The Ride
What a wonderful summer it has been. We went on an amazing mountain bike mountain bike ride through the Sequoia National Park. It was an grand trip, but began with the punishing drive. I had my mountain bike on the back of the car and gear all packed up the night before. I left work early Thursday and started the drive alone. My meet up time was set for 8pm where I was to meet with my friends on the mountain since I didnt know where exactly the campsite would be. I knew my window of opportunity was about 30 minutes. If I didnt make it in time, they would come back the next day to find me. This means if I was too late, I would end up sleeping in my car alone that night.
Turns out I made it through traffic and up the hill in time to unhook my bike, crack open a beer and mtn bike ride up and down a couple of little hills before dark and before my buddies would arrive. The fresh air was brilliant and it was nice to be away the city. My Santa Cruz Heckler was in tip top shape and ready to tear up some rails and free riding, fresh out of the shop. Friends arrived beers in hand and ready to show me where the campsite was.
Our mountain bike ride started early and we were ready with big packs stuffed with plenty of food and water. The first crank up the big hill was ridiculously long. We pedaled over 10 miles uphill, that took over 2hrs. Making it to the summit was awesome. We took a break and sipped some water from our stainless steel water bottles.
The next 8hrs was spent jamming up and down hills, over fallen logs, off huge hits and hucking over big rocks. We half a few good breaks in between stopping to eat lunch and have a smoke at the three sisters, what an glorious spot. The dirt was just right. Not too dry as to cause any dust and not too wet that our wheels would get stuck. There was a bit of ice still left on the ground from the spring melt. The temperature was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.
