Monroe Truck Trail turned out to be a hit! I rolled up early to see Carl waiting and stretching. His hip/sciatic was giving him trouble but he was optimistic about this ride. As we waited, we wondered about who will show up. I had a count of 6; Me, Carl, Kevin, Johnny, Gabriel, and Memo. This was good because, with the number of trucks, we could shuttle one tightly packed truck load up per run. I was hopeful and figured 3 runs down Monroe Truck Trail for a total of 24 miles.
Around 8:00 am everyone else started showing up. Kevin, Bobby, Memo, Marco, Marlow, Ed, Johnny and Gabriel. Total count 10 riders. We then shuttled up to GMR, turned off the road and loaded trucks with bikes. We decided on 2 trucks to shuttle up to the top of Monroe Truck Trail, giving us a total of two runs down the mountain.
*** Note at the top of GMR/Monroe Truck Trail you need adventure passes. You can purchase them at your local Big 5. An Annual Pass is $30.00 (you can get a second for $5.00 more) and a day pass is $5.00. ***
We trucked up GMR and at 8:00 am it was sunny and clear. There was a lot of activity on the road, from Roadies to Motorcyclist and "Import" racers. I like the Roadies but the Motorcyclists and "Import" racers I could do with out. More often than not they are speeding up and down the windy mountain road putting everyone in danger. Earlier this year GMR finally reopened after being closed to motor vehicle traffic for over 2 years. Prior to the reopening, GMR was a great spot for cycling, hiking and street luge.
It took about 15 minutes to get to the top of GMR/Monroe Truck Trail. We unloaded bikes, checked tire pressure and etc. Carl forgot his helmet in his car (at the bottom of GMR). Worst case scenario, Carl breaks his fall with his head, no biggie.
We hit the trail at about 8:53 am. Johnny lead the pack, then Gabriel and Marlow. These three were the fastest of the pack. Johnny is young and fearless, Gabe is fearless and CRAZY, while Marlow is just crazy. I found out his nick name is Ricky Bobby (Enough said). I'd best describe Monroe as an unkempt fire road. There were patches of overgrown bushes throughout and parts where half the trail was washed out. Some sections of Monroe got really tight and my legs received multiple lashings from the many bushes.
About three miles down Monroe, Gabe and Marlow took a short cut down a steep and loose single track. The rest of the group headed down Monroe and we regrouped at the start of Mystic. It took awhile for Gabe and Marlow to show up and when they did I asked what took them so long. Gabe took a big fall and was scratched up pretty bad. Down the single track Gabe lost control of his bike and went over the cliff. He was hurt pretty bad and I'm sure tomorrow morning he will be sore.
From Monroe we linked up to Mystic and headed down. Mystic is like the icing on the cake; its steep, loose, bumpy, narrow and fast. You have to hang on and let your bike do all the work. The middle section of Mystic, I think 7 of us ended up walking. At the bottom end of Mystic there where Boy Scouts on the sides of the trail. They were maintaining the trails but at this particular moment their shovels and rakes were lying across the trail. Next to them was a swarm of hornets, mad as hell. One of the Boy Scouts disturbed their nest and a swarm formed blocking us from the end of the trail.
It took us awhile to figure out what we were going to do. Bobby and Ricky Bobby ended up riding through the swarm, bad idea. Bobby went down and crashed hard into the cliff wall. From my point of view it looked like he smashed his head and shoulder right into the wall. Ricky Bobby ended up crashing and ditching his bike as the swarm of hornets attacked him. I decided to go next and was bitten on the ear and on top of my head.Marco , Memo and Kevin also took hits as well.
Total trip down Monroe, one hour. We loaded up the bikes again and started the trek over. This time only Carl, Johnny, Kevin and I went for a second run.
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