Baby Steps Out of Gaper-town

I recently (2 months ago) started mountain biking after a few years of intimidation about the sport and the crazies here in Jackson that take it to the extreme. Well, much like every sport I do, I’m not very good at it, but I love it. (With me in this photo is a past Backbone staffer, Courtney Ludden, and our 7ft tall friend Ned)

I have been trying to slowly try harder trails, much like my attempt to slowly work my way up the spice scale at our local Thai joint, Teton Thai. I’m only at a 1.5 out of 5 on my Pad Ke Mao, so hopefully biking goes faster.

I began on Putt-Putt, a local trail named aptly for its easiness. Then moved on to Hagen, labeled Moderate in the bike books. Killed it. Over it. Moved on.

This week, I moved on to “difficult” and I tackled one of Jackson’s toughest downhills, Black Canyon. A long, technical 8 mile descent, requiring white-knuckled breaking and a few bike carries down steep roots drops. Heres the scoop:
Black Canyon
Difficulty: Difficult
Season: Late July to October
Mileage: 10 miles
Elevation Gain: 3430′
Top Elevation: 9460′
Trail Type: Paved road and singletrack
Summary: This is on e of the classic downhills in Jackson. Steep switchbacks, root drps, creek crossings, fast straight-aways, and rocks on the downhill keep one paying attention to the action. One can drive almost to the top of the ride, if an uphill grind is not desired.

I was feeling pretty great about my 1 mph descent until 3/4 of the way down I pulled over for some arrogant uphillers. Really? Up this thing? Just to make me feel bad about myself? Be Serious.Typical Jackson.

Anyway, trail completed. It wasn’t pretty but it was done. One pathetic step for mountain biking, one giant step for this young lass. Tonight…I try the clipless pedals. Tomorrow… I show up to work covered in Band-Aids. No blood no fun, right?