By Eric
Glenn had planned to lead, but he was just getting over being sick, so Dean offered to lead. He was open to suggestions, so I suggested that we head over to Allen Adale Road via Derbyshire, so that we could check out a possible shortcut to the Koponen Trails from UAF. The six of us headed over that way via the UAF ag fields.
Unfortunately, We discovered that the end of Allen Aldale is blocked off with jersey barriers, locked chains, and No Trespassing signs. Ah well.
So, we headed up Old Chena Ridge Road, which led to some interesting things. The middle section is a squishy mud-fest! We even had to get off our bikes and push for a bit. While we were doing that, some guy in a two-wheel-drive sedan decided to try to make it through. He kept getting bogged down and stopping. I thought he was going to back up and get out of there, but after stopping he would try to go forward. This happened a few times. And he still had a couple hundred feet of muddy ruts ahead.
By the time we had pushed our bikes past the worst of the mud, the driver had gotten himself good and stuck. I suggested to the group that maybe we should help push him out. Dan and Carter were game, so the three of us headed back and pushed him out with only little effort. But I told the guy, that he needed to promise to turn around. He vigorously nodded his agreement.
We decided to get on Chena Ridge Road and then take the trail that connects that road to Moonshine Run on the northwest side of the ridge. It's a trail that we had taken on a Moderate Monday a couple of weeks back, but Dan, Carter and Dean hadn't been on that ride. The trail was new to them. They got a kick out of being shown an awesome new trail, even Carter, who was riding a vintage 10-speed road bike with slicks for tires. We took the trail to Moonshine Run and then took that up to Chena Ridge Road.
Poor Dean was dragging. Like Glenn, he was on the tail end of being sick. However, he thought he was basically over the bug -- but not quite. He did fine on the flats and downhills, but the uphills took it out of him. So he confidently led from the back on those parts!
We headed across Chena Ridge Road to Ridgepointe and then took subdivision roads back down to Chena Pump. Well, mostly. This is a gravel-ISH ride after all. At the corner of Forrest Drive and West Chena Hills Drive, we saw a trail dropping down a power line. I asked the group, "Think we should find out where this goes?" Mike was all over that. "Looks like it's well traveled," he said as he coasted down the rough-ish trail. Carter was once again game to take to the trails on his road bike. Carter seems game to do anything slightly crazy. (His other bike is a penny-farthing!)
That trail took us to Pickering Drive. By that time Nikki suggested that we needed to be headed back since it was getting late and not everyone had brought lights for their bikes. So, now the question was do we head back the boring way (straight down Roland Road) or the interesting way (via Waugstroe Drive and Linda Land and a couple of short trails). The interesting way, of course! I confidently led the way, confessing to Mike that my confidence was mostly bluster. I had done the route just once before and in the opposite direction. Mike was on that trip, too, but neither of us was sure we were heading the right way. But -- wonder of wonders -- my bluster was golden! We made it out to the Chena Pump Road.
From there it was pretty much a straight shot back to the university. We said goodby to Dean at Dartmouth, since he's almost home there, and the rest of us headed back to UAF. In the parking lot, we chatted and devoured Nikki's blueberry cookies (and a few of Corrine's chocolate chip cookies) left over from the FCC Annual Meeting on Saturday.
By the time we had finished, we had lost the direct sun and felt the bite of autumn temperatures. The downhills were chilly! It's getting cold out there! There's a bit of road and gravel riding left, but soon it will be time to get the fatbikes ready!
Pics by Nikki and Eric
