Guided Tour of Sycamore Canyon

For the past couple of days, I've noticed groups of mountain bikers in hills around our campground. Yesterday, I decided to go check the trails out!

There were no cheater trails through the fence of the campground out to trails, so I had to go the long way around. By the time I hit the trails I had almost 8 miles in, a nice warm up.

The trails follow the fence line of the campground for a while, so I was just kind of puttering around looking for the elusive hole in the gate to make trail access easier.

A few small groups of riders passed me. Then, along came John. He stopped to make sure I wasn't lost or needed help. I Explained to him I was just wandering around. John offered to give me 5 cent tour of the trail. It is pretty darn hilly around these parts, I was sure to let him know I was a flatlander from Michigan! 'No worries' was his response, 'this loop is a must do'.

So, off we went!



You can see here the area is pretty much all rolling hills. John took it easy on me, I able to keep up with him OK, that is, until we hit the "Triple Bitch". He beat me to the top, but, I never stopped pedaling!

There were only a couple of places where the trail got too technical for me and I had to walk, John of course, having rode these trails for the last 12 years and having 6" of travel on his Ellsworth, cruised over everything. Too bad I didn't bring the camera along, they would have made great pics!



For the most part, the pic above represents most of the terrain we traveled. Mostly smooth, some loose, lots of babyhead sized rocks, a couple of creek crossings.

I mentioned earlier I did not have the camera. These pics were borrowed from www.mountainbikebill.com a site John suggested I check out for other trails in the area to ride!

By the time all was done, I had 25 miles on the odometer. So, thanks to John for the tour. I would have never ventured that far on my own. You were right, the trail was a blast!

When I got back, Laura had found on-line this all you can eat Sushi place. After a 25 mile, hilly bike ride, I couldn't think of anything better!

-Rich-