Sunday's ride was short, just 6.75 miles and just over 1,000 feet of climb and descent. I wasn't feeling great so I didn't want to work very hard. We took the easiest possible route up to the ridge. There really is no "easy" way to climb 1000 feet in 3 miles, but some are less stupid steep. The ridge itself is really quite narrow, so every way up has some ridiculous bit near the top. Yesterday's route had an 18% section for a little more than a tenth of a mile. AND, it's the "easy" way. There is one single track trail at Black Diamond that is bike legal - Corcoran Mine. It's 3/4 of a mile long with an average grade of 18%. We decided to go down that way yesterday. I had never gone down it before. Years ago we had gone up it with our bikes, walking much of it. Down is a lot more fun. It was almost all rideable - except for one tenth of a mile that my Garmin says had an average grade of 43%. It was like walking down the side of a cliff. It was all exposed rock with ledges, holes and ruts. It's the kind of terrain that the bike needs some speed to get over, but at the bottom of it is a sandy narrow switchback. I doubt I'll ever ride that bit. But the rest is great for working on single track skills. It's rooted and rocky with some exposure - really quite nice.

Veronica