RR: El Prieto Night Ride

[mottmcfly]

So I finally did it. My first night ride. Yes I was scared.

Met up with Foesnasty at the JPL parking lot at 7 and after a fair amount of Bull Sheeoting with some riders that were just finishing up, off we went.

First off thank to Foesnasty for hanging with me on the climb. I normally put it in the most granniest gear I got and that's about all I can do. And that's pretty much what I did tonight too. The climb was uneventful and we barely used lights at all. Actually having mine on seemed to mess with my riding. Maybe because I had a bar mount but man was that light all over the place and of course I followed it wherever it went. Better off, OFF.

I am not sure I can explain this ride. I've never done a night ride before and this was so new to me the whole experience was surreal to say the least. Just hanging at the saddle in the dark was really neat.

Racing down the fire road was amazing. I definitely need a pair of clear lense goggles. I thought it was just too good to be true until we turned off to the EP trail.

Riding that trail at night is like riding into a different world. The mind completely shuts off everything except what's going on in front of you. We made a brief stop and decided to turn the lights off. There's nothing to write that will accurately describe this. If you've done it then you know what I'm talking about. Everything around you is totally alive.

so after about 8 seconds of that we were sufficiently spooked and continued on.

We exited EP and started off down the fire road when Foesnasty suddenly stopped. I was going to ride past him when I heard him yell "cat cat cat cat!!!" I didn't see it but I locked up the breaks hard. He's thinks it was a Bobcat (again sufficiently spooked).

That changed things a little. a few feet down the trail we ran into something reflecting our lights. Turns out it was just a reflector on the side of the trail. But for a few seconds we were a tad worried.

Anyhoo, we made it out alive. I will be thinking about this ride for a long time. I may be here at the PC writing this but a part of me is still out there rounding the next turn trying to separate shadow from fact....

[Tedroy]

Sounds like fun! We got a new meaning for "Hello Kitty"

[mottmcfly]

I almost forgot. I need to send some props to Dino for hooking me up with the Tri Newt light. I definitely does the job and then some.

[Dino Brown]

Originally Posted by mottmcfly

I almost forgot. I need to send some props to Dino for hooking me up with the Tri Newt light. I definitely does the job and then some.

Sorry I missed the ride MOTT!
Looking forward to joining you and *"Bionicon"Nasty* in the very near future!

Had to send my Trinewt in for service! Battery issues! Hope to get it back soon...

Great ride report!

[JoeTruth]

Nice job you two. I love EP @ night. Especially if the moon is out. Although once in the canyon, the moon does your very little good. I once inadvertently rode EP past dusk with no lights and no moon and had to finish in complete darkness. It took me over an hour to finish 2 miles. I had to to walk the whole thing as I could hardly see the tip of my nose. Now that was an adventure!

P.S. Glad to see Adrian alive and riding. He's either been lurking a lot or just not around. "Yo Adrian, what's up? Let's ride, dude!"