Hope Valley to Dardanelles Lake

[img_assist|nid=501|title=Elevation|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=95]Here is a little report on the Hope Valley ride on Saturday, Sept. 13th. Our only regret was that more people didn’t take advantage of the prefect weather and beautiful mountain trails. Our ride, Hope Valley to Dardanelles Lake, started with a 2.5 mile, 1000 foot climb on a fire road followed by a fun single-track with a few technical sections down to Big Meadow (mile 5). We crossed Big Meadow and climbed a single-track through the trees. A few more descents and climbs took us to Round Lake (mile 7.5) – you’ve got to love the beauty of high-Sierra lakes. Coming back down and turning left we descended towards Dardanelles Lake, with a final “hike-a-bike” through granite boulders up to the lake (mile 9.5). Then we got to do most of the trail again in the reverse direction. Total climbing: about 3,300 ft. Just to make Randy and me feel better, Steve rode the entire 18 miles on a 29in single speed. That gave us a chance to occasionally keep up with him on some of the climbs. Then, to give us an opportunity to stay with him on the way home, Steve took apart his broken rear disk-brake and road the final 8 miles using only his front brake. That portion includes a technical single-tack downhill and the 1000ft descent into Hope Valley. What a guy. This has always been one of my favorite rides, and it didn’t disappoint. It has a little of everything that a cross-country rider could want, including some outstanding high-Sierra scenery. If FATRAC does it again next year (Steve?), hopefully more members will turn-out.