Mountain Bike Ride Memorial Day weekend 2010

[BailOut]

Winter keeps hanging around and we've all been trapped indoors for a few days, so when the weather cleared and the latest snow melted I was ready to go!

I rode my favorite conditioning trails, the Whites Creek/Dry Pond/Thomas Creek loop at the base of Mount Rose near Reno, NV. It's a 6.25 mile ride with just over 1,000 vertical feet of climbing (from 6,000 to 7,000 feet).

I set out at about 9am and had a solid ride up to the Dry Pond. Here is a view of Mount Rose when winding up the Dry Pond Trail from the Whites Creek Trail:



When I reached the Dry Pond itself I came across this dead tree that is sinking into the ground:



It is named the Dry Pond because it only holds water for 2 to 8 weeks each year. This year it's doing quite well:



Here are some shots of my mountain bike, a 2008 Giant Yukon FX that has been modified with a Shimano drive train and Fox suspension as I wore out OEM components. It is quite dirty as there are many creek crossings in this region and it's been too cold to wash it for the last 2 rides:





At the beginning of the descent to the Thomas Creek Trail are 4 switchbacks (there are 3 switchbacks approaching the Dry Pond from the Whites Creek Trail). In road courses we teach bicyclists how to turn in 10 feet, and this is considered difficult. These switchbacks are on dirt, full of roots and rocks, and are about 8 feet wide on 4-7% grades:



This one always gives me the willies. You come in from the upper right from a high speed segment. I watched a rider go down here earlier this week:



Once home I took advantage of the warm weather and washed and lubricated my mountain bike:



Not a bad way to spend a solo Saturday morning in the spring.