pics, bike, goats, dog... all of it awesome! Thanks for sharing. --Andy Portland, OR
On Monday, July 9, 2012 12:54:21 AM UTC-7, stonehog wrote: > > I have been waiting for the opportunity to get the Hunqapillar into the > mountains for a ride. My wife and daughter went to MN to see family, so I > had a few days to get out of dodge. I wanted to do some sort of S24X, but > it was out of the question as I have a dog that isn't one to run alongside > me (first squirrel that shows up starts wild goose chase). I figured I > would drive up to an old favorite haunt of some 10 years ago, and bike > around the area. It seemed like a good time and place to get lost. The > good part is that I would not have to fight the crowds at the campgrounds. > This place is in the back country in the Central Cascades. > > The first night was just spent setting up camp, and concluded with a short > bike ride down to discover the old road was overgrown. After breakfast the > next day, I did a 10 mile out and back to a rock formation that was north > of my camp. I had seen goats up there in the past (white specks in > binoculars), and I wasn't really sure I would get all the way up there. > After exploring a few dead-ends, I really started climbing. It was > probably 85, so the shady spots on the ride were nice! There were quite a > few overlooks where I had great views of Mt. Rainier to the south, and the > North/Central Cascades to the north. When I reached the end of the trail, > I figured I was only a short hop to the top, so I left the bike, and > started hoofing it up. I surprised (myself and them) a herd of mountain > goats that were lounging on the rocks. Coolest thing ever - even saw a kid > in the group! The ride back down was a trip! The Marathon Duremes worked > like a champ at hanging on to the gravel roads at 15-30mph, and the > Hunqapillar was smooth as silk. The front is at about 20psi, and the back > at 35ish. The only rough parts were the washboard sections on the main > road. My arms got a workout hanging on. No problems going up-hill with > the balanced load. I've never had the bike try to wander off trail. I may > go back to a triple crank if I do more of these rides. Those Cascade > grades are steep! The 32 front, 36 rear combo got me up the worst of it, > though. > > That night, after charging my phone, I realized I had drained my truck > battery. I had accidentally left the lights on. After the initial panic > of being in the middle of nowhere, I called an old friend who was about the > only person in Seattle who knew how to get where I was. I told him to come > up and get me if I didn't call him by 4pm the next night. Sunday morning, > I rode down from my camp to the main road on the alternate route. This > road had really become overgrown in the past 10 years, and was barely > passable on bike. I had to walk 2 sections through alder tunnels that were > growing over the road from both sides. Amazing how quick nature takes > over! The amazing thing was how this bike just barreled through the brush, > though. I took a few branches at speed on upper and lower wheel, and the > bike just blew through with nary a hiccup. Solid! > > Within 5 minutes of getting to the road, I flagged down a pickup, > explained my predicament, and asked if they could give me a jump start. > Long story short - they did. Lucky too. This was the only other car I > saw on that road the rest of the day. Yikes! > > Pics of record: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAwmxY7 > > Brian Hanson (and tired Brittany Spaniel, Cupcake) > Seattle, WA > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/6wChG_AFWiMJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
