Tuesday Night MTB Ride - Murphy Dome Scenic Scoot (with a caveat about the scenic)
By Eric
Well, the last TNR of the season was a bit of a dud...for everyone but me!
The ride had been postponed a week because of a forecast of high winds and rain last week. It didn't seem like things were that much different this week. After all, it was constant rain in town. So, unsurprisingly no one else showed up for the ride. Not even Dean, whose first time on this ride was in conditions like this, but colder and with rain. It was only the two of us on that ride. But Dean's getting over being sick, so he gets a pass. Everyone else? You lost out! There was hardly any rain at all atop Murphy Dome. Fog and wind? Sure! But no rain and it was relatively warm.
Since I was already atop the dome and with pretty good-ish conditions, I decided to do the ride by myself. Instead of grand vistas full of color, what I got was a white palette of clouds, so I could use my imagination to paint whatever I wanted! I painted some glorious scenes!
And while it was relatively warm, it wasn't too warm so I didn't overheat. Nice! And no bugs! Really, these conditions were great!
The puddles on the dirt road part of this ride were not nearly as big as I figured they would be will on the rain we've been having. Those puddles have been bigger. And I got the stone bench on the ridge overlook all to myself!
At the far end of this out-and-back ride, I decided to do a bit of exploring. We normally ride to a bluff with an amazing view of Minto Flats and I did that (using amazing views supplied by my imagination!). But on the satellite layer on Google Maps I had seen that another trail loops around the bluff and MIGHT meet another trail that goes straight down the bluff. If I could find where the two met, we could make a little lollipop loop for this ride. I tried, but sadly I couldn't find where they met. (And to be honest, the satellite views weren't promising.)
So, I enjoyed the wind and fog (and lack of rain) for a bit from the high point. It was really blowing on the eastern side. Yeehaw! Then I biked back. I tried to push myself up some of the hills, but it's harder when there's no one around to compete against or to make you honest.
Things were getting dark and the fog was getting thicker as I rode back to my truck, but I made it without lights. (The fog was so thick that the first few miles of my drive back I kept my speed at about 15mph.)
So, that's a wrap for the official Tuesday Night MTB Rides. It's been a great season! Looking forward to next year!
