Desert Spokes

I have been threatening to ride from CC. to Ashcroft over the pipe line through Schalles ranch and Desert Hills farm for a long time and since Neil had just finished an Ashcroft return ride before opening the shop this morning I thought hey it is Canada Day. So I threw on my CCCP hammer & sickle decked jersey, a hydration pack and headed out about 12:30 pm.

We have ridden half of this trip many times which starts from Collin's rd. up past the TV station to the top of the golf coarse and then south west along the gas line. It's actually illegal to ride on the gas line but the old abandoned double track follows the same route so you can plod along on that. The views provided from this trail are quite stunning and you would never know you have hwy. 1 on both sides of you. The terrain is a mix sagebrush, cactus & dry rocky washboard. Once you have attained the elevation of the golf coarse there are only a couple descents and climbs all the way to the top of Schalles ranch. When I was about thirteen I burned up a piston on my dirt bike trying to climb the pipe line hill coming from ashcroft and had to push my bike all the way home which at the time seemed to be about 147 miles. It was probably about 7 miles which was part of the reason I quit dirt biking, that and the three other piston failures which left me pushing the bike more than riding it. I digress, so getting back to the ride, at the top of Schalles I believe that there is an alternate route which goes around to the east and comes out at the other end of the ranch but how bad could the pipe line hill be? Quite bad as it turns out and I wouldn't reccomend this route to any one but the most hardcore xc riders. The hill shows no evidence of being challenged since I last attempted it on the Yamaha and worse yet erosion has taken it's toll leaving no actual path of any kind. So now you are moving down a 38 degree pitch cratered out and covered in loose gravel with a two hundred foot drop on either side. It's not for the faint of heart, although the view is breath taking so is the thought of a miss step. After I walked my bike to the bottom I was left with 2 routes to choose from, left through the middle of the ranch past the houses or right out to the dunes and around the water wheels which were running. I choose the wrong way thinking it would be best to avoid the houses since I hadn't actually called ahead for permission to access the ranch. When I had last ridden up on this plateau there was no ranch and riding along the dunes then cutting over to the hill had been quite simple, this time it was a little different. The edge of the dunes and the fields are actually separated by vast crevasses full of weeds and debris which you don't see until you are there. So I was left with the alternative of riding all the way back to the houses or cutting into the oats and weeds which are three feet tall and yes I made the wrong choice again. Having worked changing sprinklers on several local ranches when I was a kid I knew exactly how much rattle snakes enjoy the cool sprinkler piping in the fields on  hot summer days so riding out into the tall grass is not the smartest thing to do. I made it to the dunes very carefully then I walked my bike gingerly throuh cactus patch after cactus patch until I reached the second water wheel which goes right out to the very edge of the cliff so once again I was forced into the tall grass and had to ride right under the running sprinklers. The rest of the ride led me back onto the main access road down through Bonaparte and up the Old Mill rd. into Ashcroft. I can't wait for my next adventure.

Gary