What were you doing today in years past?

It was a good gathering of Missoula’s finest mountain bike folk. We started out ascending from town via the Fire Road Trail and the MoZ Trail. Soon we were in Pattee Canyon where we hit the Sam Braxton Trails.

On the Sam Braxton side we all had our own style of going down the Huckleberry Headwall. Some skidded out of control, some in control, and some even on their ass. Some walked but we all got down one way or the other.

The best part of the Sam Braxton is the big sweeping switchbacks with 1/4 mile straights to really bomb the downhill. The late evening sun was peeking through the trees and the scenery was as good as it gets.

One person did not make the entire downhill as he snapped off his rear derailleur. I tried to fix it into a single speed but the chain kept creeping up towards the spokes and breaking off. Those damn pick up ramps on the cassette were way to freaking efficient. Even in the middle ring the chain would dance its way to the top in the back. Chain line problems … don’t know. In the end we just coasted down the Pattee Canyon Road and back into town.

Once in town we did the old tube tow down to the local Dairy Queen where we met the rest of the group that finished the original plan. Great times…o/o