The last week has been packed full of dry trail and good weather. Of course I have been stuck working and spending time with my family so I have little to say about the riding scene, other than the following...
Thursday night I hit up Swope for a quick lap before dark. The trail was in absolutely ripping good shape, a pleasure to ride. As I entered one of my favorite rock gardens, dubbed 8-pins, I developed a slight bike related issue; my stem was totally loose and my front wheel turned sideways as I surmounted the first large rock. Bummer! This is about as far as you can get from the car and the first time in three years that I blew off bringing my kit-o-tools. I walked the remaining 100 yards of 8-pin and then thought 'this is so lame'. I just got back on my bike and started riding. I hoped for the best and expected the worst. My wheel stayed fairly straight for the rest of the ride. A few quick pit-stops to turn it forward and I was soon at the parking area. Thankfully a fella on a black Surly Karate Monkey was kind enough to loan me a wrench. I was back rolling in seconds.
I headed back up to phase 2 for a lap of some more good trail. I am always pleased with the pure joy of riding Swope. It sure beats the heck out of riding the trail nearest my home, but sometimes you have to ride the lesser trail just to ride, and that is just what The Manimal and I did - last night.
The Manimal arrived at my house for an 8 p.m. departure on the Home Loop. It was dark and the air was cool. We headed into the woods with lights on rough trail an immediately did the first creek crossing and got our feet wet, literally. It was great to get out and see trail conditions at SMP, which ended up being superb. The trails here too wee ripping good. About half way through the ride we could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. We'd see lighting too but could never figure out in which directions is was coming from. Soon the storm was upon us and we had miles to ride to get back home. Temps dropped into the 30's and what we feared to be rain ended up being sleet. Awesome! We were stoked and stayed dry all the way home. The second we got off our bikes it stopped sleeting. Three minutes later it was raining hard. Luck I tell ya. Good ride with a good bro. Life is grand!
No comments:
Post a Comment