This is a whoopdy-do (aka wash). Jim is making great strides in riding in and out of them. I have learned to effectively use my brakes entering them, which is important if you have to exit into a sharp turn. My current strategy is to try to at least ride to the bottom and then decide if I'm walking or riding out.
There he goes, out of it. Mountain biking is a lot of technique. Keeping one's weight back is crucial. Weight forward is usually a bad thing. After road riding for all of these decades, and knowing that loose rocks represent death, it's hard to accept that yes, the mountain bike will go over the rocks without maiming.
Yesterday we hiked.
Today we rode with some of the RV park people. These guys should be called the Long Riders. We did 47 miles. Forty seven. My ischial tuberosities are just glowing from the experience. We headed south towards Helmet Peak. It's not a really hilly ride, the first 18 miles is a false flat, you're climbing all the way. Then it's down and then it's flat. It was a long way, I was very happy to see the RV park.
These are copper mine tailings. The amount of territory covered by these things is amazing.
They go on for miles.
It was a good ride. It's difficult to know what to wear, we started at 9 am and it was 38 degrees. By 11:00 it was into the 60's. We started out in jackets because it was really really cold, but then we ended up carrying them. So, suffer the cold, or carry the jackets. I need a soigneur to follow me collecting my clothing.
These are descansos, which is Spanish for "a place of rest." They are all over South Tucson, which is largely Hispanic. Some are really large and ornate, some are just a small cross and a candle. It's unsettling, seeing them, knowing someone died there.
Tomorrow I think we're resting. Today was very strenuous.
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