Met up at the Cove for the annual New Year's Day ride. A bunch of folks left from the boat dock side after a few photos, etc....probably 60 or so on this side & another 30 left from Bennett Springs. I rode w/ Grizzly Adams (hubby w/ a big stubbly beard), Chas, Brian, a few folks from East Coasters, and some guys who I've seen before but could not place their names...We probably had close to 10 or so in our group.
Headed out the fire road from the Boat Dock...felt like crap the initial 2 miles in...legs were really "thick" and the cold air was hurting my lungs. Once we hit the trails, I felt a little better...We rode Schoolhouse to Little Bell. When we came upon the intersection to Little Bell, we caught up w/ another group & waited for one of the riders to change his tire...This took a little while so my legs started tightening up . We got moving again and once we got off Little Bell, I was pleading w/ the group not to do EF. I was worried the stream would still be up. I won my case & we rode on to do Songbird backwards....felt ok on this trail..then the legs started getting heavy again. I don't do well with a lot of stopping & starting..I ride better when I go continuously.
I passed by my buddy Jen coming the other way...I shouted "having fun?"..she said she was having a blast....my crew continued on. Dumped out on the fireroad..hung around again...then on to Comet. When we got to the 4 way intersection, we met up with another group of our riding buddies...they started out on the Bennett Springs side and had been riding for a couple of hours. They followed our group for a bit..then we split off..they took Songbird and we went on to Arrowhead.
The group set a blistering pace up Arrowhead...I thought I was the last one but lo and behold, 2 more riders joined up behind me..On we went....I attempted a couple of the creek crossings & managed to stay dry..until the last one. I was feeling extremely confident in my bike handling skills so I decided to try the last crossing. I picked a good line..but was surprised that I had such a good line that I quit pedaling....I proceeded to "foot out" into the water BRRRRRRRR!...come to find out only me and Grizzly Adams tried the creek....I felt pretty good about that...the only chicky in in the group & she outdoes the boys...well almost!....On we went descending down the bumps and rocks back to the fireroad.
By this time the sun was ducking behind the mountain and the temps were dropping. We plodded along the fireroad....I thought we'd never make it back...my toes became numb but we kept plodding. We came upon a group we rode with earlier in the day..2 were riding bikes, the 3rd was walk/running.....Turns out he had major mechanical issues & a buddy of his was carrying the bike back!...Hope he compensated him well for all that effort.
Finally we made it back to the vehicles..Changed into DRY socks!!! and put on warmer clothing. Stopped for a bite to eat on the way home. All in all it was a good day for a ride! Happy New Year!
1 comment:
Compensation, no kidding? It's bad enough to get yourself and bike back on that blessed fireroad much less carrying someone else's bike. Walk/running in bike shoes sucks too. I had that experience at the PVP race this summer; don't care to repeat it either.
Thanks for the mention in the blog buddy! I missed riding with ya, but the Lynchburg boys didn't want anything to do with the boring, three mile fireroad from hell. Since they had never ridden at the Cove, I didn't want that to be their impression of it either. They were ecstatic about the trails that we rode. I told them if they liked the easy stuff then they were going to absolutely love stuff like Hi-dee-ho, Hemlock Tunnel (of death), Jacob, Tuck and Comet. I told them I'd have to find them a guide for those adventures. I'll have to hire Warren for them (Skmeetz-itute) HA!
Have I mentioned what fun I'm having mountain biking?!?
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