June 11, 2006 Sunday
Ride to Kiltepan
A Newbie Introduction
I've thoroughly enjoyed my ride to Kiltepan Tower (an accronym for the 3 surrounding villages that collectively own the land - Kilong, Tetep-an and Antadao), during my visit last year, so when
Steve and
Aklay invited me to ride the Kiltepan trails with newbies,
Siegrid and
Mimsy, I thought it was an excellent introduction for them to the joys of mountain biking.
More Single-Tracks
For fear of getting lost, I only took the main fire trails last year until I reached the tower. With Steve and Aklay this time, we took part of that main trail but veered off into a generous sprinkling of
single-track that provided an equal amount of fun and challenge to Siegrid and Mimsy. The trail had a
stutter section with embedded logs that looked scary but were really a lot of fun.
Good Pacing
There were more than a handful of
compression stops for recovery. With that, I thought Steve and Aklay displayed their seasoned expertise by tailor-fitting the ride to the least common denominator.
Mushroom Picking
It's mushroom season in Sagada. At Kiltepan, specially in areas not frequented by the locals, mushroom patches were in abundance. Siegrid's local knowledge on the edible variety came in handy. Lunch that day was pasta in creamy mushroom sauce.
Disneyland
As a finale to the ride, we were on top of a peak with a trailhead that took us to a sweet winding single-track all the way to the bottom. It was a trail that called for
control, speed, momentum and technical handling. For Siegrid and Mimsy, it was an unforgettable gnarly adrenaline rush. For us guys who'd been doing it longer, it was pure Disneyland.
Ending Thoughts
In mountain biking, just like in anything else, a good start makes all the difference. Kiltepan trails with the guidance of hard core veterans like Steve and Aklay, who know the trails intimately and who know how to pace a ride, is a killer combination that's hard to beat. With these guys around, you know you're in good hands.
--- TheLoneRider
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