The West Magnolia trails up in Nederland are some of my favorite trails to ride, and each year I can't wait for the snow to melt off so I can get in some miles up there. Its a great escape from the summer heat, as the trail starts around 8800 feet. The trails aren't overly technical, but are some of the sweetest, flowing singletrack around. Its amazing what happens when mountain bikers actually make the trails (these trails started as pirate trails) instead of a county trail crew.
I took the singlespeed, which was a pretty good choice. Sure the Yeti is fun to blast through all the rocks and jump off everything in sight, but for the pure joy of twisty trail, you can't beat the 29er SS. The SS made the climbs more challenging, especially on dead legs, but also made it less guesswork trying to anticipate the sudden climbs that I had forgotten over the winter. No gear mashing, just stand and push the pedals.
The two pooches did pretty well, and really seemed happy to get to go. I was worried about the holiday crowds being a problem, but it wasn't too bad. We encountered a trio of riders somewhat suddenly and we didn't see them in time so we all had to stop briefly, but for the most part the dogs were well behaved.
We busted out a small loop with the dogs, and then headed for the car to put them up while we rode a bit more. Upon getting back to the car, Jill decided that would be enough for her and I went out solo for a little more trail time. I completed the loop of the lower trails and then headed downhill to the main parking lot to meet up with the rest of my crew.
We loaded up the sweet new trunk rack on the Accord, and headed down Boulder Canyon. Loads of rock climbers, cyclists, and picnicers lined the roadway. Starved, we called in some Chinese food pickup on the way. Home, full and clean the rest of the day was laid back.
A great weekend of a long mountain bike ride, a long hike and a quick ride with Jill and the dogs. I could get used to this...
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