The Weekly Round-up;
Wednesday I hit up some fine riding at Swope with Pyro. It had rained the night before and the trails were in perfect shape. You’ve gotta hand it to the Trails Hermits who designed and built the Swope trail system (and who are continuing to do so), Thanks and great work in design and build. Amazing!
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| Pyro and I @ Swope |
Friday afternoon (with special thanks to Gina for watching my boys) I was able to do a few hour ride again at Swope, but this time with The Manimal. It’s good to ride with different pals and do different types of riding and approach the trail system in a different fashion. The path or direction we took was totally different from what Pyro and I had done the a few days earlier which gives the trail a whole new feel.
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| The Manimal and I @ Swope |
Sunday was Dual-Duty Day. Jamie, The Manimal and I headed to The Truman Lake area for some rock climbing and riding. We spent the morning climbing at the Warsaw crag in the sun on some great Limestone bluffs. At one point my Helmet fell into the lake (due to extremely high winds) and I had to go buck-naked for a swim in cold, white-capped waters to retrieve it. It was so cold in fact that I was only able to inhale half breathes and started to get a little scared that I might just die out there at sea. I recovered enough to doggy-paddle back to shore a mere 100 yards from where I had entered. Upon climbing out of the frigid water, I was standing in the sun donning only my birthday suit, Helmet and Chaco sandals; I looked up to see a couple female climbers standing 30 feet away at the base of the bluff. Hope I did not scare them too bad emerging from the depths like that. Your welcome ladies:)
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| Jamie Pulling on Limestone |
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| The Manimal AKA Snake Charmer |
Just after the Lunch hour we headed back to the car, ate some food and then made our way to the Warsaw Mountain Bike Trails. We showed-up just as a race was finishing and the temperature was showing at 84 degrees. Considering that it had snowed a few days ago, we thought it was feeling especially hot out and made sure to chug some water and prep for a few hour ride in the extreme heat.
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| Fancy Trail Signage |
On a side note; I was running a ragged-out Maxxis Crossmark rear tire, tubeless that has been on my bike for over a season. When we arrived at the trail head and unloaded bikes, my tire was totally flat (from a tear I received at Swope on Friday). I was gambling on the fact it would hold instead of installing a new tire but my luck was running out. I had plugged the tear and it had held for the remainder of Thursdays ride, but now she was flat. So I added some Stans Sealant and a second plug and after spewing air and sealant for 20 seconds things were looking good- the tire was holding air. I knew from some beta from G-wiz that this trail system was full of sharp rocks, so I hoped for the best and planned for the worst; An Extra tube and crossed fingers. I have not had to install a tube , not once, for the last two seasons and was not about to let a ¼” hole in my tire ruin my standings! If you run tubeless, be smart and carry a plug kit. You don’t have to pull the tire and can be back running in the case of a flat in seconds; plug, air and go!
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| Ethos Pit Crew...Frenchie style (watching Jamie change his tire, not helping) |
We headed into the unknown hoping for a good time on some singletrack. We found it via the Yellow Loop! The trail was super fun. Lots of loose chirt –covered corners made things interesting but cruiser none-the-less. Long flowing down-hills followed by leg-burning climbs and great views of the lake, ahh! Jamie ended up flatting at one point which was a good excuse to rest and take in the scenery. We had a great 2+ hour ride with no other surprises. My Maxxiss Crossmark stood the test and held air for the entire rock-bashing ride. Dual Duty day was a success. Thanks Fellas!
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| Jamie needs a nickname...Hmmmm... |
I know Pyro and G-wiz would have joined us for our adventure if they’d not been up in Nebraska with Steve trying to get a podium spot, which I believe ended up being the case. Congrats to my fellow Ethos Team riders!
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| Nebraska Podium...Is Pryo Hung-over? |
Now It’s back to the grind…commuting to work for the summer months and riding some dirt as often as I can get out. Cheers!
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