RR: Viper at Night

[kanga]

Last night OTB rode Wilson canyon, but Hans, Otto, John and I started a bit early to hit Viper for an extra credit lap.

Some of you probably saw my RR and video from new year's day but the trail sure changed from the ultra-epic condition it was in to now. We climbed Wilson Canyon, and Otto had a mechanical with his rear brake, so after messing with it and giving up, they continued the ride to the top. Gary, our 73 year old stud, happened to have the same brakes and a spare set of pads, so we switched them out and Otto was back in the game.

By this time, the sun was setting, and we knew we wouldn't have enough time to do the lap of Viper and meet the group back at the bottom on the other side. We went for it anyway... riding Viper at night.

The trail has become much more rutted with the recent rains. The ruts are deeper, sketchier, and definitely much more of a challenge at night. Viper during the day we were hitting 25 - 30MPH on the single track, but at night, max speed was about 25. At that speed and with the throw of a trinewt on the bars and an HID on the helmet, it was pretty difficult to read the terrain.

Hans went down when his front tire washed out in a sandy section at the bottom of a steep descent. John hauled a$$ on his bullit, but payed for it big time on the climbs. Otto brought up the rear.... we regrouped at the single track turnoff after the towers.

I passed the other guys on a climb and took the lead, overshot a corner and ended up in a rut at about 20mph that threw me off the trail and almost over a cliff near the bottom... sketchy, but I stayed upright.

I've been wanting to do Viper at night for some time.... 10 days ago the conditions would have been perfect. The ruts were smoothed out, the dirt was tacky, and I'd seen the trail 5 times in a few weeks (3 times on Jan 1st). Not so now... the ruts have deepened, their walls steepened, and it really kept us on edge.

We climbed back up the fire road, much easier without the wind and re-grouped at the top. I rode back down to check on the main group who had just started. I got to the last of the group, and came across two equestrians out for a night ride... no lights, no bells, but I wasn't hauling so I had plenty of time to stop.

The equestrians in that area have generally been very cool to mountain bikers. We rarely ever have any problems with the hispanic horsemen who just keep on riding like bikes are normal on trails. It's mostly women who are scared of bikes and pass on that fear to their animals, and can't control their horses that seem to be the problem.

On the final Wilson canyon descent, I went ahead to scout for the horses, but they had turned around. We ended up coming up on them a few hundred yards from the bottom. Again, they pulled over and waved us through.

Horses have torn up the Wilson Canyon fire road pretty well. It was loose and sandy, and even that was a pretty difficult descent to hold speed. If anyone ever needs evidence about whether horses have more impact than mountain bikes on a trail (or fire road) just go check out that one. We don't ride it in the summer since it's mostly sand.

It was a good ride!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/e...kValue=4794041

No pics, since most was done in the dark.

[lmnop]

Now imagine what happened on Los Pinetos! That trail got hammered with the rains as well. The County SWECO came through and smoothed the trail and got rid of the PO alongside, but didn't do a damn thing about the lack of drainage along the trail. A big, long rut has developed down the middle of the trail, keeping you much more on your toes than usual trying to figure out which side to stay on.