During a quick ride on May 7th at Batawa on the way home from Northumberland had an idea start brewing.
So much map checking and many visits to Google Earth Satellite view to look at the unknown parts had a rough plan. Which got a wee bit more further along after a visit and recce ride in Batawa on July 11.
On July 16th headed to Trenton and Batawa to execute the rough plan I had sort of called the Batawa Triple Crown but it was a rough idea as would see how the day evolved. Got to Batawa a and prepped to ride with the Chromag Stylus being used for this little project. Unfortunately some gear had ordered was still in transit so would make do as best could with adapting to the long term fall out from injury. So would be using the large Camelbak Insulated water bottle plus with the potential access to a corner store might help it be easier weight in small pack wise, Once ready headed out.
First part was heading south on the Lower Trent Trail to get to Stockdale Rd which would be the toughest part of the day. As the shoulders on Stockdale Rd where narrow and when I say shoulder I mean the gravel part. Got to the end of the Lower Trent Trail and after a few minutes to compose myself carefully and as far into the weeds to the right as could go rode the few minutes of that section of Stockdale Rd. Going out on this section my Anxiety was a level 6 but nothing further caused an issue.
Where got to the traffic circle at Telephone Rd and where the sidewalks started which offered a safe riding option. Even got to see a CN Freight train use the long trestle finally. At this point didn't have any issues with injuries acting up
From here on navigated the various sidewalks to get to Dufferin Ave where the short climb to Mt Pelion began. Climbed up to what is a small parking area then up another bit of a climb at was at the Mt Pelion summit and was the first of the day.
After taking the summit pic and a few other pics as well as a sip of Rum. Prepared to descend Mt Pelion via the backside and start the long ride back to Batawa. Descended via Pelion's Backside and Wild Card Trails. Exited Wild Card onto the road and retraced my route back to Batawa. for most of the way back again used the sidewalks as the safe option. And once back at the roundabout paused for a minute before that section of Stockdale Rd to the Lower Trent Trail trailhead. Headed back up Stockdale Rd again hugging the weeds to the right as best as could. It was half way up this section while crossing under the 401 that things went not so good. Driver in a Mustang heading south decided to intimidate by revving twice which triggered my anxiety and PTSI. It was for a bit about Anxiety level 7.5 and PTSI about 7.
Which made for the last half of Stockdale Rd a bit of a mental challenge till got back on the Lower Trent Trail. Once back on the rail trail took it easy to Batawa to give my brain time to get to a lower level on the mental illness scale. Returned to the Batawa Ski Hill Parking Lot and the Dirtbag Ute. It was about half way back that noticed the neck and shoulders where acting up and starting to effect the foreams as well. Was kind of worried that this would get worse as the days progressed further.
Reloaded water and such for the next parts of the day including the chin visor part of the Super DH Helmet for the DH's. Then headed out for summit number 2 of the day which would be Batawa Hill Summit. Unfortunately climbing up had a bad moment with PTSI triggered when a rider descending didn't slow down for blind corner and came skidding at me. Fortunately he was able to regain control but it triggered my PTSI at about level 7. Kept going though and climbed to the Batawa Hill summit for number 2 of the day.
Took the mandatory summit photo and got ready to descend down the back of Batawa Hill via Wild Turkey. Drank a bit of Dr Pepper and headed to Wild Turkey to descend the backside. Taking my time of course knowing there had been more trail work done since rode it a while ago. Once down proceeded to head to Batawa Trails North aka Batawa North Enduro Zone and summit number 3 of the day. Up the climbing trail to the top of what is known as Frankford Hill 180.
Arrived at the top of Frankford Hill 180 to make it summit number 3 of the day. Though there isn't a view from Frankford Hill 180 according to Peakbagger it still counts as a summit despite covered in trees and no view. And took the mandatory summit photo and toast with Rum. Then prepared to take DH#1 down the northside of Frankford Hill 180 and ending at the junction where it connects to the Climb Connector trail. At this point it seemed that having more stops was making things injury wise more manageable. But while the issues with neck and shoulder had decreased it was still kind of there at a dull roar.
Took Climb Connector to begin the climb back up to the top of Frankford Hill 180. After a wee bit of climbing and then spinning along Double Track #1 returned to Frankford Hill 180 to earn summit number 4 of the day.
Top of Frankford Hill 180 for summit number 4 and took the summit pic again. Then toasted with a quick shot of Rum before beginning the descent before the Mosquito's got to busy depleting my blood supply. Descended down the south part of the Upper Access Trail which is a pretty fun technical downhill run to bomb down on. Unfortunately the brake lever grub screw on the right brake lever threaded in further and almost locked the rear brake. Stopped and fixed it. Later at home would need to fix this but for now could finish the ride,
After finishing the descent headed over to the ski hill and came in via the backside to avoid issues with riders on Maples. Up the Cardinal Way to the Batawa summit to get summit number 5 of the day. Yes number 5. Took the mandatory summit photo and of course the summit toast with Rum. And it was time for the final descent of the day and decided to do an easy descent of Pioneer to see what all the fuss was about the reworking of a couple of sections. Got through the new sections with no issue other than if spent more time riding Pioneer would definitely get better. Better as I figured out my best line through sheer repetition and thus finding the Flow. So finished the descent and headed back to the Dirtbag Ute.
Got back to the Ute with more than just three summits earned but 5 summits earned. Sure it isn't as epic as a North Vancouver Triple Crown and had a couple of bad mental illness moments but still it was a good ride. Would I do this again maybe years from now but not likely. And would more likely use the Wideangle instead. And injury wise at one point things had started to develop like in past it seemed that with more stops and breaks it seemed to not get worse. Though it does confirm again that on the Stylus do need a handlebar with a significantly higher rise. In the end as said it was a good day out and more then the original pln of three summits was achieved.
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