One of my favorite things is to incorporate an off road riding area into a road ride. Inevitably, I run into "serious" MTBers who can't imagine dirt sans suspension. The Atlantis is occassionally mistaken for a cyclocross bike (w/ racks & bags?) but it was really hilarious on my old Panasonic road bike with 25 mm tires (it did have a triple tho).
"It's just a bike; it doesn't know what surface it's on." dougP On Jul 7, 1:46 pm, "Dave @ Rivendell" <[email protected]> wrote: > Funny how folks on hard-core downhill MTBs are dumbfounded by someone > riding uphill on a trail. > > On Jul 6, 12:32 pm, doug peterson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Spent the weekend in San Luis Obispo helping my Cal Poly student > > daughter set up a new apartment. While wife & daughter were busy > > shopping for all the basics (and then some), on Saturday I snuck away > > for a great ride on seriously mixed surfaces. From Monterey and 101, > > I took 101 north (yes, it's legal at that point) to Stagecoach Rd, > > easily found by the green bike route sign directing you to a tunnel > > under the freeway. Stageocoach is aptly named, following the old > > route up Cuesta Grade on the opposite side of the canyon from 101. > > Beautiful climb thru oak trees. Several parked cars at the bottom but > > only saw one cyclist (coming down) on the climb. At the top of Cuesta > > Grade, the route is paved but it's falling apart and so discourages > > motor vehicles. It continues to climb to a ridgeline, then rolls out > > west. 3 miles from Cuesta is the TV tower facility and it's got every > > type of antenna there is. The several maps I consulted did not agree > > what happened at the other end of the ridgeline but some hikers said > > they'd heard it was possible to get to Hwy 41 (connects Atascadero and > > Morro Bay). Since it was still early and I had plenty of food and > > water, it only seemed sensible to keep heading west. After that, a > > pickup truck with 3 MTBs in back passed me (what's wrong with that > > picture?) but I didn't see anyone else for a long while. The road is > > paved but not maintained, and follows the natural terrain so lots of > > short, steep climbs & descents keep the speed down. After a couple of > > hours I came to a second set of antennas and the pavement definitely > > ended as the road narrowed. It was mostly descending so it seemed to > > be heading the right way. Coming around one corner I came upon a huge > > rock slide blocking the road. Boulders the size of big chairs > > dictated careful portage over about 100'. Shortly after that I came > > to a trail branching off to the right (north) that was marked by the > > Forest Service. Just then a mountain biker appeared and asked how the > > heck I got there ON THAT (referring to my Atlantis!). Silly question, > > same way he got there, turning the pedals. When I told him my route > > and where I was going, he changed his tune and was amazed at the > > notion of riding your bike to & from the trailhead. Some people are > > easily impressed. Anyway, he was helpful in giving me directions off > > the mountain (several options at this point) and down to Alto Cerro > > campground. At that point, I was on Hwy 41 and had covered 18 miles > > from start. 41 west to Morro Bay, then 1 south back to SLO gave a > > total for the day of 42 miles in about 6 hours. Altogther a fun ride > > and much better than shopping for shelf paper. > > > dougP- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
