Rockin' It..

Jimijames rockin' it on the lower section of SSV.

I'm in a posting phase right now, I guess there's a lot going on between riding and art shows, it's summer too and that brings a lot of activity. Yesterday afternoon Jimijames and I rode some very technical trail, some of the most technical trail on the front range in my opinion and a portion of trail that I hadn't ridden before because it's partially in Wilderness Boundaries and off limits or so I thought. Apparently it's quietly open to MTB while a reroute is being built around it so bike riders can ride the length of the South St. Vrain trail, and it's mostly down in a very challenging way, as challenging as any technical rocky park riding, no lumber though. We headed up Left Hand Rez Rd onto Little Raven and then down the entirety of SSV, a ride I've done many times without the addition of the upper section of SSV, it was fun! I managed to clear almost everything, I crashed once coming down a chunky section, went over the bars, once again I felt like my 36 Talas wasn't complying with the terrain, it felt harsh and from my seat in the dirt looking up I can't see why I didn't just roll the damn rock, however I was happy to have my knee pads on as that was where the weight of the fall landed as well as my left palm which is now a pretty color of purple. So onward we rode to the middle section of SSV which is tight and technical, I cleared this whole section including this tight switch to the right. You had to ride up high over a rock and then turn down to the right, it required two stall/track standy type moves, then off the brakes and sail around the next corner, it was sweet and I was pretty stoked..the bottom section of SSV isn't as bad, of course there's a few gnarly sections but they're not as hard as I remember them being and they're wider and more washed out then previously. I would say that route was 90% DH, the upper and middle section of SSV are the toughest and most technical and therefore fun..Little Raven has some fun little skinnies on it and some tough rock garden sections but it's not DH, it's more of a traverse really. It does make any of the other riding along the front range seem mild in comparison..next time I want to add some more climbing and DH onto the route, it'll be longer and more exhausting but so much fun and the views up there are the best.