Wow. Wow. Wow! The plan was six days, but I needed to come out two days early because vertigo and scree (rocks that slip under your feet) do not play well together.
Wow. Things really seem to be getting dialed in in terms of gear and bike. The Albastache (vs Albatross) bars and 2.25" wide Smart Sams (vs 50mm Duremes) made climbing and descending the technical parts (which was most of it) far easier. I've honed down my gear such that everything weighs roughly 35 pounds, including water, hatchet, and firebox. For me, with brain injury and sensitivity to noise and scents, I try and avoid ATV's and their ilk. I failed to do this heading in (it's a popular ATV road to the trail head). Fortunately it was still early enough that it was lightish traffic and I made unmotorized single track fairly quickly. The climb up to the tundra was wonderful and the time on the tundra was stunning. Rain, fog, sleet, hail, with accidental storms of sunshine was the weather. When you have stunning, epic views, these weather system make for amazing beauty. Wow. Lots of LCG (lowest common gear). If the trail went up, it didn't mess around it went UP. Grant is right, bikers are biathletes. Grin. More time to admire the stunning alpine flowers going off like slow motion fireworks. Got to descend an old narrow gage rail bed, the line used to transport coal and supplies for gold mines. The ties were still down for much of it, though half filled in and round down, which made for a bouncy, fun ride! All in all a fantastic trip that pushed my boundaries, and the boundaries pushed back. Always good to know where those puppies are so I can push them more wisely next time. Grin. Getting to ride on the alpine tundra is an amazing blessing. Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32311885@N07/sets/72157645664039089/ With abandon, Patrick www.MindYourHeadCoop.org www.OurHolyConception.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
