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Had a great ride with D and some new friends today through Sycamore Canyon. About 3½ hours of fantastic riding, mostly single- and doubletrack.

(Map: "20071027 Sycamore Cyn Loop")

This was my first spin through Sycamore Cyn, so I didn't catch all the trail names, unfortunately. But I do remember that the switchback climb (see GPS map) was great fun- parts were technically challenging, but it was never steep enough to put me on my butt or burn out my lungs. (The trail at Chesebro between Shepherd's Flat and Palo Comado still holds that title.)

Once we hit our high point, the return leg of the loop was great fun. Down the backbone trail, then a short leg of fire road to a bit of smooth, fast, north-running singletrack that connected us to (IIRC) the "Sin Nombre" trail, aka "Upper Two Foxes." After that, it was back up "The Bitch", the steep, paved leg of the Big Sycamore road leading out of the canyon.

Sorry about the lame photo for this entry. There were plenty of amazing views and moments to capture, but I was just having way too much fun to want to stop and take pictures.