It's not often that I have to alter ride plans due to weather. The New Year's Eve forecast was gloomy at best with more coming on New Year's Day. I scoured the local forecasts looking for a hole in the rain. Some buddies from the west side were going to ride the Black Canyon Trail, but had to cancel due to muddy conditions. Instead, they planned a ride around their local Estrella Mountain Ranch (EMR) trails.
At first I thought I may do a big loop over there checking out some more new-to-me dirt, but it was getting late and I hadn't really researched my route like I would've liked. So, I told Josh I'd join in on their ride since they were hoping to ride around 40 miles or so.
I mentioned that I had never been on the trails in
Estrella Mtn Regional Park and the other local guys, Henry & Rhino couldn't believe it. I had always heard the trails were rocky & just so-so. Only one way to find out. Ride 'em. Shawn was also joining in on the ride. We had never met, only emailed back & forth over the years about getting me onto one of his custom Ti bikes,
Tronix. I was all set to get the ball rolling on that when the Motobecane came along.
There had only been enough rain in the area to pack down the sand & dust. Most of the trails out here are rocky through & through, so they drain very well. We entered into the Regional Park and made a beeline for a normally avoided trail since it's primarily a wash. It was a slight uphill rip on this morning.
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The Sun tried to come out on a few occasions. |
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Top of the Homestead wash trail. |
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Henry grinding out the climb. |
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Layers upon layers of mountains back here. |
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Good crew for a spin: Rhino, Henry, Josh & Shawn. |
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