On Wednesday (22 July), I took half the day off and decided to ride the Jacob City Loop. This time, I was determined to make the entire loop while crossing through (and over) Ophir toward Mercur.
I arrived at the staging area at 0830 and the temperature was still in the 70's. The sun hadn't yet reached the mountains yet as it was still riding behind the Wasatch.
I rode from the Stockton area (staging area) up to the top, dropped down into Ophir, rode to the far east end of Ophir to recover my geocache ammo-can (since it seemed to be about 15' on private property), then proceeded back up the mountain on the South side of Ophir Canyon.
Somewhere in the process, I hit a rock (or something) with my left/rear tire and gashed the sidewall. Unfortunately, I didn't know this for at least an hour and just thought the constant rock bashing was making steering difficult; all the while riding on a flat tire.
I didn't realize I had a flat until I was easily 21 miles from my truck at the furthest point away, overlooking the Mercur mine. I used all my water to try to locate the hole but couldn't find it. It simply wouldn't hold air. After riding another mile, I looked back and saw the tear in the sidewall. As luck should have it, two plugs in the sidewall managed to hold air long enough for me to continue the entire loop (I was not eager to end the riding because of a hole).
If you've never been up in this area, I highly suggest you try the riding. At just over 10,000' in elevation, the aspens and pines and wild mountain flowers are just awesome. Additionally, its rare to see other people in this area.
Attached is the Garmin map tracks for this ride:
JacobCity-Ophir.gdb
I arrived at the staging area at 0830 and the temperature was still in the 70's. The sun hadn't yet reached the mountains yet as it was still riding behind the Wasatch.
I rode from the Stockton area (staging area) up to the top, dropped down into Ophir, rode to the far east end of Ophir to recover my geocache ammo-can (since it seemed to be about 15' on private property), then proceeded back up the mountain on the South side of Ophir Canyon.
Somewhere in the process, I hit a rock (or something) with my left/rear tire and gashed the sidewall. Unfortunately, I didn't know this for at least an hour and just thought the constant rock bashing was making steering difficult; all the while riding on a flat tire.
I didn't realize I had a flat until I was easily 21 miles from my truck at the furthest point away, overlooking the Mercur mine. I used all my water to try to locate the hole but couldn't find it. It simply wouldn't hold air. After riding another mile, I looked back and saw the tear in the sidewall. As luck should have it, two plugs in the sidewall managed to hold air long enough for me to continue the entire loop (I was not eager to end the riding because of a hole).
If you've never been up in this area, I highly suggest you try the riding. At just over 10,000' in elevation, the aspens and pines and wild mountain flowers are just awesome. Additionally, its rare to see other people in this area.
Attached is the Garmin map tracks for this ride:
JacobCity-Ophir.gdb
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