A Fatbike Adventure

1/18/15

I've been trying to get over a nasty chest cold/bronchitis/flu now for several weeks, so I felt an easier day might be better. I picked out a route that I had not traveled yet, just to see where the roads go. It was fairly local and should yield a route of around 25 miles or so. What is that old saying about the best laid plans of mice or men?  It really didn't work out like that at all ..... 

First off, planning my route ahead of time I saw that I could take one road all the way to the tee, and turn left. I like doing that as I don't have to remember stuff so much. Just go to the tee and turn .... hey, easy always works for me. So, I did just that, and the road I went north on, I had never traveled either, so it was all a new experience, and a new adventure. North I went, and got to the tee like expected, and turned left only to go about a quarter of a mile to find this .........

Possibly the locked gate and the deteriorating road might lead me to believe that this ride may not be so normal after all. Sure enough, another half mile, almost within sight of the next road I came across this ......... 

Right up at the top of the hill in the background is where the next road crosses. Ah, me ....... so close, yet soooo far! I had a fleeting thought about hanging onto the bike with one hand, and the bridge top rail with the other and walking across sideways  ...... sanity prevailed, however, and I decided to backtrack and choose another road. The gully you see under the bridge is about twenty-five feet deep anyway, not some place I wanted to be if something went wrong. 
So, another road ....... 

This one ended at an old pickup truck with a couple guys in it. Also a barricade, although this one, I could just step over. So, as long as they were just sitting there, I asked if the road through the creek channel was passable. 
There was some serious thinking going on between the two of them, I could almost see the smoke rising. "Wal now" he starts, "Best way to do thet is to jus' foller this here road to your raht 'n jes' keep on a-follerin' it for a mile or more, then it'll turn and cross t' gully, n' y'all kin jes foller it raht bek to this here road on t'other side" "Follow what road" I asked ......... "Why, thet one raht there, y'all blind er sumtin?" ......

Mudholes like this became the order of the day as I progressed south along the "road" ...Obviously, the ridge in the middle was the only choice to be made here as both sides and the big water holes were not usable options. The sides were gooey, and the water ....well .... But, as it turned out, the far side of the middle ridge was almost quicksand. Looked good ......ah yes .....an adventure ride is what it's all about, right? 

So, I just kept following the "road" to the south for what he said would be a "mile or so" ...... and it kept getting more and more interesting.

 
But also kept getting just prettier and prettier as I went along

"Jes' keep on the road until it crosses the gully" he said ..... "and then y'all got it made ".

The "road" on the other side of the "gully" is almost vertical causing a hike-a-bike to the top. But it does get me to the other side of the gully.

On the other side, the terrain becomes much different. More hilly, much more rocky and big rooted sections making for more hike-a bike sections. 

For what seemed like an eternity, I kept following the "road", north this time, or so it seemed. Besides the challenges, there were times when it would become a paradise. But even with all the challenges that a better mountain biker than me would have taken in stride, I found this to be one of the prettiest areas in which I had ever had the pleasure of bicycling. 

Finally, I did find the original road that I had started from, and in a way, even though traversing the trail was tough, I was a bit sorry it was over. Well ...... it wasn't over ..... yet! This is what the "county road" looked like ........

Big fat tires hold a lot of mud.

The adventure was far from over yet as I was soon to find out, but first, let's go on down to the "gully" and see why I couldn't just go across here on this road....... 

Oh ........ 

If you look close, just on the other side of the creek, there is a little yellow "road closed" sign ..... and you can see the "road" going on up through the trees.

I guess that's why ....... So, turn around again and back on up past where I had come out onto this "road" and headed back toward civilization. What's this ...... he never mentioned barbed wire fences and locked gates ...... and I'm on the inside, looking out.Well ...... as much as I enjoyed the ride ....... I am not going to go back. So ... picking the 32 pound bike up and throwing it over a five foot tall barbed wire fence sounds like it might involve an injury or two ...... it may have drawn a little blood. The fence was a bit shorter than the gate, however. I used the gate to get myself over. 

Only to go a quarter mile further and find yet another locked gate and more barbed wire. So .....repeat the process, trying unsuccessfully to be a bit more careful ..... and then, on the other
side of the fence, there was this sign...... 

 
Well, now really, he needn't have worried, I had a hard enough time just getting my bike over the fence, let alone a cow ..... There wasn't a sign or locked gates on the other side of the gully .... 
So, finally out ...... I found the actual county road again and climbed up some steep long hills .... reminiscent of Utah color country. 

 and then back down again, and then back up again .... 

 But back into civilization once again. 

Heading on home, I found why maybe my cleats weren't clipping in quite as easily as normal. I have to admit, though, they did get me home like this without much trouble. 

All in all, a truly unusual day full of many adventures, but one I wouldn't have taken back for anything. I ended up with 31 miles of adventures that I would never have seen otherwise. What a day! Yes .... my cough is worse today ...... oh well ..... I still wouldn't have given it up.