Chesebro/Palo
Comado
Memorial Day
05-29-2006
Although Uncle Louie has
already posted a brief ride report, I will refresh your memory and, as he
warned, add some photos and commentary. Monday's Memorial Day ride
was well attended--10 riders in all--Rod, Greg, Joe, George, SteveA, SteveW,
Mitch, Ali, Tal and me. We left the parking lot and, as Steve relayed,
were ordered up the steep Modelo Trail by our personal trainer/taskmaster Doc
George. Over to Palo Comado we headed for the further climb up to the
garden spot just before China Flats.
Ali, Mitch, Rod, Tal
(congratulations to our newest U.S. citizen!!!), George, Greg, SteveW, SteveA,
and Joe
Little did we
realize that this spot was a tropical paradise....a banana tree in Palo Comado
Canyon!
Steve and
Steve make a formidable duo in the Giro de Palo
Comado
After a semi-circular tour of
China Flats, a meeting was held and although George wanted to continue climbing
Mt. Whitney to the north, the majority decided that we should tour the rest of
China Flats with a stop-over at Simi Peak.
Rod, Tal, Greg, Ali,
and SteveW on the singletrack just before the intersection of the trail up to
Simi Peak.
That is Simi
Valley in the background.
The group more or less fell
apart here, with some not wanting to climb Simi Peak at all and some going only
part way up the steep, rutted, overgrown trail. In the end it was only
Greg, Ali, Tal, Rod and I who made it to the top with a combination of riding
and walking. After a chain repair on Greg's bike and some great views, we
headed down the tough trail.....I thought that we would have to walk a lot of
the downhill, too, but I think most of us rode the whole thing, challenging as
it was. And the odd thing was that although this section of the trail was
dangerous, it was a little further on that Greg's front tire went into a hole
partially hidden by the thick grass and he went down hard. But being the
trooper that he is he got his scratched and bruised body up and back on the bike
in seconds flat.
Leaving China Flats we headed
down Palo Comado, took the connector trail over to Shepherds Flat and finally
the main Sulfur Springs Trail back to the cars for about 16 miles of
riding. But before I go I wanted to share some field research that Rod and
I participated in. While we were climbing up to Simi Peak, we noticed a
plethora of caterpillars traveling on their ways to becoming butterflies this
spring. So I stopped to document a few:
A colorful
caterpillar makes her way thru the undergrowth
I think this is the
front end of one of the creatures
And here is a
creature all bent over
And here is the rear
of another creature all bent over.
Uncle Louie's best
side?
I guess this is the
end.
Robco Baggins
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RCYMountainBiking.com
