Incredible shots, guys. Just love this thread, great to see places I am long overdue to visit-- Mt. Baker looks stunning, the views of Washington State are amazing, and Stefan, great community you have found! Prairie, I'm having both uphill and downhill difficulties these days, but my downhill problems were nothing compared to yours. Whoa!
Nothing that spectacular here-- Tuesday's local 13-mile ride was a variant of so many others, with a few differences: It was later, finished when it was much darker, and -- in a rare moment of bad judgment -- learned my lesson riding a short, tempting trail that's banned for bikes, an experiment I will NOT be repeating.
First, we have Hell Hill -- my nasty entrance to the park that I can never ascend without stopping. I have been going harder recently, which resulted last week in a low-speed crash, first time I laid down the bike. This week, I wound up popping a wheelie, jumping off the back end, and stumbling into a bunch of tree branches. Tiny cut on my finger -- didn't bleed much, despite the blood thinners, absolutely trivial, quarter inch gash. (Blackhand, I'm wishing you a speedy recovery-- this whole post could be titled: 'Catalyzt Got Off Easy.') However, the wound was almost exactly where our terrier bit me last year, before he learned the house rules. When I returned, the little guy spotted/smelled the cut instantly, gave me big, brown, sympathetic eyes, and kissed my boo-boo. Then he gave me this weird, guilty look, which I interpreted as: "So... this one's not on me, right? I'm not in trouble this time, am I?" No, dude, we're good.
Here's Hell Hill, bottom and top. Sorry about the weird angles and color, I'm not trying to make it look steeper than it is, just trying to get as much as possible in the shot. It's not that steep, but the top is sandier than it looks here. This is my cheap-o point-and-shoot, not very wide angle, and when I process for detail, they're often rendered in psychedelevision.
Then, I took my usual route down the back side into Burbank, and looped back up the hill on a trail where there is no signage prohibiting bikes, and where I've never had any problems. However, after rejoining Vista del Valle, I saw the entrance to a trail I know is forbidden, and found the temptation overwhelming. Last time, I'd been very politely warned away by a very nice guy with two huge dogs. This time, there was no one in sight, and I knew from satellite views that this segment was short and provided outstanding views... surely, I could pull this off, just after sunset, without encountering any horses -- my worst fear -- or anyone who wouldn't want me there. However, as I ascended -- gee, it didn't look that steep on the satellite view, but well under 20%, so no problem -- I came to a series of blind curves. Nasty-- so I listened very carefully... I would certainly hear any horses in advance, and it was too late for horseback riding anyway -- that's why I went after sunset.
Imagine how stupid I felt when I came around one of those blind curves, and
there is the same guy with the same two enormous dogs! A year later! I stopped the bike and walked it, and as he passed me, he gave me a broad grin and said, "You are so busted!" To which I replied, "I certainly am." He thanked me for dismounting, the dogs didn't give me any trouble. Once he was gone, I hopped on, rode a bit further, and took the third picture below-- nice view of Burbank, but as you can see, the light was going fast (that's the lavender wide shot) and I was on the east side where it would fade fastest-- time to hustle. About a hundred yards later, I was again reminded that the satellite image gave me no clue about elevation, but I should have guessed the situation: The descent was over 15%, possibly over 20 and extremely sandy, steep drop off on the left side. No way I was riding down and even walking wasn't that easy, glad I had my good shoes! No more banned trails for me.
Ride back was uneventful, but later than usual, as you can see from the last two photos. Such a difference between 25 minutes after sunset, when I can still open it up to nearly 30 MPH even on terrible roads. Even 10 minutes later in the evening, it's like a different road. The last part of the descent was in full dark, and my light's not bad, but really not safe to go much faster than 10 or 15 MPH, so I was on the brakes a lot. Really pretty, though, nice view of the city at night. That's the observatory at sunset, and Los Angeles at night.
