way out, the heat really took a toll on me and getting some really cold fluids in me and rubbing ice on my neck and face helped in a huge way.

So I had my share of fun today, and an equal share of suffering, but I can’t say that I have any complaints; it is a good kind of suffering. But note to self, start the trail at 7am, not 12pm next time. K thanks bye.

-unrealtrip

Click here for the ride details on garmin connect

