A Three Hour Tour- On Two Water bottles

"I'll have to skip church, but I have time to do a three hour ride beginning at 3:00", said the LT.  "That's no problem at all", I thought, as three hours in the foothills allows my favorite rides as well as the LT's.

I arrived about 5 minutes late with a freshly waxed bike, and we were able to skip what has become our routine before beginning a mountain bike ride; adjusting or replacing disc brakes on departure, so we were probably ahead of schedule.  Since the LT last week had diverted me to a bunch of soft bottomed motorcycle trails from his favorite ride, I suggested one of my favorite 3 hour rides- the Corrals & Freeway a route that wouldn't easily allow him to divert me onto those loose motorcycle trails again.  He was agreeable to that route, and we headed up Bogus Basin Road. 

Just before we reached the turn off to the Corrals trail, he suggested we ride on two more trails where he suggested a trail would take us up to Hard Guy, and from there we'd ride back down to the Corrals.  That was a surprise since I usually can't talk him into riding onto the next trail which adds a nice hill before rejoining The Corrals, but I was agreeable though totally ignorant about this 2nd trail.  My first impressions of that trail wasn't good- a 6" wide trail on the edge of a cliff which made me do some pushing while the LT rode on.

Steve after the trail widens enough for him to resume riding   Will climbing in the desert section   Will reaches the first tree  
 We started crossing the clear small stream every few hundred yards, and I drank my first water bottle wondering when we would climb out of this canyon up to Hard Guy. For the LT's "three hour tour", I had brought along 2 water bottles and had forgotten my orange- not a big deal on a "three hour tour"; that's a good after work ride near mid-summer's day.  Have I mentioned that the LT is too young to remember Gilligan's Island and its "three hour tour" that led to years of their being shipwrecked?

It was hot, so the LT suggested taking a break and cooling off in the shade. I soaked my feet and thought how much cooler and likely satisfying that water was than the hot stuff in my water bottles, but I'd just today finished reading a blog on the Great Divide  with the author taking similar action which led to 12 hours of puking. With that thought fresh in my mind, I refrained. Anyway, I was sure the LT knew what he was doing, and we'd soon be out of the canyon.

Steve at one of the many stream crossings- it was easier than it looks here  By the time we reached the first pine tree, I had drunk my last water bottle, and was thinking a lot about drinking from that cool stream. Even the LT was giving up on the idea that his route would loop back to Hard Guy. We thought we knew where this trail would come out- about 3/4's to the top of Bogus Basin Road. Neither one of us wanted to turn around- I knew I'd successfully climbed (or pushed thru) the 6" wide trail near where it left Bogus Basin Rd, and I had no interest in pushing DOWN that trail.

The LT reaches the first pine tree  Soon we were in the timber with some pleasant climbing in the shade, but the trail kept narrowing and getting steeper. We were reduced to pushing- on a trail too narrow to fit a pusher at the side of his bike. The LT's cell phone eventually regained service, so he tried mapping us. He suggested we abandon the trail- pushing our bikes through the brush up the steep mountain side in our lycra and bare lower legs! He ran out of water about this point, and I wondered if that lack of water was making him hallucinate- lycra through the brush pushing a bike up a hill nearly too steep to climb on trail?

By the time we reached the top, I was thinking about nothing but water, or a cold Coca-Cola. We were at the top of that trail- but we weren't 3/4's the way up Bogus Basin Road.  It took us a few minutes to realize we'd climbed to the top and were on the Boise Front Road that we'd ridden just a couple weeks ago although it took us a couple 100 yards to figure this out. It was 8:30; the LT's "three hour tour" should have ended 2 1/2 hours ago! We'd been hoping to turn left and descend Bogus Basin Rd, so we turned left, and started climbing to almost the peak of Deer Point. We met 2 downhillers screaming down, and suddenly the LT decided he'd like to turn around, and head for Hard Guy. Turn around? By this time I was really tired of trails and my technical skills had been pushed to their limit, so I wanted to stay on the road and zip down Bogus soon. The problem was, we had nearly 1,000 ft to climb before reaching the edge of Deer Point where we'd begin that zip down.

Once at the bottom, the first place I knew to get that Coca-Cola was the M&W Market, but to my surprise it is closed and had taken its pop machine with it. A convenience store 1/2 mile further on would have to do. It's nearly mid-summer's day which means light until 10:00 pm here on the western edge of Mountain Time, so neither one of us had headlamps, but to be seen we turned on our rear light there. We arrived back at the LT's just before 10:00 MDT. I drank 2 large glasses of water there and borrowed the LT's headlamp for the ride home. Dusk had turned to night by the time I arrived home where I drank 8 more glasses of water, and slept thru the night without getting up! Take plenty of water with you if the LT invites you on a "Three Hour Tour- a three hour tour".  LT, wha'd I ever do to you?

Total Miles: 41.7 Riding Time 5:24
Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation,


Steve