Sunday, August 24, 2003
Ride Report - Gambrill State ParkI arose from sleep around 6:00 AM, took the dog out and noticed the temperature had changed for the better. It was actually chilly outside. Back inside with the dog, eat a little something and grab my gear and I'm back out the door. Driving up to MD by 6:30 AM. The drive up is easy and quite, hardly any cars on the beltway at this hour on a Sunday. Arrive at the park around 7:30 AM and realize the park doesn't actually open until 8:00 AM. I decide to head back down into town and fill up my tank so I can make it back home later in the day. Drive back to the parking lot at 7:45 AM and the gate has been opened. Park the car, put on my gear, note the temperature has reached a cooling 57 degrees, grab the bike, stretch out, review my directions, and then it's off to the Yellow Trail across the street.
The trail starts off in a slight descent, just enough to build up some speed going into some flatter rocky terrain. This lead me to steep extremely rocky ascent. Not quite warmed up at this point so I get out of my seat a little early and just start cranking. After about the half way point and after a few water bar crossings, I have to stop and get off the bike. I run the rest of the way to the top as there is no good place to start up again. At this point I take out my directions again to review as my lungs are gasping for air. Other than having terrible cardio, my lungs are still trying to get used to the cold air instead of the 90+ degree humid air it's been subjected to over the past weeks. After a couple minutes of catching my breath and reviewing the directions it's back to the trail.
The trail branches off to my left and I see some flatter terrain. Having all the rocks so early is throwing me off a little as I can't get in a pedal pattern, but my legs are starting to warm up now. It's a lot flatter now with some quick ups and downs thrown in for good measure. The technical rock gardens are now becoming more second nature and it comes down to picking the best line. Cruising now and eyeing up the garden ahead when I make a crucial mistake of not really watching what was right ahead of me. Come off a rock and land the front tire right in front of another rock that my tire can't just roll over. Well I did roll over it, just not with my bike. First endo of the day, not to bad as the view through the canopy above is amazing. Back on the bike and with a little more pedalling I'm at the crossroads, right for the shortcut or left for the extended route. I take a little break here and try to look at the map and read some directions to figure out what I'm going to do. Decide to take the shortcut and cross the road over to the next path of singletrack. Get about 5 minutes of riding in before I decide "what the hell am I doing?" and ride back to the extended route.
The extended route is short and quick, but really twisty. Makes for some really great riding. Then it's basically back to where I was before taking the extended route, only I'm a 100 yards or so higher farther up on the fire road cross section. I continue to ride and take in this breathtaking singletrack. It feels incredible to be out on the dirt and rocks again. When they said Gambrill was rocky, they weren't joking. The trail is getting faster and more twisty as I ride farther into the park. The trail is still going up slightly, however it doesn't feel nearly as daunting as the first steep ascent in the beginning. Finally make it to another downhill section. Once again very fast and very rocky, lots of loose rock around too. This is a blast and I bomb down it, only to be confronted with a an uphill power line trail with more loose rock than the downhill. I Carry as much speed as I can into the hill and start to crank. Picking a good line on this hill is a must. About 2/3 of the way up I get stuck on a rock and spinout. I'm off the bike once again, but this time I'm walking up the rest, this hill took it's toll on me. Once at the top, I look back at what I have climbed and where I was earlier in the morning across the way. The view is spectacular!
My next ordeal was a hike-a-bike section. I had to guess where the trail actually was, but it turned out I was right. You have to climb up onto this tall mound through the trees. There you will pick up the trail again, which leads to some boulder size rocks with a rickety old wood plank to get up on. I tried to ride up it and about half way realized there is no way this thing is going to hold my weight and was able to jump off (right into a bush) as it started making cracking noises. Hoist my bike up and then climb up. The rocks turn out to be a really short section, but with a good 3 1/2 foot or so sloped drop off. When I landed my whole bike creaked, but it kept on going. Lost the trail here for a bit, but picked up a fire road that would take me back to the trail.
Where I pick up the Yellow Trail again, I meet some other bikers and we talk about how nice the day is and they mention there are a few more of them down the trail. I keep this in mind as I take off down the trail. This section is short and fast and leads back to another fire road. On the fire road pass a couple more riders going in the opposite direction (in fact I didn't see a single other rider riding the direction I was). Take a right and back onto some wider path that narrows back down to singletack and leads me to a nice descent and immediately into a long, but not too steep climb. This climb wasn't as rocky as the others and I was able to make it all the way to the top, although I had to stop once at the top and take a break. Back on the bike and a little farther down the trail, I pop out into an opening. Step off my bike as two hikers are walking by, then ride up to the scenic overlook and take a nice break here. This is my photo time. I drink a lot of water, eat some cliff bar, and just relax as I take in the spectacular view.
Once rested, now comes the fun part. The hill I initially climbed when starting out, I get to ride back down! I bomb down the trail from the street above. The trail is rocky enough to make my eyes jitter, which makes picking a good line a little hard. This time the water bars give me a little air and a chance to look ahead. The ride down is over to quickly and I'm back on the singletrack and headed for the parking lot. A few more twists and turns and I pop out back on the road in front of my car. What a great ride, I'm tired, yet refreshed and I can't wait to do it all again soon!
DT
posted by DT at 3:44:47 PM
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