Chimney Diablo

Slickrock rampin’ by Chimney Rock

I had never been to Chimney Rock before, so when Doug suggested we head over there from the AZ Trail, I said, “sure, why not?”

A short jaunt off Bellota Ranch HQ road led us to the nice slick-rock playground that is Chimney Rock. For the next hour I wandered around, finding ledges and ridges to play around on. Doug and Paula climbed around on the rocks, with Doug reaching the high point of just about every rock in the area (including the Chimney itself).

We rode/ran the Belotta trail, then took the road back up. Rather than bump around in the car on the way back down, I took a right turn and blasted down Redington, dodging ATVs, ranch trucks and gunfire. There were a lot of folks out there today. It was a fine day to get out.

Rudi is strong

Saturday was a fine day to get out too (aren’t they all?). Lee scheduled an SDMB ride around Diablo Peak. Rudi, Lee and myself rounded out the group. We rode right from Lee’s door.

I forgot how fast Rudi’s singlespeed makes him ride (or try to ride) steep hills. The guy pedals hard. So I (tried to) pedal hard too. I think every hill he walked/ran I had to switch out of middle ring in order to clean. It was pretty darn impressive of him. Watching him descend loose steep roads is always fun, too.

After a dozen steep hills I was starting to feel it. Great stuff, though. Without Rudi there I would have dropped down to granny ring for many of them.

Now, it wouldn’t be a Lee ride without some hike-a-bike and bushwhacking. He claimed there was ~1 mile of unrideable sand on the route that he wanted to try and “shortcut’ around. We started off on a road that petered out on top of a ridge. Then we were on our own, trying to find an open route while avoiding drainages and other obstacles. It was quite fun. Not the fastest way to travel, but quite fun.

We did eventually hook back up, though the savings in time was questionable. The ride was more straightforward from here on. Most of the ride is rocky dirt roads that are just hard enough to keep your interest. And the weather was primo.

The best part of the ride, for me, was the absence of knee pain. I was a little uneasy going into it, having played it conservatively most of the week after whacking it lightly on my bike. I guess it was hysteria, but there was no way for me to know.