RR: Palm cnyn 1-06-07

[Tom Cosgrove]

Everyone showed. Tom, Craig (cal epic) Chris, Troy, Craig (cjwally), Ben and Sid.
Jumped in at the Palm cnyn trail head and smoked through 8 miles of sweet dh desert s\t, stopped for the asthma sufferers to take a puff and bam we hit it again.
What a blast!!! We swooped, jumped and ping ponged through the next 4 miles of bad ass s\t with smiles from ear to ear. By the way Sid was riding a ss , great job Sid! Up to this point we had 2 flats and a couple of uneventful crashes, no harm no foul. About here we followed Chris on a detour to avoid the sand. This was a fun s\t with tech climbs and tricky switchys. Heres where Craig (cjwally) met mister CACTI. While he plucked the pricklys from his butt, Craig entertained us with a couple of boulder rolls.
Off we go again to the wash leading up to Dunn rd. Fortunately the past rains had firmed up the sand so that we could ride 3/4 of the wash on firm soil. This is where it got a little soft so we ventured of the wash parallel to firmer ground but not by much. This is where we picked up the thorns. By the time we hit Dunn rd we had a couple more flats.
Up we go to the Oasis for grub and a brief rest. As soon as we get ready to go Sid discovers both his tires are flat!
Ok Its about 4pm, we start up hans and our legs are burnin, great s\t climbing though and up at the top everything is good.
Down we go through probably the most enjoyable s\t in the desert! Sketch, loose, rocky exposed heaven, yea baby!! At the bottom its high fives for everyone and its off to Dunn road.
We hit Dunn road which is the start of Cindys and the sun drops down behind the mountain, pissssss. We elect not to ride the technically challenging cindy's for fear of riding the highly exposed rocky, steep, switchbacks in the dark, what a pissr!!! So we haul the mail down Dunn road, Troy bails in a rut and body rolls nicely to save his bacon, we get to the bottom and Craig (cjwally) flats again!!! I think that 4 flats for him and he is really po'd. He repairs while we race to the cars to go pick up the shuttle cars.
Ya baby 28 miles, thats what mountain biking is all about!! Great friends, great trails and big fuuuuuun. click on camera icon to view pics of the ride.

[tkblazer]

sounds like a pretty eventful ride! guess that tubeless deal really works

[bjammin]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

sounds like a pretty eventful ride! guess that tubeless deal really works

Yeah, it saved my @ss. After riding through the wash I picked up a ton of dead thorn balls and my rear tire was a little low so I pumped it back up and not a problem . Definitly worth the effort IMO.
Ben

[CalEpic]

Stans/Slime tubes/tire liners are the only way to go. That was the best tasting pizza I ever ate that night. I so hungry.

I was having such a great time, I only took one picture.

[ShinKen]

great report Mr big Tom da bomd!! the way u tell it well it gets me really pissed for missing it!! I really wanted to go but I guess I have to wait for the next run!! I really like that trail!! pure Single Track heaven!! great work guys.

ahh yes thanks C-man for that one pic!!

[tkblazer]

that looks like some crazy fun switchbacks

[mcgrath]

Nice RR Tom. You typed it as well as it sounded. Very good. Sounds like I missed yet another great ride.

[kentonn]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

that looks like some crazy fun switchbacks

It seems like all of the hills in this area have crazy-fun switchbacks. Here are some pics of the trail coming down Murray Hill which is a couple miles from Hahn. The exposure on the switchback in the second picture is equal to death if you were to miss it.