The gang wanted to hit Dirt Alpine before it closes for repair next week. As always, the trails are gorgeous at golden hour. I debated starting from Alpine Inn, as that was the plan for after the ride, but decided it was better to stick to the plan in case it changed... which it did. It was Irene's first time on these trails and their friend Ryan's first time on dirt, I think. Definitely first time on a MTB and we gave him some technical stuff to tackle. It was exactly baby dirt. The Crossing of Doom is still claiming the its victims but the lip has actually smoothed out a little making it easier than before. On the way back, just before exiting Monte Bello, Irene crashed. Her front tire washed out on an off-camber turn with a bit of loose gravel on top. She was having so much fun following Frankie. Margaret was behind Irene and I was behind Margaret so by the time we came up on the cloud of dust from Irene's crash, she was already off in the bushes and it took me a second to figure out what had happened. After that we took it pretty easy descending Dirt Alpine. And then people bailed on going to Alpine Inn. I wanted to get a burrito at Coyote but they were closed by the time I got there. So much fail.