Chesebro Canyon and Beyond

A brisk fall morning found a gaggle of gobbling RCYers assembling at the Chesebro parking lot for our traditional Thanksgiving Day MTB Ride, gravy included.   There were.....oh m' gosh....gotta take off my shoes to count this.....SEVENTEEN of us if my cypherin' is right!  Too many to name, but there is a picture of the group for dessert at the end of this meager banquet of words.

Just as the group was leaving on our traditional ride, Dean arrived traditionally late.  While a few of us stayed behind to wait for Dean to set up, the majority was hungry to hit the trail.  We eventually caught up with them along the Sulfur Springs Trail at the first of the two challenging climbs.  Multiple attempts were made by many as they tried to burn calories in order to make room for the culinary feasts to come later this day.

At Shepherd's Flat, neither sheep nor turkeys were to be found and so we turned west on the connector trail to Palo Comado.  After a brief respite of hors d'oeurves (traditionally provided by that gracious Appleman Matthew) and usual RCY gabbing at the spot overlooking the fireroad, we headed up Palo Comado (here we lost 4 of our group to Honey-Do's--Shah, DavidS, AaronY, & Dan), around China Flats and eventually tried intensely burning even more calories trying to climb up to Simi Peak.   A beautiful view of the surrounding valleys greeted us at the top as we socialized and munched on more hors d'oeurves while taking in the magnificently gorgeous day, which included gazing at a soaring red-tailed hawk.

Our next destination was the top of Dead Turkey....er, Dead Cow.  The ride down was more fun than a bowl of peas and pearl onions.  We did however have a couple of mechanical problems.  Jamshyd helped someone (I forget who) fix a flat tire while Rod, Matthew, SteveA [who managed to get off his road bike to join us today ;-)], and I helped Jeff fix a broken seat post bolt.  Steve pulled out his collection of nuts and bolts and we did a pretty good job of trail repair if I do say so.  Jeff was able to make it to the bottom where he left us to ride home.  We also said good-bye to Andy and Reuben who also live near the bottom of Dead Cow and so rode home.

From this point we started to get separated into a couple of different groups.  It seems that as soon as we get off the dirt and start riding the pavement, confusion sets in.  Steve, DavidR, Tal, Molisa, Jamshyd, Matthew and I rode back into Palo Comado via Doubletree Street, while I assume Rod, George, and Dean got back to the cars by another route.  But I think everyone got back invigorated and hungry, looking forward to feasting with friends and family later in the day.

Reuben took this shot of the group at the spot overlooking Palo Comado

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Robco Baggins

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