“You Take the Lead, You’re Faster Than I on the Downhill”

I said "You take the lead, you're faster than I on the Downhill" a lot this summer since my primary riding companions were in their early twenties. CWO1 Curt Howell, a new pilot just back from school, my cousin PVT Payton Largent, just out of his initial National Guard training for helo repair, SGT Bullard, and SGT Schumacher two 25th Army Band members who work full time at the DTS Helpdesk, but they aren’t nearly as geeky as these credentials would indicate.

On 23 Sep, SGT Schumacher and I got off work about 45 minutes early and set out on the Corrals/Freeway trails- one of our favorite after-work summertime rides that with the extra 45 minutes of light we had- could be done in late September. The SGT hadn’t been on his bike much in the last month or six weeks, but we made it up the paved section of Bogus Basin without resting- a mark of reasonable fitness. He had bought a used Rockhopper hardtail this summer and then made a few upgrades including most recently replacing the cassette and chain. This was its first ride with the upgraded drive train, so we switched bikes for a mile or two on the trail. His bike is all aluminum, but it has a traditional top tube length (not the new elongated kind), and it has one of those fancy small shocks on the seat post. I found it to my liking- it fits me and has a smooth feel.

We stopped where just a couple months ago I called out to SGT Bullard at the top of the hill “You take the lead, you’re faster than I on the downhill” as we started down the entry onto “Hard Guy Trail”. Within 15 feet of taking the lead he hit a small jump, landed wrong with a wheel on each side of an clay ridge in the trail. He went down hard, breaking his helmet, getting some road rash on his belly, but protecting his expensive new full suspension bike with his body which he used to keep his bike from getting any scratches as they slid down the trail together. His doctor now claims SGT Bullard likely suffered a concussion and separated two bones in his inner-ear that are giving him vertigo. SGT’s Bullard’s doctor is still testing him out before allowing him back on the bike. It was SGT Schumacher’s first time to see the site of Bullard’s wreck- on a not very technical rise that wrecked this guy who enjoys the technical side of mountain biking.

As SGT Schumacher and I crested the biggest hill on the ride, I called out “You take the lead, you’re faster than I on the downhill”. I lost sight of the SGT for a couple minutes, and when I came round a corner saw him standing somewhat stunned beside the trail with his bike lying in the tall grass. His tracks leaving the trail into the high grass were obvious. He’d traveled through a ditch, that had apparently been dug this spring in the clay. He entered the ditch on its slopped side, but he hit its 1.5' vertical wall with enough force to severely taco his wheel which couldn’t be turned by hand even when the front brake was released. The portion of the shock that feeds through the steerer tube was significantly bent, both at the top and bottom, so the wheel was truly “under the bike” instead of slightly in front of it. I can't tell if the steerer tube (part of the bike's frame) was bent. I’d read that a severely taco’d wheel could sometimes be partially straightened by hitting the warped portion of the wheel on the ground- hard. I did that a couple of times, and the wheel was straight enough we could force it to turn when put back on the bike. Tightening the headset was next. Just then John & "someone" rode up and asked if we had what we needed. We asked for a spoke wrench. "Someone" took charge, hit the wheel a couple times on the ground in the same way I had, and started the loosening & tightening process on the spokes with his spokewrench. I haven't mentioned that the SGT had his butt behind the seat when he hit that ditch. The force of his lower torso hitting the seat tore the seat off its frame. “Someone” had a quality 3" crescent wrench he used to bend the seat frame enough we could stretch the seat back on. I have a similar sized crescent wrench on the Bianchi, but it's made of pot metal and would never take the pressure “someone” put on his steel crescent wrench as he bent the seat frame back closer to its original shape. Where is my camera when things like this happen?

It was a slow trip out of the foothills, with only rear brakes for the SGT, but he was able to ride, and we were glad of that. We passed the draw where earlier this summer I’d called out “you younger guys are faster than I on the downhill, take the lead” and where shortly afterward PVT Largent endo’d putting what I'll describe as a deep stab wound in his knee- ending his almost two weeks of riding while he stayed with me during his Annual Training. Earlier this year SGT Schumacher had his first endo of the year near there there while he and Bullard “took the lead”. Despite CWO1 Howell’s taking the lead on the downhill with the younger guys, he escaped injury this summer.

I hate to say it, but in my opinion SGT Schumacher’s bike is totaled, or would be from an insurer's point of view. The SGT seems to share a flaw of mine, and really likes his bike that fits him well, so he may repair it. We’re hoping for a quick repair plus a doctor’s release for SGT Bullard so we can do one final fall ride before SGT Schumacher departs in mid October for a military school that will have him gone until winter.

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!

Steve

Stacked Rock and Sweet Connie

"Yes, LT Klein, we can ride our bikes to Stacked Rock" would now be my reply should we again be sitting on the highest rock on Bogus looking down at that noticeable rock formation the mere sight of which brought out the mountain climber in the LT. He wanted to ride down there and climb that rock the first time he saw it, but what I believed was private property put it off limits to us two summers ago.

Chief Winn is home for leave from his Afghanistan tour. He called Friday asking me to join him Saturday on two new trails on Bogus: Stacked Rock and Sweet Connie's. It's drill weekend followed by a Monday off, so I tried to talk him into switching to Monday. Since he's headed back to Afghanistan on Tuesday, that idea failed, so I asked to leave drill early, and much to my surprise, the request was granted.

With only a short time home, the Chief had done some research for his day in the mountains and wanted to try a trail that just opened a couple weeks ago following a land swap and some generous donations. He obtained verbal directions from our bike shop, and his wife dropped us off a couple miles below the lower ski lodge in a parking area with a notched tree- the only instruction we had for the start point. We headed down through the forest on a 6" wide new trail with many right angle turns that forced us to dismount many times to round the sharp corners. We were pretty sure we had the wrong trail, but it allowed all "non-motorized" use and headed generally in our direction. The worst that could happen was we'd enjoy a ride through the forest, turn around, and ride back down Bogus Basin Rd to Boise, so we continued on. After just under a mile, we intersected with a real trail- also new and narrow- but it generally followed a very old overgrown logging road, and it was wide enough to allow turns! New and overgrown meant a couple times there was a tunnel carved thru the vegetation that required ducking pretty low, and added a sense of adventure or novelty. Then we found some uphill- steep granny 1 material that was challenging, and made me feel I was on a bike ride- not just a "down-hill" coast. Then we reached a saddle with a big leaning tree and a big rock with a newly carved dedication for the gifts and land donation that opened the area to the public. Here the Chief matched the area to the verbal instructions he remembered, and identified where we would cross the saddle and begin the descent to Boise, but for now we continued up. It was likely another mile to stacked rock where we took these photos. (Stacked rock behind us is much larger and more distant than it appears in these photos!) Riding time down to Stacked Rock was 1:18.

 

Steve beside Stacked Rock

Chief Winn beside stacked rock

We did a short scramble up the first or lower stack and took the above photos. Although I'd gotten off early, light and time were still issues, and we knew we couldn't attempt climbing the 2nd higher stack of rocks in the background (the ones LT Klein will doubtless have to climb), or even ride the trail below them. We did take the time to enjoy the view of the valley below and enjoy the zucchini bread the Chief had brought. We returned to the saddle and got on the new Sweet Connie trail that goes down almost to the Corrals Trail outside of Boise. It's a different kind of trail, frequently following ruts up to 6" deep, so those sections must be old. Sage brush roots and rocks made it impossible to ride above the rut, but my least favored section was just below that- between 1/2 and 1 mile of very rocky terrain. The only way to know where the trail was- was looking at the narrow band of top soil that had been narrowly scattered on the rocks and sand, and leaving a brown line to follow thru the gray sand/rocks. I had to push through part of this rocky area. The trail remained rough but improved from here with a few neat sections through bigger rocks or boulders that made for a brief pack a bike. Here we saw a 3 to 4' rattler- only the 2nd one of those I've seen in the Boise foothills. I enjoy seeing them so seldom compared to Lewiston area though the Chief likes 'em, and he got a few photos of it!

By the time we rejoined Bogus Basin Highway, dusk was falling. By the time we reached Camel's Back Park on the edge of Boise with 2:54 riding time it was dark, so the Chief called for his wife to come get us though the ride on home is only 30 minutes versus a 20 minute one-way drive. Neither of us was riding with a headlight though we had tail lights. We enjoyed pizza afterward.

Next summer both the Chief and the LT will be back! Both will return in mid-winter which seems like a waste of possible adventures, but the chief's brief visit has me all the more looking forward to the adventures of next summer!

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!

Steve