The Agony and the Ecstasy -- Part II

The Flume Trail ride resumes with the second half of a mountain bike trek to remember. The rainy cliffside bike ride overlooking Lake Tahoe on its northeast corner, now turns to a big climb up the mountain looming above the high altitude Marlette Lake.

The fire road was steep and sandy, making for a granny gear high-speed spin cycle of repeated slowdowns and bursts. After long minutes of panting like tired dogs in dire need of oxygen, we kept climbing with high heartbeats through about a 1,000 foot increase in altitude. Needless to say we were joyous when the rutted, rocky, sandy road finally flattened out. 

We rested for a short bit, long enough to breathe normally, and started into the single track phase of the climb. It was a  switchback trail to the top, which Marc had ridden before and described only as “technical.” 

Which translated to steep, rock infested, sandy, twisty. And demanding of continually quick bike handling reflexes to keep forward movement up the mountain. And because this stretch of trail comes at about 8,000 feet above sea level, strong cardio conditioning is definitely your best friend.

Because I hadn’t been mountain biking for a few years, I got quickly reacquainted with just how tough a mountain bike climb can be. I thought I'd have enough cardio fitness for this ride's demands, since I regularly do high altitude climbing on a road bike.

But this is a different kind of riding/climbing altogether. Road biking on flats, rollers or climbs is rhythmic, cadenced. But technical single track mountain bike climbing is like playing full court basketball, hockey or soccer: lots of quick sprints, interspersed with very little time to slow down or rest. It’s like being in a marathon boxing match, you’re bobbing and weaving, sprinting, and coasting to catch your breath, only to sprint to get up a sudden steep pitch. After you do that for close to an hour, you can get a little punch drunk. Your bike handling skills become less precise and more prone to fall-inducing moves.

On rides like this it’s key to be able to kick out of one of the pedal clips quickly if you lose the speed needed through a twisty rocky, nasty part of the path, and have to quickly stop.  But when you get tired, the “Pull out!” message from your brain to the appropriate foot will lose some precious nanoseconds. And yep, that’s when you tip over, clipped into the bike. When this happens, it’s really no fun at all because you’re at the mercy of whatever you’re falling onto and its relative sharpness, hardness or roughness.

The first time that happened on this ride, I tipped over to the steep downhill side of the trail, unable to pull out of my left pedal. I did a twisting fall and landed on my lower back on top of a toaster-sized piece of granite. I felt it grind through the skin against a vertabrae or two. Not really a good feeling!

I got right up, glad that I could do so, and not need to be airlifted to a hospital with my head taped to a board. But at the same time I was not so thrilled about hitting my back where I’ve already had to deal with a lot of pain over the years. It’s the Achilles heal of my body and that rock -- BAM! -- caught it square. Arrrggg! Me no like this!

When I caught up with Marc at a switchback about three quarters up the mountain, I could feel my lower back starting to throb.

Yeah, my back feels like it got hit with a club

We had a snack and moved on. I was determined to ride through without giving any thought to the pain receptors starting to light fires in my back. But it wasn't long before I had another snag. I slowed to a stop and couldn't pull my right cleat out of the pedal in time, and again, fell with the bike. I broke my fall with my right forearm. And that resulted in a little cheese grater action under my forearm from a big round but sandpaper-rough granite boulder edging the trail. This drew blood and from me, a primal scream, not of pain, but of I-can’t-believe-I-fell-again-and-caught-another-blanking-rock frustration. Godfrey Daniel, Mother of Pearl!

The annoying thing was that there's an easy fix to a pedal that clicks too tightly to your cleats. A small hex wrench turn on the front of the pedal can loosen its cleat grip, so kick-outs are quick and don't stick. Of course, this time I forgot to check and adjust the pedals before the ride. I should have known to do this because it was a borrowed bike. So, yes, I paid for the oversight with a pair of bruising, bloody falls.

Anyway, I picked myself up, got back on the bike, feeling like a boxer that had gone 15 rounds and had been smacked down to the canvas twice. I rode on, not particularly keen on taking another fall.

Marc was ahead of me and, feeling lightheaded from the thin air,  fell too. But he was more fortunate. His back landed on a soft patch of sand. He was very happy about that! He, too, has fought back pain. No doubt, falling off your bike and landing on your back is something that can really mess you up, like when you land on a rock or rocks or anything else that is harder than your body. 

But injury-causing bike crashes are unfortunately possible whenever you ride a bike. You just ride, and do your best to keep the rubber side down. If you fall, hopefully it doesn’t knock you out -- much less likely with a helmet on -- or worse. 

But I'm glad to report that eventually, the toll of blood and sweat it took to get to the top of the climb paid off. When we laid the bikes down on the treeless mountaintop field of small rocks, dried out weeds and sweet-smelling scrub sage brush, we were rewarded: We had a vast, awe-inspiring, 360-degree view overlooking many square miles of sheer natural beauty.

To the southwest, below us was Marlette Lake, with the sprawling big blue Lake Tahoe beyond that. 

And hey, lookie, the sun was out as predicted/hoped, lighting up the sky. The clouds left behind by the earlier rain offered a palette of textures and colors ranging from high, fluffy whites to flattened grays with ominous rain-heavy black undersides. The scrub brush field fell away to the south, then rose like the ridged, humped back of an elephant, and headed down toward pine and cedar forests in the distance beyond. 

To the north, a higher forested ridge contrasted plenty of textured greens with the yellows, browns and golds of the rock strewn field we stood in. 

To the east, the elevations fell away in undulations of fields and forests under slate bottomed clouds moving on the breezes toward the Nevada desert.

After taking all this in, we suddenly had all new sun-powered energy. And we were stoked about the fact that we had a lot of fast and fun downhill riding ahead. We jumped back on the bikes and let 'em run with gravity down a rollercoaster-like single track that made us instantly forget the tough climb. We came to a fire road and hit more fast descents. 

The fire road was rocky, rutted and sandy in spots. With big sandy areas, or any others with obstacles like gravel, or little creeks, which bring short dips followed by quick up-pitches, it works best to ride as fast as you can through it with soft hands on the handlebars. Speed will get you through the rough stuff. Which can seem counterintuitive, because slowing for obstacles is a natural reaction. But with mountain biking, slowing can cause you to lose  enough speed to make you stop, or worse, crash. We had good speed coming down the mountain so the sand didn’t slow us much at all. 

We got to the south end of Marlette Lake, then did the half-mile or so climb for the last descent of the day, the same steep fire road that kicked our butts at the start of the ride. It took total focus on a few sections to keep from losing control when riding over humps, or through scattered small rocks or sandy spots. While on this descent, I let the bike go as fast as it wanted, no brakes. Total adrenaline flowed, ripping down to the valley below. And of course while doing this, I felt no back pain!

Different story when I got back to the truck, though! My lower back throbbed as if large men in jackboots were tap dancing on my lower back, while my back muscles were poised to spasm when I'd turn my torso ever so slightly the wrong way.

But I’ve been through this back pain stuff before. So after some Advil and water I was well on the way to recovery. Just replaying the ride in my mind on the trip home almost made my aches and pains go away. Still, I'm glad to report, I fully recovered over the next few days. And oh yes, I'm very grateful for that.

Til next time, always strap on a helmet before you ride. And remember, do all you can to keep the rubber side down!

-- Mark Eric Larson

Mark Eric Larson has written two books of essays, "The NERVE...of Some People's Kids," and "Don't Force it, Get a Bigger Hammer. To read, visit: 
http://www.scribd.com/Mark%20Eric%20Larson/shelf