Chain Breaking on Forest Peak


On Saturday Mike and I went out to the Dunn Forest for a bike ride.  We initially intended for it to be an hour or at best two hours.  After my chain broke going up Forest Peak it turned into a bit longer of an ordeal.

 

 

Looking up into the forest.  Quite a bit of the Dunn Forest has been clearcut over the years but there are still a few stands of nice second growth.

 

 

 

 Mike up on a ridge.

 

This piece of logging equipment lost its tire.

Mike checking out another piece of equipment.  This is a moderately sized clearcut.

 

 The sign was stowed off to the side so we were a-okay to proceed through.

 

Looking toward Vineyard Mountain and the Soap Creek drainage (east).

 

 The devastation is complete in clearcut logging operations.

 

 Mike checking out the view.

 

 Lots of logs came out of here.

 One of these days I will get to that quarry.

 Equipment at the top of the operatin.

 

 

 This doodad rides on the highline cables and helps bring the trees up the hill.

 

 

 

 

Mike on an old growth stump.

 

 Mike through the grass.

 

 The border between the Dunn Forest and Starker Forest land.

 

At the top of Forest Peak.  Notice that there is no chain on my bike.  A half mile earlier, my chain snapped and I was lucky enough to not have a spare master link with me.  The chain was at the end of its life anyway.  I will find out in a day or two if I need new sprockets or not.  The sprockets are 11 years old and only had one chain their whole life.  This is at the top of Forest Peak in some younger third growth.

 

At the top of Forest Peak there is no view due to the trees.

 On the north shoulder of Forest Peak.  What a view!

The way down.

Windy bicycle ride

On Friday Dan and I went out with a couple of other people on a SRFFK.  We did about 25 miles total.  Our average pace was around 13 or 14 mph.  The reason it was so slow was the crazy headwind that we encountered regardless of which direction the road turned.  For most of the way I led the pack as the air bulldozer, creating a bit of a windbreak for everyone behind me.  One particular stretch of long slog we went about 11 mph, barely making headway on a flat road.  At one point we even smelled salt like we were at the ocean.  On the way back into town, we hit a stretch where we were with the wind.  According to my speedometer and the way the wind died down when I hit a certain speed, the wind was blowing at a steady 25 mph.  It was quite the slow ride for fat kids!

Dusk mountain bike ride

Yesterday evening I went on a dusk mountain bike ride.  I rode up and down Dimple hill and tried out my new SSCP7 Bike Light from GeoManGear.com.  Worked wonderfully!  Not going to bother with a route map.  Distance was about 16 miles.