Slippery rocks and frozen eyeballs: a first descent
The trail was new, the snow was flying and the crew was solid. A tale of steep footsteps, clogged cleats and jumbly flow.
![]() Hey man, hiking counts. |
![]() Brian, Will, Farid, Brett and Jon. |
Apologies for the bad photos. It was dark, and my point-and-shoot hated the cold.
Crew
An elite selection of badasses and non-whiners. I’m neither, but I organized the ride, so I got to go.
Venue
Left Hand Canyon OHV Area, just outside Boulder, CO. I love riding here because 1) the terrain is steep and wrinkly, and 2) rather than apologizing to hikers, equestrians and slower riders, I’m sharing the fun with motos, ATVs and 4x4s.
![]() The goal: Exit this turn so fast you coast up the next rise. Jon gets close. |
Trail
The new singletrack swings off a 4×4 spur high on the mountain and swoops down to the access road near the bottom of the park. It mixes gradual and steep, smooth and rocky, open and tight — but it’s mostly steep, rocky and tight.
And it’s brand new.
Up
Most of the climb can be pedaled, but enough can’t that I walked the whole thing. Hiking is great cross training, right? Jon and Will pedaled most of it. Jerks. Add that to the goal list.
As we worked our way up the hill, the sandy soil soaked up the light snow. At LHC, wetter is better, and the traction promised to be heroic.
Down
Dude!
Fun!
We sessioned a series of jumbly chutes, linked turns, rocky notches and Santa Cruz-esque roller coasters. The rocks and roots were slick, but the dirt was prime. You could brake as hard as you want (no thanks), and you could corner as hard as you want (yes please!).
The main limiting factor was snow-clogged cleats. I wanted an LED on my stem: red when I’m unclipped, yellow when my foot’s on the pedal, green when I’m clipped in. When we mounted up for each new section it was red, yellow … yellow … yellow, green. Go!
![]() Jon finds a man line. |
![]() Braaap! |
![]() Best to let it roll. |
![]() The tongue is often overlooked as a point of control. Brian. |
![]() Will applies his pump track skills to the real world. |
Dude!
Fun!
I miss the USA!
Whoa, that tongue thing is totally subconscious. Scary, I gotta cut that out!
That doesn’t look like the new bike!
Good eye.
The new Stumpy was *almost* ready on Saturday morning before this ride. All it needed was a front brake rotor and some suspension adjustments.
But the babies needed bottles and diapers.
You know who won that battle of priorities!
So, you must ride SPDs?
hehe.. always have had issues with ice/snow and spd cleats/pedals here.. *clunk* *clunk* *clunk* as shoes are banged off the side of cranks trying to knock free the obstruction.
I tried eggbeater type and they clip in under horrible conditions without a fight. So far they’re a good fit.
Bummed! I missed it!
I am thoroughly impressed that you were able to capture Jon with that frozen camera. Fast!
Looks amazing, we aren’t quite at the winter weather here in the UK so no dramatic trails for us yet.
Trail 845 from Tarka Wilcox on Vimeo.
Check out this quick vid of my first ride on 845… Brian’s description of “legitimately steep” is spot on.
Nice! I need me one of them helmet cams.