Hall Ranch is my favorite trail when...

Nobody is on it. Actually it's my favorite trail anyway but its whole hell of a lot better when there's nobody on it. Yesterday after I posted pics from my Sourdough ride, I noticed that there was plenty of time to get a ride in at Hall. As I cruised down the canyon, a black cloud was forming in the west. Surely I could get the ride in before the storm hit!

I parked at the Bitterbrush trail and started riding at about 6pm. The few people that were there were securing bikes to their vehicles and leaving. I ran into only two riders on the way up the rock garden, which I'm clearing a lot more of the obstacles than I was at the beginning of the season. It looks like they are going to reroute some of the trail. There are a lot of sections that are washed out and though "technical" they're not much fun to ride (in my opinion). I think the reroute will make it better, the trail crews did a great job up Antelope and towards the top near Nelson loop.

As I made it to the top, I noticed that my rear tire was low. I had just pumped it up before I left...slow leak. The sidewalls on the tire was pretty worn. Good thing I bought a new tire from Dave earlier in the day. The black cloud was hovering in the west and I could see one group of guys hanging by the lower bench near the top of Antelope. I cruised down the hill and started the climb up to Nelson. I didn't see another soul until I got back to the small climb before the Bitterbrush downhill. It rained a bit around the loop but nothing severe. In fact, I wish I would have had my camera to take some sunshine rain shots. When I got back to the small climb, there was a complete rainbow over Lyons (should have had my camera). I think its a sign that I need to stay in Lyons a long time!

I was able to ride down most of Bitterbrush without a problem. The slow leak in my rear tire was making cornering interesting but I made it down pretty quickly. I was at my car and driving home by 7:20. That's with pumping up my rear tire on 4 separate occasions. Better than earlier in the season but still not good enough to keep up with the Redstone guys. I guess I just need to ride more!