Our VA crew was lucky enough to get Chewy and Ross to take us on our backyard trails of Cowpies, Hangover, Damifino and Killer Bs. We were all a bit nervous because we kept hearing about how awesome and fast Chewy was and of course we know Rad Ross is super fast. I was a little nervous because I was starting to feel the fatigue of zero riding before coming out. And then the riding is very punchy here. There is always a big step up or a big drop to suck up. Then it is constant up and down. There are some tough transitions here and then add a preciepe and it can get pretty intense. The thing about being tired, is that you make more mistakes and it hurts.
We made our way up to the Cowpies which are these huge Sandstone outcrops that look like big cow pies. It is a great ride up to the saddle. You can also see the layer of Apache Limestone that forms big square blocks before it crumbles below. The boys played around on some slick rock and then made this crazy tough switchback uphill before the saddle. Chewy and Tim made this practically impossible vertical switchback. Their energy to try and retry moves until they make them is very impressive.
It was really windy at the saddle as the boys dropped into Hangover. Jennifer and I took the reach around("easy line"). Hangover starts out mellow and then the rocks start protruding out towards the edge requiring one to gracefully skirt the edge of the trail. There were trees, ice and tough little uphills and of course, non stop drops. Collin has some amazing video coverage of Hangover. Tim had a minor mechanical with a chuncked pully, but was able to keep on.
We intersected Munds again, headed up to Cowpies and then at the saddle took Damifino. Very tricky trail with the same MO...side hill, soft edge, drops and steep little ups. It crossed over slick rock that way out in the open and the wind nearly blew me off my bike. There was a patch of crazy ice that Ross slide down like a penguin. There were so many steep bits in succession and the boys were so fast, it was hard to find the trail. That is another thing about Sedona, if you can hang with a local and follow their lines then your chances of making something are a lot better. Tim and Collin are really good at that. But us girls are getting smoked and figuring it out on our own which is slower and can be frustrating, but honestly I don't care because I really like picking my own line and looking up to find different lines. And the boys and our guides have been really nice about waiting.
Killer B's was really fun and beautiful with all the magnificent cedars. Levitra had a crazy steep drop with a tight turn on bottom of it. I tried it and didn't have my weight back far enough and did a flip OTB. I haven't done a sommersault like that in a while. Jennifer got to see the whole thing. I was really luckly that I didn't fall in any cactus, just some old manzanita bushes. Then as if it could get any crazier...it did. There was this rosebowl....it was a skinny wall ride around a canyon. It was skinny and I was scared. I could here the boys saying just roll it , but I couldn't. Then there were all these bridges and skinnys and non-stop action. We ended up in Oak Creek Canyon and sketchily crossed the creek.
Ross took us under Midlgey Bridge to the Jim Thompson trail. It felt good to open it up at that point and not have to worry about death. Ahhh. It was a good day...big. I was feeling a little fragile after the ride. I was tired, exhilerated, beat up. Tim gave me lots of attention and we grilled food and drank High Lifes. It was another amazing day in Sedona.
