So the Thanksgiving Ride tradition continues....this time Marja and I rode the newly established Arnold Rim Trail, above Arnold...in case you couldn't figure it out. I will be honest, due to the lack (or as we found out, apparent lack) of trails and descriptions I had heard of this trail, I expected a casual ride along some nice rolling trails.

We headed out from Marja's parents house and rode up to White Pines to hit the trail head. There was a little ice on the roads still so it was a nice winter ride. We started up a trail running along an old logging road cut, just as I expected, but then a sharp left started the days fun! What a gorgeous trail, single track winding through the pines and fast too! After a creek crossing, we started up a tough little switchback climb and the single track just kept coming.

It seems this area is criss crossed with old motorcycle trails that are now restricted. We rode a spur out to Cougar Rock.

The view was amazing, looking down toward Sheep Ranch and Mountain Ranch to the west and north while taking in the Sierra to the east. Once back on the main Arnold Rim Trail, the play ended for a bit with two sweet pitches that left me struggling on my 34x18. Legs felt great, just my t-rex-like upper body was flailing! I obviously need to either:

1. go to the gym and lift; or
2. ride my SS mt bike more!!

It was sad...anyway, once up that pitch we climbed casually until we hit yet another pitch that had me hiking. Marja was spinning the granny and made her way up most of the climb

at the same speed I was hiking in the steeper pitches.

The rest of the trail was bombing single and double track! And if you hear anyone say its all downhill from Arnold to Avery on the ART, don't believe'em! Luckily I have fallen victim to such descriptions in the past so we knew better.

I found a little spur that was actually labeled "more difficult" so we thought, well really I thought, we should ride the tighter single rack and it will certainly meet up with either Sheep Ranch Road or the ART itself. This was my "abridged" navigation I learned from my adventure racing days. That was the joy of adventure racing, at least on the team I raced with, we flew by the seat of our pants and we always "got close." Marja, luckily, didn't really know that part!! Reality was I was almost right, and Marja reminded me of the third boundary we may hit and that was the town of Sheep Ranch 1500 to 2000 vertical feet below us.

Somehow my "you are absolutely right, that's a possibility, but...." didn't instill a lot of confidence so we hiked out. I think I redeemed myself by bush whacking and hitting the trail right where I said it would be - 10% skill, 95% luck!!

The remainder of the trail was a blast and we were able to ride a county road (dirt) back to a neighborhood across highway 4 from access to Marja's parents place. The ride totaled only 19 miles, but the 12 miles that included the ART had 3400 vertical feet of climbing. Once IMBA adds more trail either up toward Big Trees State Park or down the hill its only going to get better.

Post ride was fun too, we headed out with Marja's dad to shoot a little trap. The first year I joined them, Marja really made me look bad, she couldn't miss! This year I was on fire while Marja was streaky at best with the shot guns. Then Tim pulled out the 22 and said he wanted to try and hit the trap with the 22. He nailed one after several tries.

Next, I went for it and I swear I nicked one! But alas, nada. Talk about frustrating! Marja reloads the 22, and she missed with a few shots and then nails one. Ouch my Man-Card in question again....then she hits another with the 22. Looks like I have to wait until next year to get it back. Maybe I can go shoot throughout the year to get some practice, she won't know!!!???

Both of us hitting the target...