Oak Flat

Finally made it out to Oak Flat, courtesy of Louis and CJ. It’s been on the rock mecca hit list for quite a while. It didn’t disappoint. The above video sums it up well, but here are the stills and a few words.

It’s a virtual playground, where you’re only limited by your imagination. OK, maybe by your skills too (or in my case, lack thereof).

In a rare reversal, I found myself riding a couple things Louis wouldn’t. I’m not sure that’s ever happened before. A bit of an off kilter day for Louis.

And I was fortified with new-bike-courage. I was thoroughly impressed with the Green Meanie. It’s still a little hard to believe that 1″ shorter chainstays make that much of a difference. I lost count of the number of ‘panic manuals’ I somehow pulled off with some semblance of form. By the end of the day the term ‘panic manual’ was fading from my mental dictionary.

CJ was cruising around, making faster progress through the terrain than us. He took some DSLR pics that I hope to see soon.

Louis started getting his groove back before long, and hit some stuff I wouldn’t even consider.

As alluded to in the video, this area sits above a huge deposit of copper and is in danger of being closed and likely destroyed. I don’t know the latest on the effort to protect it (rock climbers have been among the biggest opponents — few people ride bikes out there), but from what I’ve read it doesn’t sound good. It’s possible the economic issues have stalled things, but I’m not sure they have done much more than that.

I can’t wait to get out there again. I feel like we only scratched the surface, and I can’t tell you how many probable lines I spotted but didn’t ride.

Even hours after driving back, after riding to the SAR Grand Prix banquet (Paula won the 2008 point series!) I was still playing over some of the lines in my head. Each would bring a smile to my face.