Around noon we decided to attempt a
ride to Cinnamon Pass and return to Lake City. It was raining and no indication
it would improve so we geared up and took off. Steve, Mike, Woodrow and Jeff
were on the Cinnamon ride while Terry, Cutter and Ernie decided to do a little
less technical ride just to give them some dirt time before we launch tomorrow
on Day 1 of Leg-2 TAT.
The first 10 miles or so was paved then
packed gravel. We finally reached the base of the mountain and started the
climb. It was still raining off and on and the road had numerous mud puddles
and embedded big and slick rocks. There
were still some jeeps and ATVs we needed to work around but nothing serious.
We came to the section that is one of
the most intense. It is below the main mountain climb but is a VERY narrow
double track road that went around the face of a mountain. Lots of blind turns
and traffic going both ways. The road was rough with mud holes and embedded
rocks. The key is don’t look down. It is a straight drop and a long way down to
the bottom.
We made it past this section then had
some good road until we got to the start of the switchbacks. These are steep
and happen at very sharp switchbacks. A couple is very notable. Jeff was in the
lead and he made the turn and then started cussing. The climb became a very
steep climb over solid, slick rock, Jeff made it and all I could think was “please
don’t let me drop the bike on this rock” My second though was “Woodrow will
never make this”. I made it by hitting power and just driving the bike up the
rock. Woodrow made it! He has gotten a lot better on this trip. We had several
other climbs that were just about as bad but we all made them.
We reached the top and it was a great
view looking down both sides of the Pass. The rain had stopped and the sun
started coming out and the ride back down was very enjoyable except for two
spots. The first was the one switchback with the slick rock. Everyone got down
OK but Woodrow was at the top looking down this very steep solid rock drop. We
had our intercoms working so we explained what he needed to do and he nailed it
perfectly.
The next section was the very narrow
road around the mountain face. We made it past this point and that was the
first time I could actually relax. The rest of the ride back to Lake City was
very enjoyable.
Total ride was 51.1 miles from Lake City
to Cinnamon Pass back the Lake City.
We are about to have dinner prepared by
the Judge and a few more drinks before we call it a night. We plan on having
the support truck packed tonight and launch around 6 am. Personally I hope the ride back to AR is nowhere
as exciting as the past two days. I need a couple of easy rides to relax.
More pics of todays ride below.
BTW we had a great dinner prepared by the Judge and looking forward to the start of our Ride tomorrow. Pay special not to the damage to the RV from the bolder that came down from a mountain pass on their trip to Lake City.
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