Last year did California Rd near Enterprise ON. And the return portion had treated as a ITT session. I decided that it was time to do the ride again. Last year had set a PR on the section known as Down California Road.
Now kinda wanted to see if could do it a little better then last year. So up to Enterprise it was to find out. This would be kinda old school and returning to riding or training style used to do. Old school dirtbag triathlete type things.
Long story short the time trial ride Down California Rd was a success. Took over a minute of last year's time for a new PR. And this was achieved with zero actual intervals or hill repeats. All have done is weights as best as could over winter.
As they say Winning. Rode hard and improved my time without anything beyond as said lifting weights in winter. And even better beats paying money for an event when can just as easily do it myself and achieve the same level of physical beating.
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The first 2026 trip to Vorlage would be a wee bit different. As I would be doing this the next day after returning from Griffith up north. So I would be a wee bit tired from three challenging rides.
In the end this would work out as had no plan to attempt to do faster runs. I decided on just riding and if brain would find the right headspace attempt a more technical run then usual.Say headspace as last fall had a bad crash on second run of day and injured my left hand. I had last year put aside the idea of looking at the harder run where I crashed till 2026. As felt that attempting to force it would be a negative outcome exercise and revisit later.
With that in mind didn't video till found the headspace to give a harder track a go. And the first one was 1942 which after doing well on the first run did it a second time with video. Doing a couple of runs on 1942 in the end cleared mental blocks around some of the tech and made the decision next easier.
That set me up to decide to give Dechanee Long a go again. With it being early in the year and less riders hitting the harder runs like Dechanee Long there would also be less worry about riders coming from behind. I would be able to get 3 runs and video 2 of them as well which would show I did face and beat the crash demons.
First run cleared it however didn't turn on the video. However the next two runs I did as admit didn't want the pressure and potential overthinking with the GoPro running. Cleared it a second time and decided to give it a third go.
Cleared it a third time with only one dab which is a win. And proved that waiting till now to give it a go was correct decision.
And then it was the end of the day with all of us cooked and done. While no PR's timing wise was set. The putting crash demons in their place did happen. And that is something that matters just as much as setting fast runs PR's.
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On the way home from Griffith and being early enough in the day. I made the decision to bag a high point near Kaladar. It has been on the list of things to attempt to do for a couple of years. With the weather decided to make a go.
To Sheffield Conservation Area we go. This according to info from Peakbagger would be a short in and out. Though one has to keep in mind that being Canadian Shield terrain it would not be flat. And fortunately the area had a good enough cell signal that one could still access online resources. To confirm route.
Say confirm as while there was some marking in some areas it was hard to know which was the correct route. Though would keep this simple in and out as direct as possible.
Got to the Sheffield high point and just before that wind picked up. This would make high point 117and would of course be a wee bit easier than Jamiesons Mountain the day prior.
After the summit pic it was back via the route in to the Ute. A fast and dirty high point bagging the day after a bug infested one. Good it was easy though as it always being hard is not fun faster then one thinks.
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After a good sleep in the tent it was the morning and after the previous days ride. The plan was to revisit a ride and peak bag from 2025 Jamiesons Mtn. Revisit as wanted at least one successful high point ride.I mean if all the trips are no success high point adventures it would be no fun.
So with that in mind the plan was to do roughly the same route as 2025. Though this year with more time as was starting earlier in day. Would see if the other track off Jamiesons Mtn peak was doable. The first challenge would be getting through the lower levels where the trees and bugs where. The bugs where bad.
Compared to 2025 they where even more in number and it was abysmal. One had to keep moving as they where aggressive. And it was noted this year there was a few more wet spots thanks to more rain in 2026 though the ground was still dry. And after getting to the higher up areas headed to the spot where the summit or high point was.
This time attempted to do a better job of noting as best as could the actual high point. And as best could tell from the Peakbagger app this tree was it. And this was peak number 117 for me. Though with the bugs still pretty active in this spot as the trees blocked a bit of the wind. Kept it short and to the point before moving on to the lookout where there would be less bugs.
One quick crappy selfie of me at the peak and as said moved on to the lookout. Here would have the high point beverage as could enjoy it without bugs. After a bit it was time to see if the other track was doable. It was not and you can see more in the YouTube video.
So after backtracking went down the way came in which became a keep moving exercise with the mosquitos harassing the whole way.And eventually got back to Hyland Creek FSR to head back to camp.
Eventually after bagging Jamieson Mountain for the second time and earning high point 116. Was back at camp with task accomplished. Hopefully in future remember to not do this one again as with the bugs and such it is not an enjoyable approach. As Munro Biker in the Singletrack Magazine Forum has observed at a certain point miserable is just not worth it. As the West Peak of the Three Mountains is a better one overall I now think if was to go again.
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New summer and a trip up to Griffith was in order. And after looking at the map had a potential idea in mind which at least would be exploring an area new to me. Well by bike that is. Had done hike 5 years ago in the nature reserve there. However this time would be a wee bit different.
This time was starting roughly from the same spot parked back in 2021 however this time would be following the FSR in to a remote area to attempt to bag the peak of Thompson Mtn. There is alot of unknowns as when you only have a paper map and a rough idea of the ground from the Peak Bagger app. Well this could end up a no park bagged.
While one can figure out the route via the GPS track I made by the ride and a good backcountry map. It is one of those things where one has to be prepared to do a little figuring out for themselves.And with varying levels of available cell signal map checking to make sure heading in the correct direction.
Will let the YouTube video tell the rest about the ride as there is stuff I won't have remembered. However despite best efforts Thompsons Mtn wasn't accessible. To actually get in to start the climb would have required bush bashing through who knows what. And as have said before at a certain point one has to decide if the effort is actually worth the suffering at that level. And save the energy and effort for another high point.
Without any success headed retracing the route took to get there. While I didn't get to get the summit it was still an adventure. Which as said before is what matters as doing a ride in these remote tracks does take a bit of courage to do as well as knowledge of what to do. Though knowledge of what to do can only get one so far with out being brave enough to attempt even though one might be fearful and have doubts.
For the effort still went by the Griffith General Store to pick up some Iced Tea to drink back at camp. Because it was still worth the effort to have attempted and still had an adventure.
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After the usual bit of grunt work to get to the high point I discovered that my ADHD brain had forgotten to charge the GoPro battery. So there would be no descent video off the top. However with the cell phone would be able to do a wee bit at the top.
With it being sunny and warmer it was a good chance to chill at the top for a wee bit. And I cam prepared with a bevvy and something to eat. Because better to pause and relax then endlessly chase stuff.
After drank the bevvy and food was gone it was time to head down to the Ute and get ready to head for home. With another day of adventure complete.
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Decided to do anything that wasn't the same endless usual routes to do something out of town. So decided to go to Gananoque and ride the Gananoque Perimeter Loop. Something had done last in 2024.
This time it was about the ride and not using the GoPro.. This I admit I pretty much decided after I started. For some reason just wasn't feeling the video thing. So just did the ride.
That was it Just a ride. To be honest it was more about getting out and doing anything with all been processing about somethings in my past. And not thinking and spiralling with what was processing mentally.
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