Sunday, December 30, 2007

Finally, A Dry Ride!!


We had compact group today. I think the threatening weather kept a few folks from venturing out with us. Little Ball begged off due to his work schedule. Poor kid. I don't think he's used to that. He'll just have to learn as he gets older. If you don't plan ahead and make things happen, you'll miss a lot of riding time due to responsibility. Now today, today he was just plain soft. He had to be at work at 12 noon. We rode at 9am. Are you working class folk doing the math? That's plenty of time to ride for a couple of hours and maybe even get a real shower before reporting to the taskmaster! I spent many years doing Food Lion rides at 8am and being at the shop by 10am. No time for a real shower there, though. I promise you, in the winter, that cowboy shower from the water hose behind the shop was DAMN cold! But you do what you have to do if you really want to ride. Oh well, I'm sure he'll learn.


Wrecking Ball, Derwood, Tim Shank Redemption, and Mr. Bikechain himself all showed for what looked to be another wet ride. But the fog only hung around for the first 1/2 hour or so. The temp and humidity were both way down from yesterday, too. The trail was near perfect. Traction was so solid that I don't think you could slide out if you wanted to. I just kept testing the limits in each turn and was never let down. When Munson gets like this, it's one of the most fun trails in town. The trail has so much flow to it, you just flick from corner to corner. Watching the guy in front kind of reminds me of watching Moto GP racers as they rip through tight, S-curve rhythm sections. Just keep laying the bike from side to side, don't touch the brakes, and trust your tires to hang on!


We rode about 20-22 miles of singletrack out there this morning, and the efforts to push hard through the more fun rhythm sections apparently took their toll. I'm more tired than I would have expected. Now, I'm sure W.B. will tell you the bursts of speed were my design to make Kent uncomfortable. And he'll try to convince you that it was not coincidence that every time Kent bridged back on, the pace would elevate again. He may even go so far as to say there was an evil snicker every time I might have noticed Kent chasing. But it's just not true. Kent and I are long time friends and I would never, ever do that to a good, good, friend like Kent.....would I? Kent led the last few miles of the ride with me on his wheel. And maybe if what W.B. accuses was a little true, I felt guilty. So I convince Kent to settle in and let his skills do the talking. Efficiency is key in this game. After a particularly tight section, KW had opened up a little gap, so with a little motivation from yours truly, he proceeded to put the nail in the coffin all the way to the next regroup. Even Derwood was impressed and accused Kent of playing possum earlier.


Everyone ended this ride on a high note. There was no drama, which is very unusual in our crew, and no crashes, which was a big improvement over yesterday when 75% of the ride ended up on the ground at least once! Kent felt good about being back on track with his Felasco prep, and Tim got to ride twice this weekend! Now if the weather channel has their forecast in line, The rain should be moving out tonight to make way for clear skies and more winter like temps. Perfect!


And if you're wondering about that random pic at the top of this post, that's just to remind Wrecking Ball of where he got passed, ever so smoothly, near the end of the ride.

5 comments:

Human Wrecking Ball said...

You Bastard! First you put Kent on a spit and cook him and then build him as the returned hero.
I clear a double log gap and nothing! You worked the quip in about the pass though eh?
Rot in hell you segmented dirt tunneller!
w.b.

Anonymous said...

I've got your back WB. I know the real story. Great job on the double log jump.

Juancho said...

If you look at that picture closely, you can see me hiding, covered in pine needles.

BIGWORM said...

My bad, Wrecking Ball! I forgot how sensitive you are. Juancho, over at the BRC is constantly singing your praises, so I thought I'd shine the limelight on someone other than you. Please realize that this in no way diminishes the brightness of your rising star status.

(cue singing angels and violins)"H.W.B., you are an amazing rider and clearly bested me on the log hop today. My passing you at the end was my meager attemt at saving face. (fade to super rad silhouette image of backlit Wrecking Ball's midflight clearing of 2 7" logs spaced approximately 3' apart.)

Human Wrecking Ball said...

Well as long as we're clear....I guess there's no harm.
w.b.