Text & Photos By Dustin R.

Steve-O

Some surprises are good…and then again some are bad.  Catching some extra time on the spur of the moment to head out and ride defiantly qualifies as one of those good surprises.  A couple weeks ago C-Los, Steve-O and I took advantage of our good fortune and headed up to Sugar for some downhill runs.

The closer we got to the mountains the darker the sky became and the sinking feeling set in that we might be in for a major slop fest on this one.  This was one surprise we had not counted on.  The temperature was 66 degrees at the base when we unloaded the bikes and the top of the mountain was nowhere in sight.  As we ascended up the lift into the thick mist surrounding Sugar we immediately felt the rain begin to fall.  Rain gear in place we unloaded and met up with Jeff Moore, Stan Moore and company to head down for the first run.

Everyone took it easy the first run down to get warmed up.  As we picked our way through the rock gardens and mist I could see the sunlight start to break through the trees.  By the time we hit the base of the mountain the rain was out and the fog had lifted…yet another good surprise for the day.  From then on it was fast and rugged runs on nice and tacky dirt with little or no dust to choke on.  The trails were in good shape with little debris.  The only exception was the filled in creek gap this time around.

The last run always arrives too quickly and before we knew it the day had passed us by.  Tired, hungry and happy we rolled out and headed back down the mountain with everyone stoked off of a solid day of good riding. Here’s a handful of pictures below.