I rode my MOUNTAIN BIKE!

I probably doubled the miles on my mountain bike today. ;-) I joined a group of 9 folks for a ride of the Banks-Vernonia Linear Trail. We started at the Manning Trailhead since even after years of operation the trail still does not reach Banks. There is also a 3 mile stretch of gravel, with just over a quarter mile of that gravel being downright ugly, so the mountain bike was the two wheeled vehicle of choice today.


The chill of the morning reminded us that it was no longer summer, but the sky was cloudless and life was good. We pedaled along the old railroad grade that was now a paved multi-use trail. The first 7 miles were nice, then we hit a 3 mile gravel section. The gravel was a bit bothersome, even on fat MTB tires. The worst issue was the occasional deep loose gravel. My MTB brethren would just scoff at this, but the deep gravel gave this roadie a bit of trouble from time to time.

The worse was yet to come however. As we neared Top Hill, the trail dipped down sharply to avoid a high trestle. The down wasn't too bad, but the up on the other side was horrendous. I made the mistake of still having the SPD pedals on my mountain bike from the Furnace Creek 508, and compounded that by wearing my road shoes rather than my mtb shoes. I walked up the softball sized rocked, steep pitch. The road shoes made traction a pipe dream. I eventually made it back up to the original RR grade and re-mounted my bike and pedaled on. Even then, the trail looked more like a mountain bikers dream from time to time.


After three miles of this "fun" we were back on pavement and taking in some pretty fall colors on our way to Vernonia.



Before too long we arrived in Vernonia and stopped in at the same coffee shop/cafe that my Radonneur friends and I visited yesterday.



After an extended stop there we retraced our route back to Manning.

I'm not sure what the issue is with the rock section. Paved bike paths are not my preferred route. I have a road bike, and it does far better on the open road. Bike paths invite families, kids, jogging strollers, etc. With the terrible steep section around the trestle this path is not at all inviting to those users. I'm not sure if it's a lack of money, or lack of right of way, or what, but IMHO this needs to be fixed.

At any rate, I got 34 miles on my mountain bike today, very likely doubling the total mileage on this bike that I rarely ride. It was a good ride, great weather, nice fall colors, and good folks.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............34...............0.................34
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....860.....+.........0........=.......860
April total.....790.....+.........0........=.......790
May total.......901.....+.........0........=.......901
June total......543.....+.........0........=.......543
July total.....1322.....+.........0........=......1322
August total...1603.....+.........0........=......1603
Sept total.....1403.....+.........0........=......1403
October.........438.....+.........0........=.......438
Year to date...9047.....+.........30.......=......9077
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++