Timpanooke Loop

Woke up early Friday morning (early for me) to go mountain biking with Tasha Keyes. Tasha is one of the ladies I race against in the 35+ Division in the Icup races. Tasha's daughter and I have the same first name, which I of course think is cool. Tasha is a phenomenal rider and a great gal, so I was looking forward to riding with her. My biggest concern was I would hold her back. I always worry about this when riding with others, because I still have a lot to learn and my endurance is not quite what theirs is.

The ride was great. We had the trail for the most part to ourselves. The conditions at the first part of the trail were a little sketchy, not because of the trail, but because of the sun. As I was going down the hill I had a hard time seeing the trail because the sun would hit in my eye, and I would momentarily loose the trail. Luckily this was only for the first.5 mile and then it was great. The conditions were perfect for riding we were able to stay cool and not get too hot, and conditions of the trail, other than the 25 foot section motorcycles tore up was great. Tasha had some bike troubles and were could not figure out exactly what the problem was. I noticed a crack in her chain pulley, and it seemed to be feeding incorrectly onto here cassette, but my mechanical knowledge is very limited. I had one wipe out that was funny. towards the bottom of south fork before you have to cross the road the trail has very loose, soft dirt. This is doable, and then the trail becomes a tight rut that you must stay in perfectly. I did not and had a mild wipe out where I ended up doing the splits! (lol) Somehow my bike went out from under me and my left foot stayed on the pedal while my right foot stepped onto the ground. I laughed as soon as I was done. Lucky for me I am flexible. I have a few bruises and road rash from the wipe out, but it was definitely one to remember for the books. On the way down the Salamander Flats (the tail end of the loop) Tasha and I ran in to a group of guys riding the loop. There were about 9 to 12 riders all spread out along the trail climbing the hill right after the road. Some had made it to the top where it flattens a bit and others were still struggling to get there. I felt bad for them if they planned to do the entire loop, because they were dying in the first mile! I wonder if they made it??? If they did then hopefully they loved this trail as much as I do.