Near-perfect weather as we headed out for an amazingly fun ride tonight. Great group as we flowed through a masterful loop constructed by Monk. Perhaps my favorite loop this year? At worst, a top two loop. Kevin was divine in a merino wool jersey. Tim was coming up with fun alternative lines all night. It was my pleasure to follow him down some rabbit holes. As we rode past the fairgrounds, I felt a little shaky but said to myself, "One more big climb to go." I didn't know which one it would be, but it was just one more big climb.
That last climb ended up being Randals, and we made our way up that masterpiece of a trail, and Buddy led the charge up the gravel road back to the big Appleton lot—good miles, Good smiles, Grateful for this group. Until next time...
If you push your luck long enough, sooner or later, the house is gonna win. Tonight we had a hearty group, and Monk was shot out of a cannon as we flew across the top of the park, and down the roller coaster. A quick re-group at the top of three little bears (Hatties), and I looked around from the top of the park and saw the storm behind us as we looped back north. I thought to myself, "I think we're gonna make this loop."
And perhaps that thought was the kiss of death as the thunder cracked and the skies opened up on us. But you know, sometimes when you lose, you win, as we all laughed and plowed back toward the parking lot in the pouring rain.
If we were handing out jerseys on this ride, a polkadotted one would go to Jimmy, who charged back to the lot and was waiting for the rest of us. We meanwhile took shelter under a pavilion where we met a nice dude with a really nice dog. The rain let up, and we made that last climb up the fire road to our cars.
Kevin and I talked about how rigamortous had set in from our refuge in the rain. Just as we got back to the cars, the rain let up, and it was good to catch up with some friends and a couple of recovery beverages.
It was a great time, and even though the loop was cut short, Monk hopes to make that full loop in the future. It was a really fun ride, rain and all. Until next time.
The monsoon rains of the last week or so, including gnarly storms this morning, meant that trail riding was out tonight, but we decided to take a run on the gravel roads. I wasn't sure how big the group would be, but we ended up being the largest of the year. It was cool to ride with Gwen again for the first time in years.
Maybe the best part of the ride was the diversity of bikes for this one- mountain bikes with gravel buttons, cross bikes, drop bar mountain bikes, and whatever Matt was riding. (I want one) .
Beautiful ride, gravel was super fun- riding in a peloton or whatever a gaggle of us on dirt roads is called. Until next week, my friends.
Wednesday Standard Vol. 11 saw us squeeze in an abbreviated ride as Mother Nature thundered in the background throughout the loop. The radar didn’t look good, but we had a nice group willing to press our luck a little. Monk planned a route that would have us pretty close to the car in the event we lost this bet.
It got really dark in the woods through Skip-a-Trail and the Red Loop, but the trails continued to roll smoothly, as the storms held off. Every so often, I catch a brief moment when everything rolls and feels buttery, smooth. The moutain bike gods tease me. Superhero dirt tonight.
As Melissa pointed out, the Fairhill Pixies wanted us to get this one in. The skies held off as long as they could, and as we made our way back to the parking lot, we were greeted with the rain. Good times. No post-ride recovery this week. Until next time.
Volume 9 of the standard was rained out last week, and frankly, our friends at Weather Underground didn't exactly instill confidence that Volume 10 would go down.
The Wednesday Standard saw the sun break out of a somewhat gray day and warm the park right up. Fun loop tonight, with a couple of longer climbs, which kind of destroyed me. The heavy and sweet smell of honey suckle filled the air and made me sound like I smoked a pack of Marlboro Reds before the ride. Trails were absolutely delicous.
