June 1, 2022
Single Track Around the Lake And Through the Lava Rocks
Today was a day of variety, rocky rooty single track, flowy single track, smooth road riding, lake views, forest views, dirt road downhill, and flowy atv rocky trails.
Our guides made breakfast for us today. We had mega pancakes, eggs made to order, and yummy bacon. Carson demonstrated his flapjack flipping skills so Cheston had to demonstrate his egg flipping skills. They are both great cooks and everything was delicious!
The single track today was challenging for us. We went up and down hills, through trees, loose gravel, rocks, roots, and sand. This single track was very narrow, much different from the single track we ride at home which is wider and with much fewer obstacles. Although it was challenging for us we each think that we are improving our skills.
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At one point the single track traversed a lava rock field. The lava rocks have very sharp edges that cut deeply if you fall on them so we were especially careful there and walked places with loose and large rocks. In this geographic area there are several fields of black rock that are the result of cooled lava from several volcano eruptions eons ago. The most recent volcanic eruption in this area was 660 years ago. The lava eruption formed a dam that created Navaho lake.
Further on the trail there were several trees down blocking the single track so we aborted riding the trail about halfway around the lake. Luckily we were close to the road so we backtracked to the road and had a smooth ride around the lake.
Navaho lake is very clear and blue. We were lucky to have a beautiful view of the lake, the pine forests and aspen groves during our picnic lunch.
After lunch we took off on our bikes again to explore the lower single track trail for a short easy ride along the lakeshore. On that ride Carson treated us to bike tricks. It’s amazing the control he has over his bike.
Our next ride of the day was a lovely downhill from the trailhead at Cascade Falls down to Duck Creek village. We traversed dirt roads, and an atv path. The ATV path was rocky, sandy and flowy and fun to ride.
While we were relaxing after our ride a helicopter flew right over our lodge and landed in the drive area out in front of our balcony. They were there to meet an ambulance and transport a patient.
Dinner was a pizza party with the road cyclist group from Escape Adventures that is also staying in Duck Creek tonight. One of the guides drove to the nearest town to get pizza, on the way back he had to drive up a 5,000 foot ascent. While he was driving he could hear the dipping sauces and salad bags popping from the change in elevation.
Today's ride: 20 miles (32 km)
Total: 456 miles (734 km)
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