Saturday, September 29, 2007

Lost in Translation


   Went up to Taos last weekend and road the Double Boundary. Didn't quite get it done as John and myself couldn't find the Elliott Barker trail to get over to the Jaracito.Very frustrating. I think my next move is to get a Garmin and getting the tracks for the races so that I don't get lost. For these rides I prefer to ride alone but the ride in Taos is soo remote and there are soo many turns that It is easy to get lost. I Rode with BoulderBill and a guy from Austin that has a frame building company. He was riding a killer looking geared 29er. They are called True Fabrications. The bikes looked killer and he was a reaally nice guy to boot.So I rode with those guys for about 30 miles then they dropped me before we got to the food cache. I was feeling great at this point and just thought I would be fine since we were pretty much done with the North Boundary section which seems tuff to navigate. I got up Bull Springs Meadow and decided to take a break and wait on Maka who I thought I saw as I crossed 64 at Palo Flechado Pass. As it turned out it was Maka who decided to take the road there up to the food stop. So I waited up at Bull Spring Meadow and a guy named John from Cedarcrest I believe, came riding up and seemed to have a firm grasp of the route so I rode with him till the food stop. At the foodstop Bill had made us a couple sweet turkey sammies and I had a redbull and I was ready to go. Bill and group had all ready come and gone. So John and I went on with our ride. We got up to Elliot Barker and from there we never found Jaracita we spent 2 hours looking for the trail but we just kept coming into this private property. So we finally decided we weren't gonna find the race course and had to back track and go out at Valle Escondido. It was beautiful down in Valle Escondido and then the 15 miles back to Taos on 64. BoulderBill finished his first NM Endurance series ride. I think Bill hooked up with Lenny to finish up the ride. Lenny also had tracks on his GPS. Bill was riding on a rigid SS as well.

Hotel room chillin




The sun was starting to wrap around the hill as we climbed up towards the cut over to Devisadero












I liked this cairn. Very well balanced like we all should be



This the guy from Austins nice looking True Fabrications 29er all equipped for a day in the saddle. That even looks like a first aid kit on the top tube.




Bill getting Surly







The IF out of retirement



Nothing like some 2 track thrown in for good measure




After the food stop John and I stopped for a second so John could grab his battery that he had stashed before our lunch break



John retrieving his stashed battery




Beautiful in New Mexico



Then John and I lost our way. Real bummer . Enjoyed the 15 mile road ride back to Taos.



Stopped to chill by the river on the way home



The Vulva








Just another normal sunset in Santa Fe



The Apsens here in Santa Fe have been blowing up this week
Photo by Todd "missing Link" Glatz



    What is in your audio player? I have That new Pinback Autumn of the Seraphs I
was talking about a couple blogs ago. I am enjoying it. Ben at work hooked me with the self titled debut Pinback album and that is definitly one of my favorites. Music always seems to get ruined by comfort and fame
               Later

5 comments:

StageWest said...

Did you really only carry one water bottle for that ride?

I've got a waypoint I can give you for where Jaracita Starts off of FR 153. Let me know if you get a gps and I'll email it to you.

Sounds like you still had a strong ride and you got to ride with the legendary John M besides! Cool.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the shout-out Tim! It was nice riding with you too. We had a really good group during the climb up North Boundary. I had commented we could talk bike frame stuff at the pass....but we never re-grouped. What a nice long brutal day in teh saddle...13:09 min, 72mi and 11k ft climbing. See you next year?!

Cody Baron
TrueFabricationBicycles.com

Matt said...

I'm amazed at how difficult finding Jaracita was for a lot of people. It's actually really simple. You know the dirt road that goes north-south at the top of Osha Peak? It's the same dirt road that you take north until it turns into SBT. Well all you do is take this same road, south of Osha Peak for a little over a mile or so and look to your right in a tree clearing and the trailhead is marked.

You get it down one of these years, amigo! But ride Jaracita before the year is over if you get a chance. Best way is to do a simple sunday afternoon loop from Garcia Park. Ride up SBT, the dirt road, etc.

Tx for coming out to the DBT.

Tim Wise said...

Chris, Yeaa I am gonna get a gps. That would be great to get the tracks from you. Maybe you could show me the way sometime. Legendary John M??

Hey Cody. Yeaa that is a brutal ride. See ya next year fo sho.

Hey Matt. Yeaa I thought John would be able to get
us through. Guess I need to start taking care of that myself. Next year I will have a Garmin. I couldn't get those tracks downloaded to the loaner etrex. Bummer. Found our way anyway. Great ride.

StageWest said...

Tim,
Looks like you rode part of the route with John M, from Cedar Crest. He has more Leadville belt buckles than I’d care to count. He’s really a pioneer in the enduro scene.

Let me know if you'd like to get a ride going up there. The loop that Matt mentions is around 15 miles, or the Valle Escondido loop has a bit more climbing and is around 20 miles, so either way, no shuttle would be required. Or, if we had enough people to shuttle, we could ride the entire south half of the DBT route.