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RR-Riding with The Rubbles. (long)
As in Barney and Betty.
So I finally got to hit my favorite trails yesterday.(about time!) It was a crisp 41 degrees at 0900. Definetly a bit coolish for our part of the world. But the skies were clear and no sign of any bad weather. I layered up a bit. (I love my DeFeet under shirts)And when I got to the trail head I was surprized that there wasn't any other cars in sight. 18 miles of trail all to myself!! Trail: Bootlegger/Fern Gulley I hit bootlegger (1.2 miles) rather slowly trying to get my legs warmed up. But this trail is made to be taken fast. So before I realize it I was haulin ass! Bootlegger quickly turned into Fern Gully. Another amazingly fast trail, that begs me to drop the hammer. So I did. Fern Gully is pure singletrack. Smooth as a baby bottom, with a few roots sprinkled in to keep one honest. The flow is definetly coming at me full steam, and I am loving it. There is this one partcular section of roots (actually it is only two roots. Both are exposed, and the first is about 10" above the ground, the second one is about 3 feet further down the trail, also about 8-10" exposed.) that is a very good place to try ones "bunny hopping" skills. I load the zoke just as the front tire hits the first one and hop, clearing the second (as well as the space in between!) I love that spot! But I notice some others have decided that this is to much for them as there is a ride around where the roots dive back into the earth. I laugh to myself, knowing I haven't contributed to the ride around, And I never will! As soon as you land from the hop, you are immediatly on the lip of 5 foot roll in into one of the fastest pcs of trail this place has to offer. If you choose to do the bunny hop of the roots you had better do it right, or you're done! (body placement is EVERYTHING) Trail: Huff-n-Puff After the very quick section of Fern Gulley, it's decision time. Normally I head up to hit Pine Mountain, a very fast descent with 3-4 ' water bars through out. Some serious air to be had on this part, and EXTREMLY fast! But no, not today. I decided to save this for last. No instead I head immedialty to Huff-N-Puff. 5.8 miles of some of the toughest trail in this part of central Georgia. Roots, rocks, water crossings. Lots of climbs and lots of "black diamond" (hehehehe) downhills. This trail is a killer!! And it will test you and your equipment very thoroughly! As I finish the first section of Huff, I start to hear voices (umm, no. Not the kind in your head.Real voices) and they are loud and not far behind. So i decide to put some distance between me and the riders approaching. I hit the second part of Huff WTFO, and I payed the price for my actions. There is one particular "dip" in the trail that I tried to "manual" down. Normally this is no problem, but this time I mis-judged my speed, and when I pulled the manual, the bikes trajectory was not in the correct position! There are 2 trees , just wide enough for ones bars to slip through the opening, and I as I manualed down I immedialty knew the bike was not going to be able to thread this needle. I bailed, and a fraction of a second later I'm in the middle of the needle eye, flat on my back laughing uncontrollaby! My front tire passed just to the left of the larger of the 2 trees on the left side. And the right side of the bars smacked the tree dead on the brake lever, spinning them backwards. I was already off the bike, in the middle of the trail when this occurred, and it's a damn good thing I was as I'm sure my fist would have been bent backwards, much like my brake lever was now!. I get up and brush myself off. No damage, but I immediatly notice my lever. It wasn't broken, or dangaling, just bent downwards a little. After a little straighting I continued on. By the time all of this occurred the voices were right behind me. So I built my speed up again and finished the 1.8 mile trail ahead of them. Trail: turkey trot I took this time to munch a few plums I had brought for a snack. And as I was sitting there the couple that was behind me appeared. We greeted each other, talked about the excellent weather, blah blah blah. And they were off. The dude was on a new Trek (don't know the model) and his wife was on a new K2 Launch 3.0. They had no water, no visable tools, no nothing. This gave me a chuckle. I decided to let them get a bit of a head start, and see how long it would take for me to catch up to em. Not very long as it turned out as they were stopping at every single obstacle. I caught them as they were standing to the side of the of the trail discussing how to handle the creek crossing that was in front of them. Just before I hit the crossing she says "be careful" and he says "no problem right" I said, as i was hitting the start of the crossing, "no problem at all!" I bounce over the slick rock into the water, through the sand and back up the slickrock to the dirt trail on the other side. Didn't miss a beat. As I disappear I hear the ooh's and ahhs. I laughed to myself as I disappeared over the ridge. The next time I saw them was the beginning of Pine Mountain. I give them a friendly warning to be careful as the this trailas it begs for speed! they say thanks and head off down the trail. I decided I'd better wait for a few xtra minutes so the trail would be clear, as I like to take this trail really, really fast. After the first major downhill I spot them out of the corner of my eye, a little further up trail. As I ride up to them, they ask "uh, do you have any tools on you?" "I've got a little problem" I look down and see that his cranks are both facing forward!! "Not good" sez I. So I dismount, get into my camelbak and produce the needed allen head wrench for the crank bolt. As I'm doing this the wife is going on to her husband, "oh look honey, he has one of those back pak thingys" and "check it out" he has a frame mounted pump" and "oh look, he even has a spare inner tube". 'Look dear, he even has that little pouch under his seat" "we really need to get back to the bike shop and p/u a few more things" (same LBS that I use, wonder if I could get some commision on that sale ;-)I crank on the bolt but no good, it's not tighting up. His BB is toast. So it looks like their ride is over. I tell them that the trail goes on for a good way, back into the heart of the system, and that their best bet would be to limp it back out to the service road, the way they came in, which runs the entire length of the park to the trail head. We said our goodbys and they said "thanks for stopping and trying to help" they limped back up trail, while I proceeded to finish the killer downhill run that is Pine Mountain! NUMBER OF THINGS FOUND ON THE TRAIL THAT I HAD TO PACK OUT FOR SOME BOZO2) 1-1/2 FULL WATER BOTTLE, AND 1-UNUSED CO2 CARTRIDGE. NUMBER OF DEER THAT I ENCOUNTERED: (8) INCLUDING A GROUP OF 5 THAT WERE LOUNGING ON THE TRAIL WHEN I HIT A RIDGE VERY FAST. AND 1 SPIKE THAT WAS LESS THAN 5 FEET AHEAD OF ME ON THE TRAIL, DARING ME TO COME AT HIM. HE FINALLY GOT TIRED OF STARING ME DOWN AND CASUALLY WALKED OFF THE TRAIL A FEW FEET AND LET ME PASS :-) All told I was in the woods for 3 1/2 hours and it was fantastic! And I got to teach the Rubbles how to be properly prepared when your riding. Not a bad day at all!! Dave (remembering the scouts motto!) |
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