Earlier, I wrote that when the weather got cold here in Prescott, we mountain bikers head south for a little warm weather down in the deserts. Sometimes, when time is at a premium, we have to ride close to home if we want to maintain a little fitness. Last Monday was the case when I just needed a little time in the saddle. I had to get my truck worked on, and conveniently the tire shop was located near the end of Wolverton trail. As I set out from Ponderosa tire, I decided it would be nice to ride a portion of the Whiskey, see how my fitness was. Taking Copper Basin rd. to Camp Pearlstein and up trail 393. Shortly after starting 393, the snow storms back in Nov and Dec had made the trails a little more trecherous. Not only were they muddy and snowy, several trees had fallen over, the most notable is the tree that made Big Mama do the limbo.
The riding was great, a little sloppy, but I was happy to be out. The weather was perfect, lower 50's, sunny, and no wind. I got down to the parking lot at Copper Basin and the next mile or so was terrible, almost making me wish I hadn't gone out for a ride. Much of trail 48 on the S. side of Copper Basin is on the N face of the hillside, resulting in lots of unmelted snow. The first portion was mostly flat, in and out of the snow, but ridable, just a little wet and soupy. However, after the first switchback, the flat turned into a climb and the snow turned into ice. The trail was darn near impossible to keep traction on. If the rear tire wasn't spinning, the front was sliding. The upside was it was great practice for spinning, if you had anywhere in your pedal stroke that had more power, the back wheel would spin and slip out from under you. Super smooth pedal strokes were necessary.
There was a good quarter mile that had to be walked. I wasn't sure that I could even keep myself and the bike on the trail it was so slick. The portion around the waterfall I normally have no issue with I didn't even attemp. I thought to myself, maybe I should just turn around and head back to the tire shop. But once I reached the top, my whole attitude changed. The trail dried up and was ridable and the best part was just about to come.
About 6 weeks prior, I rode up from White Spar Rd at the School House Gulch Campground on the almost completed Wolverton trail. I was told it was complete, but as I near the top, it sputtered out and ended into the hillside just past Quartz Mountain. It was fun, but I had to turn around and it ended my ride prematurely.
On this day, I started to ride down from trail 48 to Wolverton. The new section of the Wolverton trail had been completed and was bypassing the old quartz mtn section of rough 2 track. I have to give lots of credit to the guys who built this trail. I know Prescott Mtn Bike Alliance and the Over the Hill Gang had a lot to do with it construction. It was a blast. Great fast single track for a couple of miles with very little hard pedaling, it couldn't be beat. Fast corners and a couple of jumps make the trail very fun without being too technical. Made the rest of the snow and ice well worth the effort. If your ever in Prescott and have the opportunity to ride the Wolverton trail, take it, you won't be disappointed.
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