6-Dec-14 Diamond Mill Stomp & Slush

liv2day · #1 12-10-2014, 06:40 PM

I hadn't been out to Diamond Mill since June and needed to get out for the fun that is Diamond Mill Ridge, DC, Frankie, and all the rest of the trails in that neck of the woods. The initial forecast looked quite promising with the rain ending Friday a decent day Saturday. Of course, the bozos changed that as the day drew closer, but it still wasn't supposed to be too bad. Fortunately, a buddy wanted to test his new Yzinger (or minibike as it's been coined by his compadres...lol) and a guy previously met at Lyda Camp (who made the mistake of camping next to us thereby getting drawn into the insanity) threw their hats into the mix and DM staging at 9 was the plan.

Arrived at staging shortly before 9 and some of the crew was already there and getting ready to go. A few drops were falling from up above, so we parked under the trees - which meant only the big drops would come down while getting geared up...lol. The newest recruit pulled in just after me, so the group was set and we headed out.

The plan was to hit a bunch of the favorite trails out of the Mill: Plastic Downhill, Spaur Ridge, Arrowhead, Stumpy, Elk Wallow, Truck Dent, Summit, Diamond Mill Ridge, Cramletts, DC, Frankie, Wolf Point, Outback, Old Cedar Creek, Cedar Creek, and then back toward staging. We decided to check out the new sections of Cobb Master and holy carp - what a slip 'n slide slop of clay. The first and last parts weren't bad at all, but the stuff routed through the clear cut was like riding on ice. I'm sure it'll be better as it gets ridden in, but after a good rain, it's slick as snot.

We hit the top of Cobb Master and then back-tracked to Plastic Downhill - such a fun trail. I was glad to see someone hacked the stump sticking out immediately after a left switchback on the way up, probably done a while ago, but the cut mark was fresh enough to see it wasn't that old. From the top, we trekked over to Spaur Ridge and followed that fun, though I pointed the wrong way and ended up coming out a bit further from Arrowhead than expected

The root steps on Arrowhead are still there and they're even more fun when it's really wet. I took the easy way on a couple of 'em and we made our way to the exit that dumps you right in front of Stumpy. Thought my buddy might skip the rocky uphill fun toward the latter half of the trail - his suspension wasn't working anywhere near where it should, but he knuckled to peer pressure (lol) and threw the Yzinger at it. The best part of that is I can finally say I passed him on a hill climb...bahahahahaha.

Over to Elk Wallow and then Truck Dent. I know Truck Dent isn't that tough, but it's such a cool trail to ride - amazing views of the coast range and it feels like you're riding on the top of the world. We gathered at the end and the Yzinger had enough of being thrown all over the place - decided to head back to staging and see if there was anything more he could do with the clickers. So, one of his crew decided to hang with the new guy and me and we motored on.

Took a new section of Summit I hadn't previously done and routed over to Diamond Mill Ridge. Ahh...one of my favorite trails. Ripped the first section and then thoroughly enjoyed the romp through the woods. We skipped the uphill section of Cramletts and decided to take the 2nd section that drops you out by DC. Even though I've been on the revised cut of DC, it's still so much fun and so much better than the previous crash-slide to the bottom. I had my one good off after making it down - should have lofted the front a little when trying to get over a couple of downed branches that took the front tire out from underneath me. Stoopid slow crash, but over the bars I went. The bike was still running, so I'm not sure if it counts, but I had to shut it off anyway as I knocked my GPS out of the cradle when eject was hit.

We ended up taking a left instead of a right after exiting DC and found ourselves at the entrance to Old Cedar Creek (doh). Bombed up that and then rode over to Frankie. As usual, Frankie was a blast, though it had started to rain decently on the way there and it was now coming down steadily. We decided to skip Wolf Point and head down to Outback.

I really like the re-route on Outback, no more digging a trench trying to get by the root step or jumping on the tree in the deep V. Big props to who ever took care of that first section on Outback. I always enjoy Outback too, and this was a blast to rip. We hit the Old Cedar Creek Intersection and proceeded back down to where I thought we'd take the special test loop and bypass some of the road.

I stopped at the special test entrance and waited, then waited a little more. Guys finally turned up and one was already on reserve. Hmm...that seems odd as we'd only done 30 or so miles. Ok, better be safe than sorry, so we made a bee line back toward staging, taking Mike's to cut out some of the logging road. Turns out there was a small hole in the fuel line on the new guy's (lol) bike- think a rock nicked it during the ride and it had been leaking steadily since. Good thing we turned back to staging when we did

All in all, we covered 39 miles and were completely soaked when getting back to staging. At least we had a couple hours of relatively dry ride time before the rains started falling...lol. Great day out in the woods, even if it was wet.

iamovru · #2 12-22-2014, 12:22 PM

That is the perfect bike for those trails

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