Day 38. Pasties : )

Wednesday February 15, 2023

Ok so waking up in a legit bedroom definitely has its perks! Like heat for one. My own bathroom and wait...I don't have to pack anything up right away? No checking out? Wow feels great! Internally just being able to 'breathe' for a moment is spectacular.

Such a little cozy spot to hunker down in for sure. I have to meet the owner of this Air Bnb Christina and give her a thanks for having me.

I begin the day with a drive to Hidden Falls Regional Park for a recommended mountain bike trail. On the way there I encounter large houses with white horse type fencing all around...such open beautiful country here wow. As I pull into the park I realize I should've loaded the trail map onto my phone before I got here because there's no cell service! I attempted the Trailsfork app without any luck and fortunately there was a map right at the trailhead on one of those big bulletin board type things. Two ladies were looking it over also so in a few minutes they had given me a few tips - which was spectacular. Definitely have to check out the Falls trail since, well, the park is named Hidden Falls right!?

So I took off and felt relieved when I saw trail signs. Not as in depth as Utah but 80% of them were marked at intersections which is huge!

I found an offshoot to the waterfall about two miles in that looked more like a hiking trail so I left the bike in order to walk down to the viewpoint. Turned out to be a good idea because it was a little path down to a deck that overlooks the falls but was super narrow and rocky in a few spots. Nice view! Another dimension to natures beauty that I kinda didn't know I missed in the canyons is that great sound of water gushing over rocks. It's both powerful looking and powerful sounding, yet at the same time so calming.

I moved on and there were some nice climbs here! What I like is that the climbs are switchbacks with steep grades so you get the 'ups' done quickly and intensely. Then the downhills are long and drawn out giving me a good rush for awhile rather than being over really quick! The low gear on the Salsa comes in so handy. It's amazing how steep some climbs are and the relative ease at which you can climb them with such a low gear ratio. Nice job Salsa! The key is to always keep pressure on one pedal. No pause, no gap in-between switching the power stroke from one foot to the other. As one pedal circles to the top the other must begin it's power stroke down or else I go down lol. I'm not clipped in on my mountain bike either so I don't get the advantage of a power upstroke. Only on the Parlee road bike do I clip in. I haven't felt comfortable enough to make that transition to the mountain bike yet. Not sure if I want to actually : ) It's nice to be able to get a free foot out onto the ground or for balance super quick especially when there's a tree you're about to smack into!

Crossing several streams and then a serious climb brought me to a helipad right at the top of the mountain and in the middle of the forest here. Seemed odd, I haven't come across one of these anywhere else? Trails seem tamer than some of the other places too so it's not like they would have more accidents here? I cruised past it and came across the first sign that made me realize that the helipad might not be for bike injuries...but rather Mountain Lion maulings! Wow. There were several signs along these paths now - especially those trails that were creekside it seemed. "Make noise so as not to scare them" it says. Scare them? What about me lol!? Imma scared now! Wait! There's a sign that doesn't have a mountain lion pic on it...lemme see...oh it's just a rattlesnake warning. Whew so much better.

Not!

All of a sudden the tranquil, stream calmed mind, the being in the moment with wind rushing past my face is gone and replaced with thoughts of things like why didn't I bring the bear spray? No idea why I would want bear spray but my mind thought it would help anyway. Like I could get it out and fire away before one of the fastest attacking animals on earth sprang onto me for his five-star braised Duck meal of the day. Yeah I'm free range now so I think I would be a five-star meal for sure.

I was also trying to figure out which of those two attacks was the least painful way to die? Poison venom in the system...or geez I can't even type a description but I think the word mauling is enough right? Does one take longer than the other?

It figures also that Syreeta told me a story the day before of a woman that was not only attacked by a lion on these trails, but while she was still alive, was dragged back to it's home. How that story even gets out I don't even know but geez really? There's a bench somewhere in here as a memorial kind of thing. So this story re-surfaces into my brain too. Of course it would. Especially when a mile later I see a bench with a memorial plaque on it. Really? Am I supposed to be getting a message here? I'm not sure if it's "her bench" but wow it's like one of those horror movies you watch where you're like 'Dude! Don't go in there!" And the people still keep walking in right? So here I am la-te-da let me ride my bike through the wildflowers, do a little 'forest bathing' some more on a nice sunny day. Heck no!

I never attacked a single track-cliffside-with-a-drop-off-to-the-river gorge-below trail faster in my life. I took off and just pedaled. Slow grinding climbs followed by rocky fast descents that my hard tail kind of bounces all over on. Meaning a bit outta control. And no not my hard tail. The bikes hard tail. My nickname is a duck and all but I don't call my butt a tail. If I did I don't think I'd use the word hard to describe it either? It's kinda soft I think. But toned of course. Toned like an Anglo Saxon. You know a white guy. I have flat butt disease OK? And I've been called a hard @$$ but I think that's different. Right? And not recently anyway. A long time ago. Before I became enlightened through blogging.

So I focused only on pedaling and getting to where the trails were wider and sunnier. It felt enclosed and darker here all of a sudden.Just like the movies too right? Where's the soundtrack? I probably would've walked a few of those sections too but every time I stopped it felt like there were eyes on me lol:

Rocks I can't see behind? Perfect hiding spot for a lion.

Tall grass? Sketchy.

A steep incline off my side? Launch from there to my head in no time.

So twice I quick grabbed a photo and went. Don't forget to make noise! I was quacking and yelling "Woohoo's" super loud in the descents. I mean, I usually do it a little anyway when I get stoked up? But now it was over the top loud. Found myself trying to throw love out everywhere too. Like maybe positive energy and good vibes would protect me. Nice kitty kitty. Anything. Yeah I was totally in my head here but better to be in my head then in the helicopter sidecar/basket thing right? What do you call that anyway? I mean you could be half dead, or have a broken neck or whatever and they strap you in a see through cage on the outside of a helicopter with these huge blades spinning right above your head. If the claw marks along your neck don't getcha I mean I think my heart would stop as soon as the pilot dipped the copter to the side I was on! Can you imagine? Strapped in like they do on the roller coaster where you can barely breathe and rotor wash pelting your face with no control? Geez.

Man it felt so good when I made it off the narrow single track path and back onto the gravel one. I decided, for time purposes of course : ) to take the wide gravel path back to the jeep. Was actually a nice steady aerobic ride too.

Next up for the day was a town called Grass Valley. About another 1/2 hour north and the tip was a place called Marshalls Pasties. Yup. Pasties. I know what I thought. Wow Syreeta what kind of place are you recommending? Turns out you say the word like Past - ees. It's not pronounced like Pastries without the 'R'.

OK cool. Whew thought I might have to change the PG rating of this blog.

Stopped in to have a bite to eat and Pasties are basically meat stuffed into a really flaky dough shell with a couple of veggies thrown in for extra flavor. Apparently the recipe came over to America when peoples from Cornwall England settled here during the mining years. Now a local delicacy here. I order a steak one...not bad!

I walked around the town a bit to get a feel for it and find a coffee shop (of course!) and it turns out they are redoing the road here in the historic part. The plan is to lay cobblestone down the road to give it the feel of back in the 1800's. Should add a really cool legit vibe to the town when it's completed.

I stumbled into Carolines Coffee Roasters which had a total coffee shop edge to it. Eclectic tables, some people just chatting while others did work on laptops and a great handwritten blackboard with the house specialties on it. I ordered on up and got a little blogging done. Love wrapping up my thoughts while they are fresh.

Caffeinated up for the two hour drive back to Folsom I made way for the little town I call home for these last few days. I walked the Sutter Street shops again and grabbed a couple of photos before knocking off for the night.

I kinda like this recipe:

Grab a ride, add a pinch of coffee with a side of blogging and call it a day.

A good one for sure.

Inside

Ok so I wasn't totally freaked out like the writing suggests but lets say "a heightened sense of awareness" as I pedaled the last few miles out from the deeper part of the woods would be more like it. I'm just not used to this sort of animal kingdom for sure. Writing about it is fun too.

To ponder: Being the observer of your mind is the precursor to healing what seems like an anxiety ridden society today. Lots of peoples talk about 'my anxiety' and such. It's really just thoughts running away with themselves. Totally can seem real and can totally overtake peoples - I'm not poo-pooing this by any means. But in the end this type of fear is driven by something that doesn't even exist! It's just a thought! There was no lion attacking in the moment was there? Then there would be reason to be afraid lol! Prior to any legit real thing happening it's just a matter of making sound decisions in the moment. But this is what anxiety is! Crazy huh? Observe the mind and watch what it does. This will then create 'distance' between you the observer, and the thought itself...and now you can tame the wild beast...

Outside

Gotta say I've had some great weather lately compared to the frigid, snowy start to this trip. So good to be outside and breathing mountain air with lungs gassed from a steep climb!

Upside

Making it out alive! No just kidding.

Being alive. That's it.

downside

Geez getting harder to think of these! I mean I'm in California riding a bike and seeing a great friend. Can I even label something negative? There ya go...having to come up with a downside every nite...is a downside : )

Every Which Way but East

Staying in Folsom til Saturday morning still! Then on to Morro Bay State Beach to camp!

Ride spot for the day!

Some of the properties near the entrance to the park...lots of horse country...

Trail map.

The bridge as seen from the viewing deck below...

The waterfall as seen from the viewing deck below!

Trail signs woohoo!

A Salsa Rangefinder hardtail (no rear suspension)

"Keep your children close" "Make noise" Yikes!

I really don't like snakes

Some of the faster single track I didn't waste time getting away from since all the mountain lion signs were near here!

The memorial bench to add to the legitimacy of the signs...

YASS! Wide open gravel path : )

Edible Pasties... : )

What were you thinking they were!?

Reminds me of the Westhampton Main St. back home that was just revitalized...going to look nice!

Caroline's Coffee Roasters

A downtown Folsom nighttime shot