Saturday, 04 August 2007
Scattered clouds, 22-28C, breezy
A beautiful morning broke on our last riding day. The forecast was for clear weather for the next few days after the wet spell yesterday morning. We finished the bagels for breakfast, pretty much depleting the groceries we bought at the beginning of the week. Today was to be a medium length ride out North. According to the maps, it wouldn’t be a deathmarch like the Riverside-See Colours and Puke ride, or the Kill Me, Thrill Me-Green Lake Loop ride.
We headed North out of town the same as the Kill Me, Thrill Me. Turning into the Emerald Estates subdivision midway along Green Lake, we climbed the paved road to the gravel water tank access road. Following the gravel track upward, we passed the turnoff to the water tank, and continued straight between the car-blocking boulders to the trailhead. Shit Happens started as a cobbly gravel doubletrack, and following a log-over, it grew in and narrowed down to a singletrack. Climbing steadily, the trail ascended into the treeline, and skirted around behind the hill behind Emerald Estates. It was not easy, but was completely rideable. We passed two hidden glacial lakes. We could hear some people at the larger second lake, and their Shepherd dog came over to say hello. He went back to play in the lake, and we continued up the trail.
Ascending to the top of the granite dome over several switchbacks through the mossy forest, the trail rose to its highest point on a bald knob a little below the hill’s summit. We broke for bars here, sitting at a cluster of boulders conveniently shaped like stools and a table. The exit was down a narrow, rooty, rock stair-step chute bound by a rock face on the left and close-in trees to the right. It was quite entertaining – even worth going back up and trying several different lines down. From here on, the trail was downhill. It was smooth and fast, with occasional turns and log-overs.
We quickly arrived at the left turnoff to Big Kahuna. It would be easy to miss. The area below on the village-side of Emerald Estates was being excavated and cleared for construction, so the bike shop guy said that Anal Intruder, No Girlie Man, and the continuation of Shit Happens may have been disturbed or become discontinuous. Big Kahuna traversed the hill from South to North, eventually coming out onto the gravel water tank road. The trail weaved amongst the granite heads, skirting around some, climbing over others. As with the bare granite elsewhere in the area, the traction was outstanding. Midway through, we came upon a long steep slightly off-camber granite face. The trail went straight down across it diagonally. It was so entertaining, that Jeff and I rode back up the switchback workaround trail to do it again.
Continuing on, we entered the forest before climbing up onto a large granite escarpment. The trail snaked around the plateau, rising and descending at times, weaving between the small trees that managed to grow in the cracks in the granite. On a narrow stair-step descent between trees, I caught a shoulder and had the front tire stop against a block. I was balanced on the front tire at the edge of an endo. I checked nearby trees with the top of my helmet and my left shoulder, but still went forward over the bars. I leapfrogged clear over the bars and landed on my feet, but the bike went clattering down onto the square-cornered rocks, scraping it here and there.
After descending off the escarpment and climbing the next, we could see the watertank and the back of some of the Emerald Estates homes. The trail ended at the gravel road and we backtracked to the village. I was hungry, so when we came out at the golf course road, I suggested taking a side-trip up the stairs by RBC to get some yummy pies for a snack. There were no objections.
The pool area was crowded. The familiar Asian family was there, but also another group from a unit down the hall from us. It seemed that they were there renovating the unit or something. They had forgotten their key, so climbed the gate, prompting Jeff to get on them about that. They were loud and obnoxious, the adults shouting and spilling their Starbucks Frappachinos and the kids shouting and generally causing mayhem. The Asian kids gravitated toward us in the hot tub instead of the boisterous newcomers. Having enough therapy in the hot tub and enough of the noisy people, we went back upstairs and tore down the bikes and packed them up. The bike went back into the case quickly.
Dinner was at Tandoori Grill. Even with the snacky pies, we still ate a full dinner. We tried the Dal Maharani instead of the regular Chana Masala. It was good, but runny. We also got the Eggplant Bharta, Nan, Chicken Vindaloo, and Lamb Biryani. This time around we still had space for Mango Lassis! Again, it was around $100 CAD for everyone including tip. Back at the condo, I had my last beer and watched some TV.
D = 15.5-miles, Vavr = 8.1 mph, Vmax = 27.9 mph, T = 1-hour, 54-minutes
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