Once again I went to the great white north. Thats the way it feels to me anyways. Spring had better arrive soon. I enjoy the rides up there and the rocks are helping my technical abiltites but JEEZUS , over 3 1/2 hours of driving for a ride. I just think of how many miles I could get in if I stayed down here and rode for that 3 1/2 hours. But the truth of the matter is that I wouldn't get to ride with "the guys" then. Winter is giving me a good excuse for the wife. "But babe, everything down here's muddy".
I stayed up too late Saturday night and did not want to get up when the alarm went off. I hit the snooze 3 or 4 times than had to rush around to get everything ready to go.
I was a little worried about being able to keep up with the guys as this wasn't a normal MORE casual ride and from what I've been reading everybody else is getting in more saddle time than me. But luckily Peter, Jason, and there buddy Julian were still getting used to new SS's, and Wayne was kinda sick. Oh yeah....., I hung OK. (My benefiting from the misfortunes of others, I know PATHETIC). There was still quite a bit of snow left up there so I got in more snow handling skills. Last week I met and worked with a guy named Pat at the Wakefield trail work day. He ended up being there for the ride. I'd never met him before Wakefield (As far as I can rember, see "ALL YOU BIKERS LOOK ALIKE" post).
Due to a mechanical I'm still not sure that I understand (where is there a 14mm bolt on a bike?) alot of the guys decided to bug out to Great Falls after the first loop. That left me, Dennis, David, and Ricky to go another loop. David/Ricky led us and that made for a good workout. Watching David go up those hills is pushing me. I kept trying to follow thinking " He's gotta walk any minute now, just another second and he'll bonk". Finally I couldn't take it and had to hike some. I think he's getting too good and he knows it. He showed up for the ride, minus his usual facial hair. He tried to blame it on an unfortunate grooming accident. I think he's turning roadie on our asses. He's probly shaving the rest of his body and we won't know till spring (But hey, theres nothing wrong with that......sissy's). :)
The weather for the ride was great. Started out a little chilly but ended up about 55 degrees. Having a computer with a thermometer comes in handy. Well not really, but it makes for good conversation. Yeah theres always one smart ass in the crowd. "Damn, it must be 10 below out here" then me "no, actually its only 33." (yeah, I can pose with the best of them).
See yall
Tommy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey just wait till this weather warms up and we'll be headed your way to ride. I'm itching to ride rosaryville on the single!
You never have to worry about the pace on a ride that I'm leading. If it isn't a MORE ride, I only invite the people that will be at home on the ride. Later in the year I'll probably lead some faster rides, but by that time you'll be moving at a pace that you can keep up just fine.
I did a stupid mistake on my bike build. It has been well over 10 years since I had a new set of square taper crank arms. They tend to loosen themselves after a ride or two and then you need to crank them down tight. Someone had a basic wrench that sort-of reached, but with really nice cranks on, I wanted to tighten them down right.
I wish we could have stayed at greenbrier. I was just starting to feel good.
Great Falls and Riverbend were great. Pat showed us some new trails and I got a little photography done too.
After all of that, I found out that Fountainhead was open. We blew our one chance this month to ride it. GRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr
Oh well. Its your blog, not mine. Take care!
pete
Post a Comment