Monica and I took our vintage 1986 Specialized Rockhoppers out yesterday to the El Dorado Trail. The trail has paved and unpaved portions, and we took the unpaved section from Mother Lode Dr. In Shingle Springs to The El Dorado Y at Pleasant Valley Rd., a distance of 8 miles round trip. The trail roughly follows the old Southern Pacific railroad tracks, with most of it single track, and plenty of ups and downs. It's an intermediate ride that left both of us feeling spent, but satisfied.
We bought our bikes new in 1986, the first year Specialized made The Rockhopper model. Very rare bikes these days, they were state of the art back then. Monica's had been hanging upside down for the last decade, and mine was being used by my brother-in-law during that time. A couple of months ago we re-acquired mine and brought Monica's off the hangers. It's fun to be back up on the bikes, and extra fun to be able to enjoy these classics still.
