Alex and I rode the new trail that connects up to the rest of the network this weekend. It’s the second time we’ve been on it, but it’s much closer to completion now. The bottom of the trail, which mostly parallels the French Trail, now connects to the bottom at Three Planks. The new connector weaves back and forth over the culvert with 3 or 4 wood bridges, and is really nice.
We did a 2-hour ride this morning. The idea was to start at 6 with a slower paced ride to accommodate Alex’s friend Javier, who’s been off the bike with a back injury for over a year. Javier flaked, but Val came along. We rode the old route up the fire road and up CCC, which we don’t do often anymore. The trail just after the bench has fallen again, although not as badly as last time. The first climb on CCC has a new bypass, but it’s not really better.
The 7 o’clock group never showed, so it was just me and Alex. We climbed Switchbacks and descended to French to get the top of the new trail described above. The really steep descent to the French Trail has a new network of singletrack that cuts the hillside, giving a narrow, swoopy route to get down that slope instead of bombing down the fall line like we usually do. The new trails drop you right onto Sparky’s Spine. Nice to have the option, but I like the old way pretty well.
Waterdog is really becoming a park with terrific trails.