For True Cyclopaths Only | Mountain Biking Grouse Ridge Part 1

You have to be a sick bastard to come out and do this. I've been wanting to get out here for such a long time. This is called Grouse Ridge. Even before I started my mountain bike YouTube channel, way back when I first started mountain biking on the MTBR forums, the NorCal MTBR forums, they talked about Grouse Ridge. And I'm finally out here. My buddy Aaron from MTBing and Adventures is going to be the guide today. We've got trail forks. It's remote. It's chunderous. All I've heard is that, you know, a mile out here is like five miles anywhere else. So I am ready for it. Put on some sunscreen, get loaded up and let's have a bug spray. Let's have an MTBing adventure. So I've hung out with Aaron a couple of times, but never actually ridden with the man. So this is going to be good. This is going to be one of the mountain biking adventure specialties. So we're going to do the mega run. We're going to go all the way. Well, forget all the name of the trail, but there's going to be a ton of them in there and they're all really, really rough. So awesome. This will definitely challenge you. I'm up for it. Oh, he's got the carbon knuckles on the gloves. Look at these gloves. I'm going to have to get some new ones here pretty soon. Looks like they've protected you. I just got my fresh set of hand up gloves. Will they, will they save my butt today? Probably a couple of times. I just installed this lever and I forgot to actually zip tie this cable to kind of keep the, keep the rattle out. So we're going to do that real quick. I got a little knife too. Oh, he's missing something. Oh, the dream of a quiet bike. It just doesn't happen. Mine's okay right now, but I think the little, the shock. Yeah, there's always something. We've got our warm up on the road and Aaron's puff, huffing and puffing as much as I am. So it's a good sign. We've been at it for a little while now. Big road climb, which is nice. And apparently we're here. We've left the road. Now we're hitting the dirt. Wild West. First bit of chunk. Aaron was saying that not many mountain bikers are out on this trail. So the hikers are always kind of surprised and almost a little like, what the heck? You're not supposed to be out here, but this is all legit. This is all, and it's all mountain biker maintained. Maybe not all. I don't want to talk too much out my ass, but I know the bicyclists of Nevada County spend a lot of time out here making sure these trails don't fade away. Because, uh, when not that many people come out, when it's so hardcore, it kind of, nature's always fighting against you. You're trying to get like a more retired folks into a trail building. Yeah, definitely. My great-grandfather lived to 95, puttered around in the backyard, just building trails all the time. It totally kept him young. That and the smoking and drinking every day. A man needs a mission. A hundred percent, man. Yeah, exactly. I was already telling Aaron, I hope I look as good as you in nine years. Still riding, still shredding. Love it. We all make our choices. Yeah. We're just kind of still puttering through. This is all the preview. These little punchy climbs are ridiculous. Just torch me. Wow. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh man. Look at that lake up top, on top of the lake. Holy crap. This mountain lion's been stalking us the entire day. Armor on. Have a good one. Happy birthday. Seat is down and we're into it. Heels down. Wow. About 10 different colors of wildflowers. What the hell? This is amazing. You're good. Wow. I need a bash guard. I've got one. I haven't put it on yet. That was a reminder. What the hell gear am I in? Oh, a bad one. Nice. Good job. I've said it before. I'm going to say it again. I don't know how mountain biking can be so amazing. I can ride all these different trails and still ride something completely different every time. ------- magic. No ******* way. We call this fun. A couple of sick sons of bitches. Left or right? Come on. Come on. Took the speed approach. I was right. Slippery roots. Jeez. I guess we have climbed a little bit of altitude. This freaking thing is all puffed out now. Let's get back to getting our asses kicked. Oh, the legs are jello. It's really good riding with Aaron. We're about the same ability, lung capacity. He's hurting. I'm hurting. I moved my bite point and my brakes way in. You almost have to pull all the way to the bars. I'm already noticing it helps me with panic braking because I always want to panic brake, panic brake. I'm doing the motion, but I'm not actually braking and I get it out of my system. Oh, churn it, baby. Holy ----. How's it going? We all share it. It's all good. Oh, that was the best section yet. It's a left. Looks like it's new. Some of these rocks help you set up for turns. Some of them turn you when you least expect it. Yeah. OTB waiting to happen. Oh, baby. This is like the dream trail right here. The remoteness, the technical difficulty. That's amazing. How's it going? Have a good one. Oh, they're not too bad. Yeah. Is this the way? Yep. Loose Ridge. Dude, that was animal style. Holy ----. He's still going. Oh my God. I'll see you on the trail. He said he always gets a second wind. Oh no. Eagle gear is not enough for this. I need the pterodactyl. No. Oh, I looked the wrong way. No. I just ran out of gas. You killed it. You have to be a sick bastard to come out and do this. I hope my video doesn't inspire anyone to get out here and get in trouble. It's intense. This is not a flow trail. That is our disclaimer. Nice. No. He conquered it. At what price? The sweet taste of victory tastes a lot like vomit. I got any coca leaves growing out here. I could use a little pick me up. So we just did a status check. Got out to Strava. We're five hours in. We're 20 miles in. We both have about half a liter of water left. We're feeling good though. I think mine's down to like an eighth. I was getting pretty low. So we'll definitely have to do some water fill up. Scavenging. Like I said, it's the mountain biking adventure deluxe package today. Mega deluxe. Well, not mega deluxe. There's a whole other thing. We did the deluxe package. Okay. That's a mountain lion, right? Right here. We're in such a ******* haze right now. 20 miles and five hours into this ride, and it was so damn good. And there's so much more to come. Please stick around. Please be on the lookout for the next episode. I am not afraid to call this the best mountain bike ride I've ever done in my life. And I've avoided saying that over and over again, but when you know it, you know it. And this was it. Thanks for watching you guys. I'll see you on the trail.