Wet, Not Slippery, Little Mud, and Man-euvers

Don (right side of photo), and Tom (middle) a virgin rider to the area we rode today, area #21 at Ft. Lewis, joined Jeff (left), and John on a 2 ½ hour ride on many great trails today. Even though it was wet (and sleeting at times), there was little mud and not much slowing down either! Having them along was great company and a boost in the sense of humor department. (See video) There was one mishap today when a stick jumped out and overly probed Tom’s derailleur, bending his derailleur-hanger in toward the spokes. He finished out the last 2-3 miles just fine yet confined to only a gear or two. (We are all sorry for and regret the “trail-hazing" Tom received. The only thing that makes it better is knowing that we’ve all experienced this in various degrees at one time or another.) As far as finds today? The ride almost climaxed at a point when Tom found a box of Trojans near a trail head at the end of the ride. It was a conundrum (Sp? or, is it condomdrum?) yet Tom proved to be a man of wisdom because he sited to the rest of us that most likely the troops were out on man-euvers.

Meet Noah -- Meet Bruce

Today Noah (at Right)

and a friend Bruce (below) went out with us to some of the trails at the place we usually ride.

Your host can’t speak for Noah or Bruce yet what I can do is show a few pictures.

Brothers Mop Up . . .

Jeff (left of the pic) and his bro' Mark (from Ferndale) joined us for ride today that had everything. Gradual yet long lung-busting hills, steep heart-spiking short hills, sweeping / swooping single track, twisting technical single track, low jumpable, and high groin-busting logs.




The boys mopped up for 2 ½ hours.

Your editor was sucking wind really good today (not a good thing!) after one particular steep hill shown in the video. It took him four tries to finally make it up. (His excuse = not having worked out for three days because of intensive training, late nights studying, and an exam.) Jeff cleaned the hill in the video 3 times just to "encourage" the editor and show him how to keep a steady line. (B.S., it was to keep the editor humble and on the teetering edge of puking or losing it.)

All was well at the end though -- especially with a "good cup-o-Joe" at the end. (Thanks Mark for the caffeine hit afterwards.)

Digital Camera Gone Wild

You are so right.
The digital camera and mount went wild and didn’t prove to be stable enough for the dual track today. We’ll work for better stability this next week.

Barbed Wire, Bleeding First Aid Sign, and a Roadie

Went for a late ride today. No e-mail. No calls. Just . . . quiet. Found stacked up barbed wire along with a first aid sign near single track I was riding. The First Aid sign was bleeding (ink, no kidding).

On the way home in the dark I passed a “roadie” who was pulled off the side of narrow Rainer Road with a flat (sew-ups so no spare). He was “texting” for help and a ride home. Name of Vaughn – road races with The Valley (first year on the team). Real nice guy, late teens, stellar shape, loves speed of the road. Gave Speed Road Racer Vaughn a ride home. The end.