not the usual

The thunder and rain woke us up Sunday morning, some big crashes seemingly right overhead.  Concerned about what this might mean for any MTBing, H consulted his phone and said that we would be okay as the storms did not seem to be making it over the Wasatch Range into Park City with any degree of success.  I was a little skeptical on the drive over, since the pavement was damp, but by the time we got to Quinn's Trailhead at the Round Valley trails, any doubts were erased.  The trails were dry - we could ride.

We didn't see any :-(

The skies were mixed, however, with both very dark clouds and breaks of sunshine.  We started out on our regular route but before long halted: thunder was rumbling straight ahead.  We took stock and decided that maybe we wouldn't ride our usual route, which was heading straight for those dark, low clouds.  Instead, we thought we'd mix it up.

I'm actually climbing here (hence the focus)

Here are the trails/trail segments we ended up doing on our 15.74 mile ride:  Fast Pitch, Hat Trick, Matt's Access, the Practice Loop, Matt's Flat, Rambler, Kari's, High Side, Rambler (up the second half of the Sweet Sixteen switchbacks), Seventy 101, Valderoad, Round Valley Express, Rambler (up the Sagebrush Switchbacks), Seventy 101, Valderoad, Matt's Flat, the Practice Loop, Matt's Flat, Rambler (down the Staircase), Ramble On, Rambler (down the very last bit of the Sagebrush Switchbacks), Round Valley Express, Cammy's, Matt's Flat and Ability Way.

Around and around we go

Some of our regular route we skipped entirely, some we rode like we usually do, some we rode backwards.  We had ridden down Kari's once last year but had never done High Side, and liked it as a gentler, less rocky way up.  We had hiked Ramble On but never ridden it; that trail does ramble a lot and is rockier and more technical than our usual route.  I had to walk a little in a couple of spots and put my foot down on a couple of corners, while H almost went straight through a left/right chicane before slowing down enough to take the corners.

A little more climbing than usual

It was a great ride.   There were very few people out when we were, mostly single guys (with or without dogs) who knew trail etiquette.  The weather must have kept the less dedicated riders away.  And it is good for us to ride different trails and get me out of my comfort zone.  We even found a trail we'd never heard of: the uphill only "PorcuClimb."  We didn't ride it this time but it's now on our list for the next time it isn't business as usual at Round Valley.