So I rode up to the trailhead on Saturday morning and as expected there were a lot of people up there on the mountain. The parking lot was over flowing down the street. But no worries for me, I just locked up to a telephone pole guy wire and went for a run up El Prieto – the nice shaded singletrack trail in the area.
I may not have the technical riding skills to do that trail justice on a bike (I had to hike-a-bike too much a couple weeks ago) but it’s sweet for running. And when you’re on foot you’ve got right of way over all the mtn bikers coming down the trail so the crowds don’t matter. Although, I try to be friendly and let them keep their momentum when the circumstances work out for it or if they look friendly or make an effort to recognize that I’m there. Sometimes, though, when they don’t seem to understand the rights-of-way up there I get right in their way and make sure they understand them. Because I’m a mtn biker too and I want to make sure that they don’t fuck up our trail use privileges.
I’m not such a fan of having El Prieto open for bikes, actually. It’s a very narrow trail. And more significantly it’s sort of a delicate area and some of the mtn bikers thrash it up. Others are considerate of the trail and its users though so it’s kind of a tough call.
It was a great run. I’m really getting used to the whole splash through the little creeks thing. It took me a long time to finally get this but it really is so much better to just run on through rather than prancing and balancing around on rocks and logs and then falling in anyway. And on this trail at this time of year the water is very low (mostly ankle deep) so often times your footfall splashes the water to the side just long enough so that you don’t even get wet.
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