GETMETOCA
Can't Wait For Tuesdays
- Mar 17, 2002
- 4,765
- 0
If someone would have told me the following facts, I would not have believed them:
Yep, that was the Dave Wood Class, held at Forresthill, CA this past Saturday. I coulda swore Dave advertised this class for "beginners" and that we were gonna do "blue and green" trails to improve our skills. I know ALL the blue and green trails at Forresthill and they're all a blast. Fun stuff. Its all good! I just stay off Trail 6, thats for lunatics!
The first thing Dave tells the class of 10 students was that we were going to learn a few skills before we head out onto the Trail 6 to put them to use. Did he just say Trail 6?
Yes. He just said Trail 6 :whiner:
I seek out my friend Mick, who's along to help out the straggling riders and ask him if he's ever done Trail 6. His eyebrows raise a bit as he says "Brutal!" Then he realizes the effect his statement has on me and reassures me that I'll do fine!:silly: I then go seek out Treefinder, he's for sure familiar with all of Forresthill. I want to know how he thinks I'll do, as he knows my skill level. "I've never done Trail 6", says Treefinder. My heart drops a little more.
I decide to just put my trust in Dave Wood, afterall, he would not put us in danger and must understand the limits a human can endure out there on the trail. I steel myself at the entrance to Trail 6 after we practice some drills we would need to survive out there. Time to go. Do or die. That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Buck up. Chin up. All that stuff went through my mind. Surprisiningly, my attitude at this point was pretty positive.
The first part was awesome. Fun trails, single track, woods, few rocks. Then it looks like we will be decsending. Not so much a steep drop down, but a meandering maze of downward spirals that take us deep into a lush canyon. This isn't so bad. I take my time, navigate rocks and roots. Try to focus on the trail in front of me instead of the sheer drops to my side. I get to my first switchback. I'm supposed to use my new skills and remain standing, drop into the seat, dab with the inside foot and pull the rear tire around. Instead, I stop before the turn about 4 feet. I get off the bike and shut off the engine. I use the clutch to allow the bike to inch (and I mean inch!) forward, then manuever the bike around the hairpin. I try not to look over the side. But I do anyway:( .
Well, at least that's behind me. I can handle more of this. Only there were about 8-10 more switchbacks just like this one. Some I handle better than others. Some I doggy paddle through the turn, some I hop off and clutch through. Some I hand the bike over the Mick. It seems like hours later and we get down to the bottom of this treacherous, rocky, steep mountain. We stop and rest at a beautiful foot bridge that spans across a babbling creek.
After we take a short break, Dave congratulates us all on accomplishing the task we have just completed, but there is more to come. He and Mike Pascarella go over some more reminders on how to navigate obstacles in the trail, body position, mental attitude. Dave tells us that Trail 6 will take us back up another Canyon, then down and up one more time. We are only about a quarter of the way done with this loop.
The next section is uphill and proves to be lots of fun. My lowered gearing is really helping me out a lot as I recall past tries at similar hills with failure. I'm starting to have a lot of fun, even though I'm still wore out physically from the recent decent. I get to one tough rocky uphill section and Mick has to ride my bike through it. A few other people have trouble, then we all proceed as a group. There's an abandoned bike, mostly frame and wires and hanging headlight, resting up against a tree. We joke that it must have been one of Dave's former students who didn't quite make Trail 6:) . We all eventually get to the top of this part of the trail and exit the Trail head onto a fireroad. While we are resting, Dave points back at the trail marking and notes the Black Diamond designating Trail 6 and tells us we should all be pround of ourselves.
We get a break by riding about 2 miles of fireroad to the next decent into Trail 6. I think we are about half way through the trail at this point and I'm almost out of water. So are the others. Well, I made it this far, I can finish this. Trouble is, I'm so exhausted and physically spent by this point I start to make stupid mistakes. I try hard to stay focused. Most of this trail is rocky, but also has some fun single track. Those sheer drop offs are still avidly present and I somehow wander my gaze over the side and......over I go.
I'm thinking I'm a gonner. My bike stays near the top and I tumble, landing on my bad shoulder and I hear something crunch or pop. After catching my breath and getting a helping hand by pulling myself up by tree roots and branches 20' to the outreached arm of one of my classmates. I whine about my shoulder a little, having just healed up from a rotator injury. Dave tells me, with a little mischievousness, the crunch and pop must have been the tree branch I snapped on the way down and not my shoulder. It makes me smile a little and I decide I better get focused and not fall off the cliff anymore.
The rest of the ride gets a little sketchy. I remember some really fun trails, feeling great at some points, feeling like an idiot at others. Being exhausted, feeling dehydrated. Having a hard time remounting my bike after someone would ride it through a tough section. I recall thinking that single track next to steep drop offs would never bother me as much anymore and also feeling like I was going to get sick.
I was riding along this uphill, narrow, rocky and root infested section. No one was in front of me because they were so far ahead. No one was behind me because someone was having trouble in a section I had just left. I crash in a tough rocky section and become lodged between my bike and a boulder. My right thigh is stuck high up. I try to lift the bike up and I'm too weak and make no progress. I try to use my free leg for leverage to move the bike and that makes my other leg cramp up. A few more futile attempts and I end up wedging my stuck leg even tighter. I resign to sit and wait for the next riders to come up the trail. I can't believe how exhausted I am. I realize I'm sitting in the sun and there's a busy ant farm a couple of feet from me near the boulder. I envision being taken over by the hungry ants, unable to exticate myself from the boulder and my bike. I try to move the bike again and I'm amazed at how little energy I have.
My thoughts then wander to the Mountain Climber in the recent news who, upon getting stuck and wedged under the weight of a boulder for three nights, uses his pocket knife to cut his arm off at the elbow to extricate himself and save his life. I realize I'm fresh out of pocket knives.....and OH LOOK!!! Here comes one of my classmates up the trail to save me now!! YAY!
More tough trail, more rocks, more roots, more of Mick riding my bike up the hard stuff, more pep talks from Dave. Once, Mike Pascarella even put me on the back of his Husaberg and rode us two up a section I didn't think was possible. Amazing. Dave can see that I'm dwindling mentally and offers me some of his water (thanks). The last section goes on far longer than I kept imaging. Isn't the end of the trail just around the corner? Mike's Husaberg overheats from going so slow behind me through the tough sections. My bike boils too and we have to wait.
We finally get to the end of Trail 6. All better people, better riders. All are exhausted, bruised, out of water, mentally drained. We are all happy to see friendly fireroad and the thought of getting back to camp carries us forward. Its 8 PM by the time we get back, still light out. Water is all I can think about. We've been out there for 10 hours and completed a mere 32 miles.
I would have never CHOSEN to ride this trail, but I'm very happy that I did. I can now say I rode a tough Black Diamond Trail and even though I needed a good amount of assistance and pep talks, I still feel good about it. Would I do it again? Probably not for a while! But now the single track next to a cliff doesn't bother me as much, the rooted rocky stuff I can get through most of the time, and I don't think anything will ever be as tough as what I have just completed.
Thanks Dave, Mike and Mick. I could not have done this without your support.
- You will ride the most difficult trail you have ever attempted in your life
- It will take you 10 hours to complete a total of 32 miles
- You will run out out of water at about hour 6
- You will try not to look at steep cliff drops while trying to navigate a sharp hairpin switchback (repeat 25 more times)
- You exit the trail and look back to see that it was indeed....a Black Diamond trail
- You will have...................FUN?:think:
Yep, that was the Dave Wood Class, held at Forresthill, CA this past Saturday. I coulda swore Dave advertised this class for "beginners" and that we were gonna do "blue and green" trails to improve our skills. I know ALL the blue and green trails at Forresthill and they're all a blast. Fun stuff. Its all good! I just stay off Trail 6, thats for lunatics!
The first thing Dave tells the class of 10 students was that we were going to learn a few skills before we head out onto the Trail 6 to put them to use. Did he just say Trail 6?
Yes. He just said Trail 6 :whiner:
I seek out my friend Mick, who's along to help out the straggling riders and ask him if he's ever done Trail 6. His eyebrows raise a bit as he says "Brutal!" Then he realizes the effect his statement has on me and reassures me that I'll do fine!:silly: I then go seek out Treefinder, he's for sure familiar with all of Forresthill. I want to know how he thinks I'll do, as he knows my skill level. "I've never done Trail 6", says Treefinder. My heart drops a little more.
I decide to just put my trust in Dave Wood, afterall, he would not put us in danger and must understand the limits a human can endure out there on the trail. I steel myself at the entrance to Trail 6 after we practice some drills we would need to survive out there. Time to go. Do or die. That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Buck up. Chin up. All that stuff went through my mind. Surprisiningly, my attitude at this point was pretty positive.
The first part was awesome. Fun trails, single track, woods, few rocks. Then it looks like we will be decsending. Not so much a steep drop down, but a meandering maze of downward spirals that take us deep into a lush canyon. This isn't so bad. I take my time, navigate rocks and roots. Try to focus on the trail in front of me instead of the sheer drops to my side. I get to my first switchback. I'm supposed to use my new skills and remain standing, drop into the seat, dab with the inside foot and pull the rear tire around. Instead, I stop before the turn about 4 feet. I get off the bike and shut off the engine. I use the clutch to allow the bike to inch (and I mean inch!) forward, then manuever the bike around the hairpin. I try not to look over the side. But I do anyway:( .
Well, at least that's behind me. I can handle more of this. Only there were about 8-10 more switchbacks just like this one. Some I handle better than others. Some I doggy paddle through the turn, some I hop off and clutch through. Some I hand the bike over the Mick. It seems like hours later and we get down to the bottom of this treacherous, rocky, steep mountain. We stop and rest at a beautiful foot bridge that spans across a babbling creek.
After we take a short break, Dave congratulates us all on accomplishing the task we have just completed, but there is more to come. He and Mike Pascarella go over some more reminders on how to navigate obstacles in the trail, body position, mental attitude. Dave tells us that Trail 6 will take us back up another Canyon, then down and up one more time. We are only about a quarter of the way done with this loop.
The next section is uphill and proves to be lots of fun. My lowered gearing is really helping me out a lot as I recall past tries at similar hills with failure. I'm starting to have a lot of fun, even though I'm still wore out physically from the recent decent. I get to one tough rocky uphill section and Mick has to ride my bike through it. A few other people have trouble, then we all proceed as a group. There's an abandoned bike, mostly frame and wires and hanging headlight, resting up against a tree. We joke that it must have been one of Dave's former students who didn't quite make Trail 6:) . We all eventually get to the top of this part of the trail and exit the Trail head onto a fireroad. While we are resting, Dave points back at the trail marking and notes the Black Diamond designating Trail 6 and tells us we should all be pround of ourselves.
We get a break by riding about 2 miles of fireroad to the next decent into Trail 6. I think we are about half way through the trail at this point and I'm almost out of water. So are the others. Well, I made it this far, I can finish this. Trouble is, I'm so exhausted and physically spent by this point I start to make stupid mistakes. I try hard to stay focused. Most of this trail is rocky, but also has some fun single track. Those sheer drop offs are still avidly present and I somehow wander my gaze over the side and......over I go.
I'm thinking I'm a gonner. My bike stays near the top and I tumble, landing on my bad shoulder and I hear something crunch or pop. After catching my breath and getting a helping hand by pulling myself up by tree roots and branches 20' to the outreached arm of one of my classmates. I whine about my shoulder a little, having just healed up from a rotator injury. Dave tells me, with a little mischievousness, the crunch and pop must have been the tree branch I snapped on the way down and not my shoulder. It makes me smile a little and I decide I better get focused and not fall off the cliff anymore.
The rest of the ride gets a little sketchy. I remember some really fun trails, feeling great at some points, feeling like an idiot at others. Being exhausted, feeling dehydrated. Having a hard time remounting my bike after someone would ride it through a tough section. I recall thinking that single track next to steep drop offs would never bother me as much anymore and also feeling like I was going to get sick.
I was riding along this uphill, narrow, rocky and root infested section. No one was in front of me because they were so far ahead. No one was behind me because someone was having trouble in a section I had just left. I crash in a tough rocky section and become lodged between my bike and a boulder. My right thigh is stuck high up. I try to lift the bike up and I'm too weak and make no progress. I try to use my free leg for leverage to move the bike and that makes my other leg cramp up. A few more futile attempts and I end up wedging my stuck leg even tighter. I resign to sit and wait for the next riders to come up the trail. I can't believe how exhausted I am. I realize I'm sitting in the sun and there's a busy ant farm a couple of feet from me near the boulder. I envision being taken over by the hungry ants, unable to exticate myself from the boulder and my bike. I try to move the bike again and I'm amazed at how little energy I have.
My thoughts then wander to the Mountain Climber in the recent news who, upon getting stuck and wedged under the weight of a boulder for three nights, uses his pocket knife to cut his arm off at the elbow to extricate himself and save his life. I realize I'm fresh out of pocket knives.....and OH LOOK!!! Here comes one of my classmates up the trail to save me now!! YAY!
More tough trail, more rocks, more roots, more of Mick riding my bike up the hard stuff, more pep talks from Dave. Once, Mike Pascarella even put me on the back of his Husaberg and rode us two up a section I didn't think was possible. Amazing. Dave can see that I'm dwindling mentally and offers me some of his water (thanks). The last section goes on far longer than I kept imaging. Isn't the end of the trail just around the corner? Mike's Husaberg overheats from going so slow behind me through the tough sections. My bike boils too and we have to wait.
We finally get to the end of Trail 6. All better people, better riders. All are exhausted, bruised, out of water, mentally drained. We are all happy to see friendly fireroad and the thought of getting back to camp carries us forward. Its 8 PM by the time we get back, still light out. Water is all I can think about. We've been out there for 10 hours and completed a mere 32 miles.
I would have never CHOSEN to ride this trail, but I'm very happy that I did. I can now say I rode a tough Black Diamond Trail and even though I needed a good amount of assistance and pep talks, I still feel good about it. Would I do it again? Probably not for a while! But now the single track next to a cliff doesn't bother me as much, the rooted rocky stuff I can get through most of the time, and I don't think anything will ever be as tough as what I have just completed.
Thanks Dave, Mike and Mick. I could not have done this without your support.
