this was a dead owl I saw on the road during the ride. Perhaps it was foreshadowing of how I would feel at the end of the ride ? He was cool looking, I was sad he was dead.

Sunday Buddy the leg breaker, Ted Logic, Matty (run forest) and I headed out of Matt's and cut across white clay meeting up with Dan the man, Green Trek John, Capt. Kirk, Amazin' Andrew, Kurtee, Jay Jay, FortJames, SpotPaul, Dennisbike, and Mike "viva" LaFrance. Hope I didn't miss anyone but I probably did. If leg breaker Buddy tries to tell you he isn't riding well, tell him to go jump off a bridge. He went to the front early today, and laid down a strong consistent pace. On the Judge the leg breaker just blew the group to pieces. Dan the man, SpotPaul, and Matty stayed with him, but it was tough. The trails were in good shape especially since we got out early. During a flat change a group rode up to us, we were all very sensitive to watch the soil as the ground was starting to thaw. Who should come up leading this group but King Bartoo himself, who comments, "aren't the trails a little soft today?" with a big ole Cheshire smile on his face. The king has a sense of humor, who knew? Towards the end of the ride I was totally bonking, started to see white spots in front of my eyes. It was ugly. Lots of good smack talk today. It was very funny. I think that's half the fun of these rides.