This day marks the beginning. Everything I've done in the last six months to organize The Rig Foundation in preparation for The First Journey seems irrelevant. A buddy of mine, Scott Williamson, and I pulled the bikes off of the garage racks for the first time in probably eight weeks today. I just spent an entire month upgrading the cranks and bottom bracket on my bike and then, once finished with that, I promptly got sick from some brutal fever/congestion/nausea virus. Thank you, Lynch!
Regardless of the circumstances, there we were, loading the bikes into the truck that has suddenly become The Rig. Scott was sporting a nice new Specialized padded seat with one of those cutouts in the back that keeps the pressure off of your choad. I think Williamson's fertile jewels need to be coddled. (I can't laugh too hard, cause I've got one of these seats, too!)
We left Santa Clara and drove the short distance (only 15-20 miles) to the Ohlone College entrance of the Mission Peak Regional Preserve. If you're driving through Fremont or Milpitas or are in the northeast part of San Jose, you will see Mission Peak as the hill that looks like someone scraped a huge portion of its front face off with a Bunyan-sized shovel.
We parked down on the main road below Ohlone and jammed up to the trailhead. Once you start climbing here, it doesn't let up at all until you reach the peak. I was definitely the anchor on the day's excursion. After essentially an eight week hiatus, I was puffing like a mother and had to stop to rest every 15 minutes. If Scott was getting impatient with the frequent rest sessions, he didn't show it.
All of the trails set aside for mountain biking at Mission Peak are on fire roads. We rolled by several detours that had some nice looking singletrak but all of it is off limits to bikers. All the way up to the top are rolling grassy hills with pockets of typical California drought-resistant vegetation. Very beautiful in its fashion.
About three miles up is a gate that leads to a hang glider launch. I didn't see any gliders that day but I have seen some circling the area before. I love this unique aspect of the Mission Peak open space area. The diverse ways in which this preserve is used adds to its value and brings more people who love it into the fold as protectors. Much of the area is also used for cattle grazing. Personally, I dislike riding and hiking through wilderness that is dotted with cows. They rut up the trails badly and things just don't seem very wild and pristine to me when domesticated animals are bumping around. I do appreciate the fact that ranching allows many open areas to stay undeveloped, however. It looks like there are some pros and cons to this issue. I will have to think about and evaluate it further.
The last spectacular portion of the trail leads up the rocky face of Mission Peak. The terrain is breathtaking and the view of the San Francisco area made the hurt from my seriously atrophied muscles go away. The day we were there, smog shrouded much of the Bay but didn't take away its grandeur. Mt. Hamilton and Mt. Diablo were still easily seen.
On the way down, we made it through some gravelly areas with no problem and despite the jackhammer effect from too many freaking cow tracks, the bikes with their new components held up nicely. The entire round trip is about eight miles. A huge bonus at the bottom to reward the toils was a little deli that served us up phat roast beef sandwiches. Even if you don't set a foot on the trail, the deli is worth a visit.
Muddy and whupped we packed the bikes back onto The Rig and got out. I'm glad that the first official excursion is over. It is truly a milestone!
No comments:
Post a Comment