singletrack & bad derailleurs on the hillside (w/ pix)

see the derailleur at the bottom of the wheel,

instead of the center?

Lori and Gloria had an aggressive singletrack route mapped out for our Wednesday ride. From Campbell Airstrip trailhead, they led us up Black Bear. Lori claimed this was the shortest route (other than the closed Rover's Run) to reach the STA trails by Hilltop. The first derailleur literally bit the dust on the lower portion of Black Bear when Bev's popped off. We helped her loop her chain around her pump to hold everything up for the long walk back to the trailhead. (Thanks, Anne and Wendy, for assisting her out).

Bev is still smiling, even though we've wrapped her chain

around her pump to keep the deraileur from dragging

as she walks back to the trailhead.

Maggi already knew that her derailleur had been bent but hoped to make it through the ride. Somewhere on the Queen Bee Loop, with a slipping seat and grinding gears, she realized the bike wasn't going to make it easy. The rest of us pushed on; and that did mean pushing the bike up and over some rooty and/or steep sections on the climb toward Prospect Heights.

With the various delays, the evening was getting late and the sun low. Lori and Gloria conceded a little bit of their plan and when we reached the Gasline, we headed down the Red trail instead of continuing up and around on the Blue. Jo-Ann said she did all the rock obstacles (but not the half log bridge). We reached the Hilltop parking lot at 9:30. Jo-Ann and I headed home on the street and the other five Divas pedaled back to Black Bear to descend to Campbell Airstrip.

Thanks, Lori and Gloria, for a challenging and fun ride!