{"id":1214,"date":"2013-09-08T13:45:41","date_gmt":"2013-09-08T21:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=1214"},"modified":"2018-09-09T13:51:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-09T21:51:55","slug":"there-is-no-mtbing-in-bahrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=1214","title":{"rendered":"There is no MTBing in Bahrain!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent the tail end of July and most of August working in Bahrain.\u00a0\u00a0 For those who have never heard of the place it is an island in the Persian Gulf east of Saudi Arabia.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The maximum elevation is\u00a0maybe 100\u00a0feet and pretty much everything is sand so the mountain biking opportunities are\u00a0mighty freaking limited.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of course\u00a0a\u00a0Surly Moonlander<\/a> would help a little in that department.\u00a0\u00a0 Hmmm I wonder if I could get one with some S&S couplings on the frame?<\/p>\n

\"Bahrain-TriptoTreeOfLive-10AUG13-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even with a bike, I would have a hard time getting motivated to get out in the heat and ride.\u00a0 Everyday it was over 100 by 10AM.\u00a0\u00a0 Several days in particular it was 108 with 74% humidity.<\/p>\n

\"Bahrain-Al-FatehMosque-11AUG13-51\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I did manage to get out and grab some sights while I was over there including the Grand Mosque<\/p>\n

\"Bahrain-Al<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bahrain-Al-FatehMosque-11AUG13-01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I took a tour of the Al-Fateh Grand Mosque on one of their \u201copen houses\u201d for non-Muslims. [aka Infidel Outreach Day :-)]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Work\u00a0involved\u00a0a lot going\u00a0back and forth between\u00a0an\u00a0office and the outside.\u00a0 After\u00a0a few weeks\u00a0of\u00a0the cycling in and out of the heat and AC\u00a0I came down with some chest and sinus crud that required some antibiotics to knock down.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The project I\u2019m working\u00a0has several phases to it so I was able to come home for a couple of weeks in between\u00a0one of the phases.<\/p>\n

\"BNN=PalomarMountain-31AUG13-07\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was still not completely over the\u00a0crud when I got home so I refrained\u00a0getting back on the bike and potentially backsliding\u00a0with the crud.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My girlfriend and I did make a trip up to Palomar mountain for a\u00a0bit of\u00a0mild hiking.\u00a0\u00a0 It was really nice to see\u00a0some greenery in mild temps.<\/p>\n

\"BNN=PalomarMountain-31AUG13-02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the locals we saw along the trail.<\/p>\n

\"20130906_063418\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By this past Friday I was feeling well again so a dawn patrol ride out at Mission Trail Regional Park <\/a>was in order.\u00a0\u00a0 There was some weather moving through the area which made some cool rainbows.\u00a0 I had ridden on the west side of the park in quite sometime.\u00a0\u00a0 So I hit up the Jackson, the Rim trail, S-turns and the Soycott\u00a0trails.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I had not checked out North Fortuna from the north slope so I looped back around and when up North Fortuna from the north slope.\u00a0\u00a0I had my long-legged bike so it\u00a0was overwhelming a hike-a-bike in that direction but would be a very techy ride on the descent.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3381\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After getting up to the North Fortuna peak, I descended the south slope to the saddle and then continued on up to South Fortuna.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It had also been a long time since I had taken the South Fortuna staircase.\u00a0\u00a0I knew there were many spots were you had to pick and choose your battles but there were quite a few more than I remembered from my last go at this trail.\u00a0 I want to say that the techy sections were in worse shape than before, but it is more likely that my skills and\/or nerves have slackened up\u00a0some.<\/p>\n

Either way it was great to be back on the bike and again.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m heading back to Bahrain tomorrow and I\u2019m not looking forward to another stint of being off the bike.\u00a0\u00a0 Work can be so pesky sometimes!<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Bill and Will Roadtrip Day 2 \u2013 The Central C...<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Daley Ranch<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/div>