Well today I was once again back up at the Woodlot. Today I decided that I would go for a little bit of a longer ride and decided to go all the way up to Goldminer. I guess I am getting much better at climbing because there are now very few spots on the way up that I am not in the saddle riding up rather than walking. Once you cross the power lines it is pretty easy to pedal your way up the hill to the trailhead of Goldminer. As the trail flattens out I kept seeing snow on the ground. There really wasn't much, but there were little patches here and there. At the beginning of the ride it was raining lightly but by the time I was at the top, it was the typical West Coast rain..........hard. As I put my leg and arm armor on under the tree canopy, I thought to myself why more people don't do this trail. It is a fun fast flowing trail.......sure there are little to no stunts, but it is a fast fun single track trail.
Anyway I made it to the power lines and across to the lower Goldminer trail. I then had a look around on foot to see if there were any other trails in the area, but it looks like it is only Goldminer until you get to the next junction. So on I went catching a little air on a few of the jumps along the way. I then found the junction where Tsuga and Lower Goldminer meet up. I highly recommend taking the upper route rather than the lower as it is much drier and rideable out the skidder road up. While I was up there I went bush wacking to see if there were any other trails that nobody speaks about, and I think I found one. It was an abandoned trail that looks like nobody has hiked on it for quite some time let alone biked on it. Once I clear it up I will make sure people know where it is. So I made my way down Giant Killer and Hoots. I have not been down Hoots in quite some time, somebody made their way through it with a chainsaw and cleared the blown down trees...PROPS to you who ever you are. For the first time I did that small drop/jump that has an ugly log lip without any hesitation. I remember my last attempt......ugly wipeout. Anyways, it wasn't smooth but I landed it it okay. I will say that my new Avid levers are working well. For my first ride trying 1 finger braking I am pleased with performance. I then made my way to Shotgun and to the parking lot. The lower section of Shotgun should be closed.....it's too muddy and getting chewed up. I actually walked it as I didn't want to mess it up more than it already is. I would say I had a pretty good day up there and I didn't even see a single person on the trails. I saw many cars in the lot after my ride but then agian I was only the second car in the parking area when I got there in the morning so I was there way before most people.
Until the next installment........
