In 1993 (or maybe 1994), I bought a Specialized Hardrock. It was the first mountain bike I’d bought myself, and I got a fair amount of use out of it while I had it. One of my most memorable rides was with a friend, Ian. We rode from Price, up Mead’s Wash, to Kenilworth. It involved a lot of lifting the bikes over boulders and dryfalls. We were so sore the following day that we didn’t go to school. My bike got stolen maybe a year after I got it, but a couple of years later I bought a Mtn Tek Traverse, which turned out to be a pretty crappy bike. A few years ago the chain broke, and it wasn’t something I felt like replacing on that bike.
Earlier this week I ordered a new Specialized Hardrock from Fuzzy’s Bicycleworks. I picked it up on my lunch break today and took it for a short ride around the neighborhood. After work I rode Luke’s Trail, which I’d done a couple of times on my old bike. This time things were different with Torrey along. She’s used to either hiking with me and being able to keep up easily, or running alongside the ATV and being able to ride on it whenever she gets tired. With me on a bike, she has to run a lot more and can’t hitch a ride when she feels like it.
I started the trail at about 3:30 PM, and it was easy going most of the way. I did crash once–I’d just made it past a rocky spot going uphill, and stalled out just past the most difficult part. I got a foot down but for some reason still wasn’t able to catch myself, and I fell into a pinyon pine. I reached the end of the trail in just over an hour, though that included a lot of stops for photos along the way. Torrey wasn’t too tired by then since I’d been going uphill most of the way. However, I turned around at the end of the trail and rode it downhill back to the trailhead, and she got plenty tired after that. On the way back I took Alan’s Alley, a short spur trail that adds another mile to Luke’s Trail. It was nice because the trail follows the rim of Warehouse Canyon for a bit longer, and so it has nicer views.
I made it back to the trailhead about two hours and 15 minutes after beginning the ride, and I’d covered seven miles. Torrey was exhausted, and though I was only a bit tired, I was saddlesore more than anything. It’ll take me some getting used to riding a bike again.
Photo Gallery
.KML File for Google Earth (GPS tracklog and waypoints)