5.30.2011

s12o

left after 11pm, a quick ride out to redwood.
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climbing

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foresting

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slime-ing

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descending

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5.24.2011

oat hill trailing (2 |2)

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morning dew

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camp

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structure

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fuzzy

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fog lifting

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started moving up the trail around 9 or 10, and it was already warming up fast.

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It quickly became clear that the "rock gardens" i had been warned about were real, and that this was turning out to be pretty gnarly terrain. i was already 4 miles or so in, so I figured I'd just keep pushing instead of bailing for the road far below.

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amazing views around every corner

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you can see the trail traversing the slope in this frame

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then it went to this entirely...

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see the wagon ruts!

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atlantis perched in said ruts.

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getting hotter still, it became a head down bike push for the last mile or so before the ruins of

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helm's hold: situated in the strategically important saddle of the mountain pass. i stopped for lunch.

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alligator pose

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ruins

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lots of friends about

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turned out that the palisades trail involved even more bouldering--not fun with a loaded bicycle on your shoulder--so i turned around and decided to complete the traverse by staying on oat hill road which appeared to be ridable. it would mean more road riding after that, but at this point i wanted to just ride instead of carry/push.

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looking down onto pope valley road near aetna springs road, my new destination.

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lots of pretty rock formations

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slick rock riding at times,

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spring stream riding at times,

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and occasionally hefting my bicycle over boulder fields,

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i finally made it onto aetna springs road, which dropped a couple thousand feet on gravel, much fun.

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the remainder of the ride was some twenty miles of non-serviced riding climbing out of pope valley via butts canyon road and reaching middletown.

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2 days at hot springs were worth it.

5.23.2011

wild oat (1 | 2)

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Oat hill near the outset (just barely enough light for photos). I could ride this with some effort, but it only got rockier from here. The atlantis and 40mm schwalbe tires gave no issues (as always), which is nice (as always).

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expansive views kept me moving while the sun set.

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camped high enough to get the last bit of sunset.

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easily one of the best night skies within a day's ride

5.22.2011

wild oat (.5 | 2)

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I jumped on the ferry to vallejo after work:

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my heading was oat hill trail, which climbs to a pass adjacent to hwy 29 out of napa valley.

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futureshock | vallejo

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About 40 miles to oat hill, all fast road riding on the beautiful silverado trail;

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then came real trails...

5.14.2011

about

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fun with skinny tires

5.08.2011

hawk hill s24o (2|2)

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morning

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morning pods

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morning rods

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morning sods

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morning nær

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morning where

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morning hare

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doble hare

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sunrise

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back to camp after a hike

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breakfast, freshly ground coffee to preserve the volatiles

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fancy bike

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yellow

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spider

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adam rides

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it's spring, hence my flower/plant posting frequency

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bridgelands

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fields

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doble fields

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gabriel and may

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climbing back up to conzelman

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obligatory bridge shot.

nice to be camping again!