Prairie View / Jewell Pass - Canada Day 2009

What better way to spend Canada Day than to go riding in the mountains?  We made it out to the Barrier trailhead sometime after noon.  The parking lot was packed with people going hiking and canoeing.  We didn't see much evidence of cyclists, which was odd.  We said "hello" and "thanks" to every single hiker we passed, and they all smiled, said "hi" back and stepped aside so we could get by.  Respect begets respect.  There were also no bugs, which was highly unusual. 

Winding our way up the switchbacks, I kept thinking that my bike seemed heavy, but then I remembered that I was actually out of shape.  We passed many hikers on the way up, and when we got to the scramble up to the lookout, we had to wait for a group of about 15 to come down.  That was fine, as I had to wait for my heart rate to get back to normal levels. 

We sat around at the top for a few minutes and then headed for the descent.  It hasn't changed - rocky and rooty all the way.  The new section put in by Jeff Eamon last year is really nice.  It's got flow, it feels fast and it's dry.  In fact, the whole trail was dry, which was a nice change of pace.  I almost always bobble a couple of sections on the way down, as past bails on ludicrously easy parts of the trail have left me psychologically scarred and unable to clean the whole thing.  Sad but true.  The new tires and fork really compensated for my lack of skill, and I only put a foot down twice.

On the way out, I jumped on the usually-wet singletrack beside the main trail, and it was dry and very fast.  I found myself in the air at one point, which was cool.  All in all, a great ride.  Happy Canada Day!