Biking for Fun and D'OH!
I was on a mission today. Remember that whole thing from yesterday where I wanted to go to Skyline Wilderness Park but went to SF instead?
Well, today was my big chance.
I got all geared up, threw the bike in the trunk of the car, and took off for Napa. Traffic was clear, and it didn't take long to get up there, arriving about 2:00 in the afternoon.
I'd heard it was a couple bucks more to park in the lot, so instead I parked the car on the roadside on nearby aptly-named Penny Ln., reassembled the bike, and rode 0.1 km to the gate. It was $4 to get in.
After a brief chat with the nice man in the gatehouse to get a map and information, I took off down the main dirt and gravel road, Lake Marie Road, headed for higher ground.
I passed a group of young kids pushing their BMX and mountain bikes up the hill, parents in tow. Looked like quite an expedition. I guess those uphills really do get easier with practice--I'm not an entirely old man yet!
Suddenly off to the right, I saw a mineshaft sunk into the hill! If you know me, you know what a fan of these things I am, so you won't be surprised to hear that I immediately threw my bike down at the side of the trail and decided to commence a full exploration of the tunnel. This was completed in short order, as the tunnel was only about 3 meters long.
The kids loved it, though. They were all shouting, "A cave! A cave!" Ah, youth.
I got back on and continued the climb as the trail turned southward
Sweating up a storm, I stopped at a place called Fig Tree. I did not see a fig tree anywhere, but that was apparently the name of this picnic area with a little bench and outhouse. The outhouse was guarded by a lizard and a fleet (well, at least two) of wasps.
The trail forked here, and I turned more sharply uphill toward where I knew was singletrack. This was a total climb-and-a-half, since I think I was going the opposite direction that most mountain bikers go. But I managed to get up there only getting off my bike once (although I would be hoofing it many times over the course of the day.)
Once it reached elevation, the trail turned southeast again and made an effort of following the hill's contour. Bursting out of the oaks at the top of the hill, suddenly I was very much reminded of Bidwell Park in Chico, much the same was the terrain and foliage. And the sun beat similarly down upon me.
Not for long! The trail plunged into a long grove of oak, and I found myself looking at the towering stone chimney of a ruined house from long ago. Bits of the foundation were visible there, too, overgrown and covered with moss. I wonder what the history of this place is?
From there, the trail narrowed, and plunged into a long grove of oak, with easy narrow twists and turns. Lots of fun! Presently, Lake Marie became visible through the trees on the left, 20 meters down the hill, but the trail continued along past it.
Crossing the feeder creek, I made note of a few turnoffs I wanted to investigate later, and then kept heading uphill, looking for the end of the park. It wasn't particularly steep or technical, so it didn't take long to get to the fence.
But there was a gate on it! Apparently beyond the fence lies Sonora Ridge Trail, which I'd never heard of. Looked bike-friendly (I later verified that it was), so I went on through. This led me on a very pleasant 2 km loop, across two bridges over the creek, and back to the starting point near the end of the park trail. This is the perfect loop to do once you get up there. As long as you don't mind the familiar (at least to Chico folk) stinging sensation of starthistle poking at your legs, anyway.
Having had done some exploration on the south side of the creek, it was time to head to the north side. I pedaled up Cahparral Trail with views down onto Lake Marie. This trail quickly steepened and cut two harsh switchbacks which were impossible for me to navigate uphill. Even downhill would have been tough, and a crash would have sent you sprawling down a steep starthistle-infested slope. I walked it past, and kept going.
Dropping back to lake level, I crossed the earthen dam and met up with the man-of-the-family I'd seen on the trail earlier. They had come up to fish, but apparently only one of the bikes made it up. (They took the rest back down to their cars.)
"Do they stock the lake?" I asked.
He watched as one of the girls grabbed some bait from the tacklebox and ran eagerly back to the shore.
"I don't know," he said with a smile.
Turning around, I crossed the dam again, and ran west on Marie Creek Trail. This was a mostly good fast trail with some obstacles (big rocks and wood) and steep drops and steps. I had lowered my seat earlier because this allows you to actually lower your butt behind the seat while the bike is going very steeply downhill. It's important to do that so that the center of gravity doesn't get too far forward and you do exactly what I'm about to tell you I did.
The trail dropped off some rocks, losing about 1 meter of elevation in the span of 1 meter. 45-degree slope. As I approached, I analyzed the best slope, and took it, not looking far enough ahead to the bottom... where a nice stone ridge awaited my front wheel. The front wheel planted, and my center of gravity was not far enough back to prevent the bike from pitching forward and dumping me over the handlebars onto the trail. This is what is known as an "endo". It's not something you really ever want to do. Lots of potential for scrapes and bruises, as well as broken wrists, fingers, arms, noses, and teeth.
Down I went. Fortunately the trail where I landed was dirt. And maybe all the pushups I've been doing paid off, because my chin never hit the ground, and my sunglasses which were folded into the neck of my shirt were not crushed. My wrists and arms survived intact.
In fact, the only damage was a deep bruise to my left palm (still hurts now, but it should be 90% tomorrow and 100% the next day), and a small scrape and blood blister on my right middle finger knuckle. The bike has some scrapes on it, too.
Deciding I was ok, I went to move the bike, but the back wheel was locked up, and the brake was jammed closed. Curses. Luckily, all that had happened was the wreck had jarred the back wheel out of place at the hub by about 1-2 mm, and that was pressing the brake pads up against the tire rubber. I flipped the bike over, reset the wheel, and everything seemed good to go.
So I went, but a little more gingerly and scaredy-cat than before. The palm bruise made it a little uncomfortable to grip the handlebars, too.
But anyway! The trail paralleled a mossy stone wall that ran through the oaks, which I found fascinating. Greg has told me stories about these "mystery walls" around the Bay Area that predate western inhabitants, and I wondered if this was one of them. But there's no way to really tell. It was probably associated in some way with the ruins of the house, spotted earlier.
Cutting through the stone wall was the other end of Rim Rock Trail. I'd seen the far end of it by Chapparal Trail, but it was too steep to climb, and hardly utilized. Lots of switchbacks. So I thought I'd try it from this way. It was easier, to be sure, but in the end, I decided, it was still too steep. It would be a great hike, though--I suspect the views from the top of Sugarloaf Peak (497 meters) would be spectacular!
Instead, I followed a sign to Fig Tree which put me back to the picnic area I'd stopped at earlier in the day. I ate a PBJ, swapped out water bottles, and watched equestrians go by as I ate.
Rested, I turned back to follow Manzanita Trail on the north side of the creek. Some climbing put me back up a hill where, having lost momentum, I was forced to push the bike past a couple more switchbacks by hand. The terrain was very unforgiving with lots of rock outcroppings and big rocks embedded in the trail. I definitely was subjecting my tires, rims, and pedals to significant impact abuse on this. And it was technically very very challenging for me to ride and I was dabbing all over the place. Guess I need more practice! This trail makes all of China Camp look tame!
When I did stop, I could take in some of the views of the surrounding territory, which were good from this dry trail, aptly overground with low manzanita scrub.
As the trail rounded a hill, it turned into another oak grove, and began switching back to lose some elevation. The switchbacks were tight and steep and I was in no mood to be challenged by them. (I'd already lept over the handlebars on a switchback on Marie Creek Trail before the endo, and I figured that was enough off-bike excitement for a day.)
The last switchback was wide enough for me to negotiate, satisfyingly.
It was all downhill from there, past the disc golf course, past the archery range, and back to the park entrance. I ate my other sandwich, got another water bottle fill for the drive home, and hit the road.
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