columbia trail ride

I refer to my road bike as the "Yellow Maserati". It's neither yellow nor a Maserati, but it's a good road bike that fits me well, and it's the equivalent, in bicycles, of a sportscar. I've also got a Giant hybrid that I made up to be a commuter (and then didn't use it to commute). It's got wider tires, so I can use it on trails, but if the road bike is a sportscar, the hybrid is more of a station wagon.

But this weekend, Laura OLPH decided to do a ride on the Columbia Trail. The announcement on her blog said:

Saturday's ride will be on the Columbia trail.  It's a flat, 30-mile, out-and-back MTB/hybrid trip that should be beautiful this time of year.  We'll start at the High Bridge side, go to the end, double back, and have our rest stop at the Califon General Store (they love us there).

The trail is very well maintained, wide, and mostly crushed gravel.  Mountain bike tires at 50 psi are fine.  Hybrids are fine too.  The pace will most likely be a low C+, but the effort to get that speed will feel like a B.

As for the pace, you can see my results (ignore the top speed; I forgot to turn off the GPS until after I'd driven a mile in the car). It is mostly flat, but if you look at the route; you'll see two turn-offs. One is where we stopped in Califon at the General Store (good break stop, and they treat us like folks). The other, at Middle Valley Rd, was where Tom H decided he wanted to see if he would take his road bike up what turned out to be a ferocious hill; one (very) short section includes a 30% grade.

We decided not to take the road bikes there.

Further along the trail, we came to a place where we were told it ended, and a bit further, there was a brand-new wooden wall across the trail. A local said we could go around it, and we did. I have no idea what the wall is for, or what they're trying to keep out, but you'll see pictures below.

At the wall:

Do not enter! Maybe because of the bow hunting?

Sights along the trail, including some of the Ken Lockwood Gorge:

On mountain bikes, you put the mascot up front. Every extra pair of eyes helps. Here's Chris's Tigger:

And Laura's Grover:

It's election time up there, of course, as it is all over the country. But unless this team endorses child abuse and distribution of rifles to disgruntled junior-high-school students, how could you NOT vote for these great names?