Halloween in Coe

ElHombre · 2 Weeks Ago

As I missed the Fall Circus last week and was getting Coe withdrawals, I needed to get my fix soon. So why not get it on Halloween, also the last day of daylight savings time in 2009? Plymmer (Roy) had an intriguing idea for a ride that sounded tempting so I headed out towards Hunting Hollow on this foggy Saturday morning...

...due to a false start (on the freeway I realized I forgot a bunch of essential stuff and had to go back to start) I showed up late and Roy was already on his way.

Recent reports on increased mountain lion activity turned out to be quite accurate. Even on the parking lot they could be easily spotted; this specimen (a young male?) displayed a strange attraction to a certain red Valiant...

My mountain bike manual says 'chasing Roy up hills is not recommended' so I decided on a different strategy and tried to anticipate his route (to Bear Mountain) and set out a (shorter) intercept course.

There's water again in these creeks... clear water.

Well that plan didn't work out that great; instead of staying the course I couldn't resist the siren's call of Middle Ridge. The payback for all this fun was called 'Poverty Flat'.

What's a Halloween ride without some skull and bones?

I felt pretty beat and not up for Bear Mountain at that point. So I took a break and decided to climb Willow Ridge trail instead. That sure didn't make me feel better.

Some of these climbs are real jawbreakers.

Is it spring already?

Eventually I did recover pretty well and later almost cleaned Serpentine (just a silly dab at the start). At that point, I felt real good, since I knew this was coming:

Middle Steer Ridge!

While enjoying the thrill ride down Middle Steer, I considered going up Jim Donnelly for a final run down Spike Jones / Timm... but after hike a biking the first few 100 yards with legs feeling like led and TahoeBC not being around to talk me further into this insanity, I turned around... it was all good.

On the parking lot, the red Valiant was still there as I expected. Roy was probably zipping down Dutch's at that time I figured, and had a while left to go.

It has been a great day out there, and I didn't think I would ever get a sunburn on Halloween...

Route and more pics.

bailout · 2 Weeks Ago

Nice shots! I was gonna try to make it out there yesterday as well but stuff happened. I love that 2nd photo! Thanks for the virtual Coe fix.

mudworm · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElHombre

I think you just cured my fear of mountain lions. Nice ride report. Thanks!

knobs · 2 Weeks Ago

Love the Valiant photo!

I was expecting something more on the lines of "The Legend of Sleepy Hunting Hollow". Plymmer! Look out behind you! Plymmer! Ahhhhhh....

bailout · 2 Weeks Ago

The hessian needs to be bike-mounted to have a chance of catching Roy.

plymmer · 2 Weeks Ago

Well,

I did manage to do Bear Mountain and Dutch's Trail in a day. And, I got a 10K out of it as well! It really wore me out and I could hardly walk afterwards. Sore legs and a sore back. But, hell, I felt very, very accomplished. And I cleaned Anza/Jackson, all the hills on Center Flats, all of Burra Burra Trail even with a tree down on it, and the bit up from Yellow Jacket Pond. Very nice out there on the last day of DST.

Oh, and thanks for the great mountain lion shot on my hood. Sorry you couldn't make it Dirk. It was really great on those trails.

Roy.

TahoeBC · 2 Weeks Ago

Both these rides ended pretty weak, Dirk should of headed up Jim Donnelly and Roy up Serpentine, you Guys need to step up your games a bit

plymmer · 2 Weeks Ago

Step up? It was getting dark. I've done Serpentine many, many times. I think my game speaks for itself. But maybe I should have done Middle Steer. I didn't really enjoy the Grizzly Gulch Trail in the dark as much as I did Middle Steer Ridge Trail. Ah, well. I did a 10K.

Roy.

tburger · 2 Weeks Ago

Awesome post. Thanks for the pics!

Fast Eddy · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by plymmer

Well,

I did manage to do Bear Mountain and Dutch's Trail in a day. ... I cleaned Anza/Jackson, all the hills on Center Flats, all of Burra Burra Trail even with a tree down on it, and the bit up from Yellow Jacket Pond.

Not Bear-fvcking-Mountain Rd?

Skyline35 · 2 Weeks Ago

Great composition...I wish I had thought of this one:

///Charlie

ElHombre · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyline35

Great composition...I wish I had thought of this one:

///Charlie

Thanks, though it still could be improved; if there would be someone around to ride (or pose on) that section...

China Hole looked like one big mirror:

knobs · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElHombre

Thanks, though it still could be improved; if there would be someone around to ride (or pose on) that section...

You mean like this?

ElHombre · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by knobs

You mean like this?

Exactly!