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Drew Engelmann's Journal
UCSC Trails
posted by Shimanodog at 03:30 PM on January 06, 2008
My "ride" today was cut really short. Not from a lack of fitness, but a lack of TRAIL.
I'm sure that many of you know how much fun the upper campus section of the trails are, but be forewarned, they are pretty different now. Several 60+ foot trees have landed across the fireroads and inner trail network.
I started my ride at the connection of Wilder and UC at Empire Grade. I was intending to check out how much water damage was on the trails (If I cannot see tread on my tires after the first moist sections, I don't ride). Suprisingly, the tree-covered trails soaked-up much of the water. The only standing water, as of 12noon Sunday, was on the fire road. After 10 minutes of riding, I decided to dump the bike back at the car and go for a run instead. I wanted to see exactly how much damage was going to need human assistance to get the trails up and running properly without shredding the trails with my tires.
I ran for about 40 minutes and explored most of the upper sections including the start to Lock 'Em Ups, Sweetness, and Magic Carpet. I counted 4 downed trees in the fireroads and too-many-to-count downed trees scattered throughout the inner trails. Fortunately, most of the downed trees through the inner trails, are small/low enough to either be cut away using a small chainsaw, or build log-crossings with. I made a quick attempt to build a pyramid of logs around one of the downed trees and some passing riders enjoyed it while I was completing it. It looked solid.
Additional note: I have been trying out these new shoes from ZOOT Sports for the past month. I must admit that these soupy conditions have induced the products best perfomance for the time that they have been on my feet. They have a rubber heal-cup, a customizable elastic shoestring and a completely mesh upper. I love how lightweight they are and the shoe is extremely comfortable. Flushing the water through the shoe was not a problem for them as they squished the moisture out of the shoe with every stride. I have run with soaked feet during triathlons in the past and blistered pretty quickly, so I was getting nervous as the time ticked by. No problems! I finished the run without even a trace of a blister. I couldn't be happier.
As I got back to the car, several people were arriving with baskets to go mushroom hunting, but I could only think about how much work this is going to be.
Please contact me if you would like to help revive the trails at UCSC. I will let the storm system pass this week and then make a call to "all hands on deck" if you would like to assist the effort.
My email address is drew.engelmann@specialized.com
categories: General
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