Back in May, I had been shaking The Dummy down, making test runs/field test, etc..
5/28/08
Day 1: Monterey to Pfeiffer Park Big Sur
Day 2: Big Sur to Cone Peak Rd
Day 3: Hike to top of Cone Peak, camp at Kirk Creek
Day 4: Kirk Creek to Monterey
The first trip with The Dummy was Salinas to LA via AmTrak, back in March. That trip also included a jaunt down HWY 1, a night of camping at Leo Carillo State Park in Malibu. This SoCal trip, I had no idea how long i was going to be there, as my brother Dylan was laid up in the ICU at Cedars, therefore the load i was carrying ended up being huge.
The second trip with The Dummy was a trip down HWY from Monterey to Kirk Creek. this trip reduced compared to the SoCal Amtrak trip. However the load was too much compared to the actual camping use.
Cone Peak
being the 3rd of shake downs, the load was reduced even more.
Initially my intent was to summit Cone Peak, maybe summit Junipero Serra Peak, then home via Indian's Rd, and Carmel Valley Rd to Monterey.
However, on Cone Peak Rd, I broke a pulling spoke in the morning, then a braking spoke later in the afternoon.
improvised a truing stand
spoke removed
Day 1 to Kirk Creek is a solid 60 mile effort down HWY 1 with a bunch of hills. Then to summit Nacimiento Ferguson Rd, and into the early night on Cone Peak Rd.
some time around 4:45am, the birds were so loud, and the light bright enough, me being very tired, somehow, i had wondered if it was the moon light... then logic, reality, and my watch queued me into the reality of day break.
Day break over Junipero Serra Peak, as seen from Cone Peak Road, was an amazing experience.
Day 2: Hike to the top of Cone Peak.
Cone Peak
rode The Dummy up Cone Peak Trail, until i couldn't make the switch backs, then cabled the bike up, changed shoes, water, hiking pole, and hike to the top of Cone Peak.
View from Cone Peak, looking South.
Cone Peak is 5150ft, and its the steepest gradient from sea level in the continental US.
Junipero Serra Peak in the back ground.
later in the day, a pulling (braking) spoke broke on the rear wheel. That pretty much ended up pointing me back to Monterey. Obviously to re-think the evident issue of a wheelset.
Descend from Cone Peak, back to Kirk Creek, set up camp, eat, and rest.
Day 3: Kirk Creek all the way back to Monterey. +60 mile effort right into the NW winds, 11 hour effort.
Condor flying slope in the winds high over head, just south of Nepenthe Restaurant.
The stretch of HWY 1 between Monterey and Kirk Creek is nothing but hills. Tons of ups and downs. In the afternoons the winds pick up. Late afternoon going north out of Big Sur, is dead smack into the face of the wind.
The big long stretch along Andrew Molera going past the Big Sur Lighthouse Station, was mostly a granny gear mashing effort... strong wind, and a decent load.
it was probably sometime after 8:30pm by the time i walked in the door.
Over all this was probably the best test run with The Dummy. From here I've got things totally dialed in. The Mod Job I did to the SnapDeck is perfect, and since May, I've outfitted The Dummy with a set of heavy duty Down Hill wheels.