Smallish ride report:
Had occasion to run a really technical trail last night with a few friends.. almost entirely a rocky hill ascent and descent with a nice flat halfway point at the top of the hill: trail was about 2-2.5 miles long and fairly close to home. Unfortunately, they were in trucks and jeeps and moving at a pace that wasn't really conducive to taking pictures, but I hope to run it again sometime soon with the camera handy.
When we got over the hill, we found ourselves on relatively decent logging roads and found the exit gated. It was about 10minutes from full darkness and we had to turn around! Turns out previous trail abuse has a section of it closed. Well, quite a few trail hazards such as large rocks, ruts, briars, brush, logs across etc. Took about 1hr to run the trail on the way in when it was light, with a few stops. When we turned around, I decided to adjust my headlight downward and not stop (bear country). Seems to have worked well, but my arms are absolutely demolished from the very long descent on the way down in the dark riding the brakes and keeping myself on the seat in a reasonable spot.
On the way back out, we made it in ~30mins at a fairly slow but constant pace. Definitely one to do again.
Observations:
* Newish toyota trucks with running boards aren't compatible with large logs across the trail
* My chain has loosened up considerably on that particular ride alone
* A long mud puddle crossing makes for wet feet.
* Feet dry out pretty well at 40+mph on the way home, and large split unit air conditioners with outdoor condensers make a good spot to dry shoes while you wait for people.
* Bikes and trucks run trails at a very different pace.
