The 5 mile ride on Eazy Pickin' and Oak Flat Loop

[Rapidrob]

My other post yesterday showed what I was in for if I went down this trail.
The weather was perfect. In the high 60's low 70's F. The bike was ready, the water bottles were now in a heavy duty French Army surplus canvas bag.
Tires checked "cold" for 4 PSI. A full tank of gas. Brake adjusted for a quick engagement when needed. A nice ride on the trail loop.
A nice start. The bikes handle bars just fit through the two trees.

This will be a nice ride. Seems to be free of rocks so far.

A nice sweeping climb up the mountain. Wait,looks like a few rocks.

A Mountain Bike, we exchanged curtsies, I should have noticed how beat he was.

This was more like it. Smooth and climbing through the trees.


Everything is so nice and green. We have had lots of rain. This section was a series of "S" truns which was fun.


More rocks coming up. Looks passable at a good speed.


A reverse slope to the right was in-store in a few yards.

OK, those rocks are larger than you normally see on these trails. I'm sure there is a path around them....

Well sort of. 2D images just don't feed the Bull-Dog. A few layers of frame paint was scrapped off here.

A new trail head. And yes, the handlebars did scrape the two trees a little.


The trail did a 100 degree turn to the right, and then went out of sight. I thought I had missed to trail head.


I pulled a 180 and went up the trail and realized I was heading South which was not right.

I drove back to the trail head.


This was the real trail. Others had opted not to go this way. I should have done the same thing, but common sense was on hold.
This ends part1.

 

[Rapidrob]

I had parked the bike and walked the trail for 100 yards. It was nothing but boulders and very steep.
There is a Blue Bench and log-in box to the left a few feet. That is Sandia Mountain 25 miles away.

The trail drops off to the left. I knew it was going to be a challenge.


Looking down the trail as it descends the side of the mountain. Here is the trail head sign.

I'm just past the sign and starting to go down the mountain.

Just past the start of the trail were two boulders. The bike did not fit through the opening. I had to carry the bike up and over trying not to let the bike fall off of them or myself.


Once passed the two boulders I had to let the bike ride over the other rocks as it was just not possible to ride the bike over them due to such spacing the tires would wedge in between them. This only lasted for a few yards.

Once passed the rocks it was just a manner of not being bounced off the bike or go over the handlebars.It is much steeper than it looks.

This was the worst part. It went for a couple hundred yards. The brake got so hot it faded out and did little to slow me down. I had t od a series of of "S" turns to shed off speed and not wreck the bike and me with it.

I finely made it to the bottom. One foot peg bent on the right, lots of scrapped off frame paint and greeted by a tree that looked like I felt. All off kilter.


After that section I was convinced that the bike could handle just about anything these trails could throw at it.
It was nice to see an "easy" stretch if only for a short distance.



It dawned on me that the Rangers had thought out this trail well. After a grueling descent you needed a brake.

This was nice for awhile again.
Here is another tree killed by Bark Beetles. They have destroyed hundreds of thousands in this forest so far.



End of Part 2.

 

[Mongo44]

F'n cyclists! He should've yielded to YOU! You're a kind man. Did you hit the kill switch so as to avoid scaring the scat out of him? Hahaha!

 

[massacre]

Wow glad you didn’t crash with that brake fade. It’s a scary feeling.
Those rocks are no joke

 

[Rapidrob]

The trail descended gradually and wound back and forth as it did so. And there were rocks.

In-n-out of trees

Then there was this really nice steep hill to climb. I had a chance to floor-it and tear up the slope.


Over the top and the trail went into some Scrub Oak. Good thing I was wearing gloves. My Tan boots became green from the leaves.

Out of the Scrub and into new growth trees.

It was here I paused for a couple of minutes to get a drink of water and check the bike for damage from the boulder field. The right peg was bent about 5 degrees backwards. Lots of paint missing from under the frame, Gas tank was still 3/4's full.

The trail went down a very steep grade.Some rocks and rotten wood.

As the trail descended,I was going South again. This just didn't seem right to me. With no direct path to the sky, there was no GPS signal.
I went on.

This was better as the trail swung back to the North. Still it seems I was much lower in elevation than I should be.

And then I was climbing again. Back into rocks and tree roots.

If you notice these trees are young. We have had a lot of forest fires over the last 30 years. Many of the rotted trees and wood/bark you see were left over "Burn Scar" as many trees burn at the tops from Flash Over, killing the tree leaving the trunk to rot and blow over in our very high winds.

A very nice portion of the trail. It was very cool and the light was easy on your eyes. Up here in the mountains you must wear sun-scree and Blue Blocker sunglasses to prevent cataracts. Still, in doing so I still got them anyway. UV is so strong here.

Heading West again around the mountain. I should be heading East into the sun. Some'tin ain't right.

Climbing again and heading North East. I know now I missed a trail head somewhere.

I ran across this meadow, there was Bear and Mule Deer signs all over the place.
END of part 3

 

[Rapidrob]

I continue to descend down the mountain. I'm now convinced I missed a trail marker.

There should not be a road here....

I flagged down a Father and Daughter To ask questions as to where I was. It turned out there is a missing Trail Head marker that was washed out and I drove a mile farther than I needed to go. I was at the access road to Pine Flats, at the bottom of the mountain.

He was kind enough to point out I was 1/2 mile from a trail head that would tie me into the trails tor return to the Oak Flats Loop.

I pulled a 180 and went back up the trail.

Having found the linking trail I proceeded to climb up the mountain again.

Yep, this looks more like it.


Slowly climbing back into the tree line and heading East was the way I wanted to go.


Heading due East into the Sun. You have to remember if your GPS cannot "see" at least three satellites, they will not work. The tree's stop that from happening. There is no cell service either. I have never been lost in my lifetime. Being a Scout as a kid,I learned how to navigate in Maryland Forest.
New Mexico forest always allow you to see the Sun,tree mosses, wind and water erosion. You have to be a real bag of hammers to get lost out here.

Yahoo, there is the "loop" marker. Bang a right and it's only 2 1/2 miles to the parking area.....all up hill of course.

I'm now on a section of the trail I have not traversed before. I had no idea was lies ahead of me.


Back into rocks and steep grades. So far the bike has not missed a beat.

Climbing up,up and up

More and more rocks and boulders, the clutch is getting hot.

Just passed the boulders the trail opened up for a short distance. Going back into the new growth trees.


I ran into a Biker who was also off the trail. She too had missed the sign coming the opposite direction. I steered her back onto the correct trails to get back to Pine Flats.
Notice how steep the trail is behind her.
End of part 4, more to come.

 

[Rapidrob]

I'm still heading up the mountain towards the parking area.

It's always fun when you "run-into" a pair of trees spaced as these two are. And yes the handlebars just cleared scraping bark on both side's as I passed through them.



I was now entering an area of very steep grades and lots of rocks and boulders.


The trail is challenging. The rocks are pitched to the left which was interesting to keep my balance.

The clutch is really starting to heat up. You can smell it cooking.

A little respite until I start to climb again.

The trail did open up a little which allowed the clutch to cool down a little.

Climbing through older trees and a smoother ride.

This is far from the " Road-less-traveled" the rut was a couple of feet deep.

Really starting to climb again.

The 2ND trail head. I need to bare to the right again.

This section went for a long ways. By thee time I cleared the rock field the clutch was slipping due to being overheated and the bushing lube was smoking.

These types of rocks really flex thee tires side walls. This has a tendency to throw the steering to on side of the other. I found the best path was take the rocks at an oblique angle.

I'm leaving most of the rock fields.

No more major rock fields, just ruts and tree roots.

Winding up and through the trees again. I'm getting closer to the parking lot.
End of part 4. A few more to go......

 

[Rapidrob]

I'm in the "home stretch". This area is well known to me.
I'm coming up to the "Bat Turn" to the right, you really can pour-in-on around this corner.

A nice open flat area. Blow out the carbon for a ways...

You can't leave with out one last area of rocks.
You have to pay the boatman.

The last leg

The drive back to the trailer. and then home.
This was a most interesting ride. The boulders were impressive and many. The bike ran well. The clutch did slip just as I really needed it which convinced me I needed to convert to a torque converter. The engine never missed a beat. The tires at 4 PSI made the ride much more enjoyable as the bike is a "hard-tail" frame. I burned 3/4 tank of gas in almost four miles of climbing up steep inclines.
I will ride other trails soon and post the photo's if you'd like.
I hope you enjoyed the photo's of the forest of Oak Flats New Mexico.
You are always welcome to ride with me,it would be fun.