Rose Lake

[jacked]

[quote="xcrdr"...Then asked if I had seen anyone loop out (flip over backwards) on a MTB jump. I have not. So pull away on those bars! ...[/quote]

It takes an unusual amount of skill and grace but yes I have done it, I mean seen it.

[reidabel]

Okay, my prediction of the rain pattern overnight was wrong, and the forecast is talking all about rain for today and tomorrow, so I'm not going to ride at Rose Lake at noon today. AllMountin' - if you end up riding there today, let us know which trails are good and which are bad, it would be nice to know how much rain it can handle. I would have possibly gone out there anyway, just to see for myself, but I am going to go into the office and earn some money instead.

Regarding the jumps, I think I'll practice doing that second jump on the left, trying to pull the bars up more and more to see if I can land back wheel first. It's interesting how it looks so much more tame on video than it FEELS actually doing it. It gives me even more respect for the people who go big on these sorts of things.

[F7Cannon]

Once I am all healed up I am going to have to go out there with you Steve. I went once last year and was pretty much lost just riding sandy double track and walking across rivers. Found the jump area but that was about it.

Oh, what the did you do to yourself??

Medical, nothing physical like a crash Steve. At this point I wish it was from a crash I would probbably be riding by now. Hopefully won't be too long now but I am going to be way behind on riding. Oh well could be worse I guess. Hope to see you guys on the trails soon.

[AllMountin']

The rain cleared up just before noon today and I headed out to Yankee Springs East, errr... Rose Lake for a ride. Slight exaggeration? Maybe. I was on the trail by 12:45pm, less than two hours after the rain stopped. The leaves on most of the downhills have been washed away by runoff, which means that Rose Lake got hit pretty hard. A good chance to look at the worst case scenario in terms of trail conditions at Rose Lake after a heavy rain.

I hit the usual route first time around, shown here:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85620801

I avoided some of the smaller off-shoot trails that are already borderline when it's drier. I started to the right from Woodbury and took the trail left of the jumps, for the flowing downhill. The wet leaves in the turns decrease traction, but otherwise the trail is firm and fast all the way back till it dumps back into the main trail. The main trail is, of course, just fine. It is still a little loose when damp, due to the deep sand. Taking the next trail to the North, and all the way through to the ridge trail is likewise clear of any standing water or mud. I took the ridge trail clockwise and the high stuff is all good. You'll encounter your first wet spots at the East end of the ridge trail, before you turn right for the rocky uphill back toward the West. Here, you'll find these 3 trouble spots:





I walked the first and last, but was able to ride around the middle one. The trail clears immediately once you head uphill and stays that way all the way to the main trail. The entrance to the South part of the loop looks like this:



The first couple of turns (maybe 50 yards) are wet, and require hike-a-bike IMO. After that- smooth sailing until you approach the stream crossing:




I've taken to riding the creek crossing, since the banks and bed are both firm. I was also able to ride the standing water prior, since it was still firm. This is looking back after riding it. Note the lack of visible tracks leaving the water. From here you have clean trail all the way back to the parking lot. A word of warning: If you ride the stream bed- there is hole right at the West edge that is the perfect size to swallow a wheel. I found it- and subsequently went OTB for a face full in the drink. Easily avoided, now that I know it's there.

A 5 mile loop. 6 wet spots- only 3 of which need hiking IMO. All in all, well worth it.

-----------------------------------
Jump section:

I violated my own rule and ran the jump section again as part of this log:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85645450

It was my cleanest and smoothest to date. The gap in the trees seemed wider than I remembered, and I carried more speed through the two gap jumps. The only snapshot I have from that downhill suggests 17mph, which is around what I would have guessed for speed. The individual speed samples from those logs can be very inaccurate.

The first gap landing (note the tire mark to the left of the leaf):



...and the second (dead center; couple feet from lip):



Feel free to overshoot the final jump. The berm terminates on a downward slope. Right now, there is a lake below this jump, so better to use one of the bypasses to the left:



Edited to remove stunt pics and discussion. Nothing good will come from posting this on a public forum.

Happy riding...

[pfox90]

I've never even seen these stunts out there.

[reidabel]

Awesome, thanks for sharing! Now we know what we're getting into if we go out there after a rain. I recognized the location of every picture except for the last two. 17 mph on the jumps - wow, that's way beyond my comfort level ... good to know. Good detail on the landing marks, too. If that's where that kind of speed puts you, I would definitely end up with my back wheel in the gap and a nasty, nasty landing. Maybe I should start wearing a cup. And shoulder pads. And a full face helmet. Maybe just full-body bubble wrap ...

[SteveF]

Once I am all healed up I am going to have to go out there with you Steve. I went once last year and was pretty much lost just riding sandy double track and walking across rivers. Found the jump area but that was about it.

Oh, what the did you do to yourself??

Medical, nothing physical like a crash Steve. At this point I wish it was from a crash I would probbably be riding by now. Hopefully won't be too long now but I am going to be way behind on riding. Oh well could be worse I guess. Hope to see you guys on the trails soon.

Sorry to here it, man! Hope you're feeling better soon. If a beer would help, I make housecalls.

[F7Cannon]

Thanks Steve. Can't drink for a while either but feel free to swing by any time and have one for me!

[reidabel]

Despite the constant light rain I decided I HAD to ride today and thanks to Steve's great report I figured Rose Lake might be okay. It was, looked the same as in the pictures, despite absorbing even more rain. Never saw another bike, but there were several cars in the lot, a runner, a family, and a few lone walkers. Two men in camo off the trail. I think people look for mushrooms out there. No horses.

The muddy spots were as pictured, the vegetation was hanging down a bit, but all in all it was a good ride. I found the two stunts I had never seen before, to the right past the fourth jump. The two last stunts in the pictures are in bad shape. The first one looked rideable when I came up to it, and it has another jump alongside it, but when I looked more closely, there was a problem - one of the 2-inch sticks cleverly used for decking (instead of boards) had dislodged and was upside-down, with both nails sticking their sharp ends up into the air! I took it out, it didn't go back in in a way I thought would be permanent. I doubt I'm going to ride either of these two stunts.

Somebody mentioned the choices coming up to the jump section: left for a nice downhill, middle for the jumps (and worn-out stunts), and they didn't know where the trail to the right went. Neither did I, so I took a look today. Don't bother, it just dead-ends at the swamp at the bottom of a steep hill. No fun at all, at least not on the way back up.

Back to the jumping discussion for an important question I should have asked earlier: clipped-in versus flat pedals? Do you have to be clipped in to do these bigger jumps? I'm thinking maybe the back tire would drop down too quickly if I weren't clipped in. Opinions?

[AllMountin']

I thought of going out there again, but didn't see a break on the radar for hours, so I opted not too. My wheel ate my RD on my last ride due to a stick jam in the jockey wheel- so the hanger still needs a little massaging anyway.

Good catch on the nails on the log ride stunt. I rode it a half dozen times and I guess was fortunate not to puncture my brand new tube and tire. I also rode the gap jump next to it 3 times. I shorted it slightly the first time, but was able to absorb the rear tire hit w/out the OTB experience. Definitely another one that doesn't hurt to overshoot, since it lands on a down slope. Unfortunately, you have to brake pretty hard after it to make the subsequent log crossing. I didn't see any way of getting that particular tree off the trail, so the log crossing on the right was the best I could do. I didn't see any appropriately sized dead fall to make the larger part passable. I'll take a look at it next time out.

Re: Flats vs clips- top shelf riders jump with flats very successfully. My clips are my crutch. I did teach myself to hop on flats and can take drops on them, but multiple consecutive drops cause me to lose traction. I wouldn't trust myself in the air on them, but that's me. My experience on them is basically one lap of Poto and one lap at Anderson. I have been clipless since I bought my bike basically.

[pfox90]

probably go out there tmrw give it another day to dry out, it's either hike a bike or get muddy as *beep*; trying not to do either

[AllMountin']

That's a fine plan. There were a handful of us bikers out there this afternoon/evening. The vast majority of the trail system has dried to the point where it isn't really evident that it rained. You can carry full speed through the corners again. The few wet spots have absorbed the standing water, but most of them are muckier now than they were a couple days ago. The East end of the ridge trail, where it meets up with the rocky uphill, is particularly muddy. It will be for at least several days. I've taken to riding the ridge trail from the West end, taking the log pile bypass, and looping back West over the log pile and back out. It dawns on me that this may be the reason it was built- so someone could loop just the hills- and bypass the problem areas to the East. This will be my new route until things dry up a bit.

Lots of dead fall on the trail due to the wind. I cleared most/all of the large stuff from the normal routes. Lots of small sticks and debris remain. Swamp water is back up a bit. The wee off-shoot loop on the SW edge of the loop runs down by it and is covered in maybe an inch of water.

Today's route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86174105- Not a good one to follow, but I'm posting it because I actually rode the whole main trail today (it was awesome! )- so it will give one a more complete understanding of where everything is in relation to it. Note the top speed of 94.7 mph. LMAO. I believe I've mentioned how inaccurate those speed splits can be. Not this one though- it's legit.

Hope to see y'all out there.

[rvd]

I hit the usual route first time around, shown here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85620801

I tried to approximately follow your route the other day, but was only partly successful: http://connect.garmin.com/player/86404220
The section heading north (13 minutes into my ride) from the bridge over the bluff above the river (I think you and others call this the ridge trail) was a lot of fun. On the stretch east, though, we must have missed the turnoff south to loop back to the starting point, so we continued further east along the creek. Convinced that I had studied your map well, we trodded on. Only after two water crossings, balancing on logs submerged ankle-deep in water (after 25 and 32 minutes into the ride), we found a way to loop back. Definitely this northern part of Rose Lake has some great trails that I rode for the first time; if you want to follow the exact ride we did, however, make sure to bring your waders.

[AllMountin']

Glad you found your way out. The right turn on the east of the ridge trail is easy to miss.

I started riding that trail as an out and back, doubling back at the log pile/bypass. Yesterday's log:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86367327

You can ride out to the point of the lake for variety or to add mileage. Not the greatest, but switches things up.

[reidabel]

I love these ride maps, it was interesting to flip back and forth between the two that you guys made and compare routes. Now that I know the place better, it seems that the map is incorrect when it shows Vermillion Creek crossing the ridge trail twice. I thought at first that those were the two stick/water crossings, but from what the two of you say you rode, I think the creek is just delineated incorrectly on the map.

So what models of Garmin devices do the two of you have? Maybe I should pick up one of these as well. Did you get them online or at a local store?