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Log Machine, Schubarth, and Bike Tossing!


Had a nice big misadventure today! Planned to do Log Machine to Schubarth, and then come out via Deadman's Gulch. Followed 307 to 313, which looked right on the Pikes Peak Atlas. Somehow I ended up at the end of 311, where I followed a faint trail east into the woods. Ended up in the Hell Creek basin, then did an unbelievable bushwack down the mountain. A seriously character-building ride.

My planned 3 hour ride turned into a 5.5 massive sufferfest! I have never gone through so much dense scrub oak. It was so bad, that I employed a cycling technique I've never used before: Bike Tossing! When the scrub oak gets too thick to get both you and the bike through, raise the bike overhead with both hands, proceed to launch downhill as far as possible, then use both hands to bushwack through the bush to your bike. Repeat ad nauseum. I managed to finally make it down the mountain. I think it took 80 minutes to go just over one half mile.

Ever heard of a Spot II Satellite GPS Messenger? If you are a frequent dumba$$, such as myself, it may be the perfect tool for epics. I got one last week and used it for today's ride. The Spot II is a gps receiver / emergency communication device. It allows you to send out waypoints on a 10 minute basis, send out an OK message with your location, send a Help message to people of your choice, send a custom message, and most importantly, send out a request for Search & Rescue to find your sorry self. I hope to never use the 911 feature, but the tracking and communication will be invaluable when on big solo rides.

Here is a screen cap from the tracking webpage from today. Note the cluster of track points from 20 to 28. That was some serious character building right there! Track points 16 and 17 are where I wondered which way to go, and made the wrong choice. Oops!

Comments

Matthew Lee said…
cool baker, SPOT can be fun--and helpful. you're all set to do one of the trackleaders.com tracked big epics like cTR or TD or AZT. you certainly live in a great area for adventures. i'd love to see you boys developing more backcountry routes in the wet mtns and sangres (starting from 50 heading south). potential seems unlimited. ride on, matthew
August 3, 2010 at 9:21 AM
mtndruid said…
used to hike along that route when i was stationed at the academy long time ago, then when got out of air force explored it more via trucking up the back way through shubarth, or hike a bike up stanley and ride down. the old pikes peak atlas i used was wrong in there, as it appears to have been for you also; was the only error i ever found in it. dont know if the newer one is correct through there. drop me a line come summertime if you want to do it again.

did that mule trail video we took couple weeks ago (28nov) ever turn out? can you post video's on your blog?
December 8, 2010 at 9:30 PM
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