Flutterby™! : Crazy bikers 2003-06-22 22:09:34.815383+00

Crazy bikers

2003-06-22 22:09:34.815383+00 by Dan Lyke 3 comments

Today's hike was up at China Camp State Park, to the site of the old missile battery at the top. For years I've seen the bike trail down this drop-off, but I've never seen anyone ride it. Today we had a couple of folks willing to show off for the hikers. All three images.

#Comment made: 2003-06-23 06:16:02.092721+00 by: Shawn [edit history]

I'm surprised, from some of the things that you've done, that you give the hill such... ominence. I had my first off-road crash on a slope almost exactly the same height and grade. Except that my slope was the topmost in a series of steps, with the next lip beginning at a position just a little inside the left edge of your picture.

The bike shop crew where I was working took me and my brand-spankin' new mtn bike out for a little off-road introduction. After riding through the woods for a bit we came to the steps. There was a rut (water run-off) down the middle of our trail and I thought they had advised me to "just keep your wheels in the rut". (Later I found out they were warning me to stay *out* of the rut.)

I was doing okay until I panicked at the speed and my inability to maneuver. Before long I had locked up my front brake and was diving over my handlebars, with my eyes closing as my butt left the seat. I landed almost straight down on my head and executed a forward somersault - at which point I found myself in the air again. I'd rolled right off the next lip.

Landed on my butt with my bike hitting my back a few seconds later. Thank Odin for helmets and the smart folks who insist on wearing them! I was fine if a little beat up but my comrades were convinced they'd be carrying me out on a stretcher and that my mother was going to kill them. (She worked in the backpacking dept. of the same store.)

I think the main thing is that I'm still not used to trusting suspension, and from the top it looks like the front fork has to take a lot of the impact. That image does make it look less scary, which means I need to get up there on my bike.

That, and the surface is fairly bumpy on the way down, which means the rear wheel will be doing a lot of jittering around.

I suppose I'd be a little leary of suspension shocks on such a slope as well. My bike predates them (or rather, they were just starting to show up in stores) and I've never done any serious riding with them. I see now also that the ground in your picture looks more like one big rock than was my situation.

Well, if/when you do get up there to give it a go I hope you have fun and ride away from it :-)