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From Fromme #3…. Halfway there

Posted: Sep 01 2010 in We Ride

The last few rides have shown one thing.... fall is on it's way.  But that's fine by me.  I LOVE fall riding.  It is by far my favorite time of year to ride!

Please excuse my lack of photos.....  A couple of the rides I went on were towards dusk and the light was just not working out for good pics with the equipment I have available.

 

Ladies Only / Upper Skull / Lower Skull

I thought I could make it all the way up and down when I left my house at 7pm.  But, it is mid-August.  So as I started down Ladies at about 8:15, it was starting to seem a bit dark....

Ladies is arguably the best trail on the Shore right now.  It's been said over and over again on the forums all spring and summer: THANK YOU DIGGER!  There is not enough that can be said about the flow of this trail.  I didn't start riding it until this year and it has been my favorite challenge of the year to fully link it all up and go top to bottom.  Such a great trail .

The problem was that when I got to the bottom of Upper Skull, it was basically dark.  I can now advise that trying to ride Skull in the dark is not a good idea.

 

Pipeline / Lower Ladies / The Crater

Riding up the hill, I started noticing the leaves starting to turn.... if I didn't admit it to myself the other night, now I knew that summer was starting to end.

I used to (try to) ride Pipeline a lot.  It was the first trail on Fromme that I tried and I just stuck with it.  I enjoyed it, as much as you can enjoy trying to ride a trail like Pipeline on a dirtjump hardtail with a 4" fork.  But, it is a lot better on a big bike.  I like all of the features on the trail; the bridges at the start, the rock rollers, and the teeter.  The flowing section at the end is great as well.  You can get a lot of speed going and things stay technical and fun. 

I rode Lower Ladies earlier this year, and it needed work.  There were portions of the trail that were almost totally washed away.  Well, someone was listening to my thoughts because it has gotten some work and is in pretty good shape.  There are still a couple of steep sections that I can't quite get my head around yet.  It's good to have goals for next year.  And finishing on the Crater Drop always helps my ego.

 

Squeaky Elbow / Upper Oil Can / Grannies / Upper Crippler / The Elevator / Lower Crippler

Riding up the road, I started noticing that the higher I went, the more I could see my breath.... in August.... as summer continues to show signs of ending.

Squeaky Elbow is a little trail above the seventh switchback that, from the looks of it, doesn't get a lot of use anymore.  There were about 3 trees down within the first minute of the trail, and a couple more at the end.  It could be fun, but it needs work. 

Upper Oil Can was actually very similar to Lower Oil Can, which I didn't really expect for some reason but quite enjoyed.  Kind of a nice blend of technical, steep sections with some skinnies, including a little playground area with an uphill skinny at the end that I just couldn't get. 

I have to say that I've ridden Grannies earlier this year, and it was just not for me.  I just can't get it, and I'll say that when I try to ride it, I end up walking sections and it just gets frustrating.  I've heard from some people that it is considered to be an old school cross country trail, so maybe that's why the trail, myself, and my Norco Shore just can't all get along.

But then, off Grannies, I found the entrance to Crippler, which I didn't see last time.  Was I glad to find this trail!  Lots of technical sections, little steeps, tight corners.  This is what the Shore is all about.  Crippler would be another great trail to train to DH race on.  However, I would also say this is another trail that needs to be buffed up a bit too though.

The Elevator and Lower Cripper came up on the other side of Baden Powell and kind of cross over each other at a couple of different points.  More fun technical riding, and there were some nice new sections that have been worked on recently that have some fresh new berms and log rides.  The DNV and the NSMBA have sure been doing a lot of great work on some of the Fromme trails recently.

 

So, night rides are pretty much done for the summer because of light.  Most of the rides I have left to do all the trails will be pretty long, so they will be more half day rides on my days off.  But, I'm happy to have made it this far!  Might be a bit over goal for the end of the month, but we'll see what happens.

Kelly

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