On Sunday, 9 members of ABRT showed for a great mt bike ride on a beautiful day at Patapsco. It was a spirited but not-too-hard pace for me and easy pace for the experts. It was pretty cool to be sportin' the team kits in mass as we came across a fair amount of on-coming bikers and hikers! The woods sure afforded some nice protection from what seemed like a windy day everywhere else. I may be missing someone, but those in attendance included Mike Cunningham, Kidd Manville, Sean Sullivan, Dennis Scanlon, Dee (Mike’s wife), Dave Bradshaw, Tom Mackay, Rick P, myself, Jonathon Seibold (from Family Bike shop), and Jim McNeely from Coppi. Kidd, Sean, Jonathan, and Jim had already been out with some others for an hour or so before we joined forces along the way.
The woods were beautiful with bright fallen leaves everywhere; they added to the challenge because they were hiding some sneaky ruts and obstacles here and there. We crossed several small streams that were *COLD* but refreshing enough on my toes (that is, if you splashed too much as you were attempting to get across). It was a great workout for me, especially since my mt bike muscles have atrophied over the past few months...that and my brake was rubbing, among a few other mechanical excuses (not to mention that I am slower than everyone else, of course). I was busy bitching about my gears not shifting down when I needed them to, yet there were several others on freakin' single speeds sans a single complaint. There were a few logs that I didn’t bother to ride over- but I did ok on some of the smaller uphill logs that I would typically have avoided. It's always fun to watch Young Tom and all the others who are more technically savvy out there! I felt pretty good w/ the occasional rock garden and seemed fine with my rear shock locked out.
Mishaps along the way included Rick w/ a flat pretty early on the ride. He was straddling his brand new Cannondale 29'er with tubeless tires- so probably just squeezed some air out on one of the more significant rock edges (but I am not sure)- he managed to get air back into it without a long wait or incident. Later however, Dave broke his derailleur! This was followed by his having to convert his machine to a single-speed, using my trusty chain tool. I think I have loaned out that tool to at least 4 or 5 folks in the past... never actually having to learn how to use it myself. I had one spectacular endo- but of course it is not spectacular unless there are witnesses. Thank goodness I was in the back, so no one else saw me (blush)! I still have no idea what reached out and grabbed my front wheel. It was fast and silent. I slammed my diaphragm on my bars hard enough to painfully knock all the wind out of me. I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs to squeeze out even a feeble attempt at “help”! All that I accomplished was a comical whimper and faint whisper- I might have done just as well to have thought the words instead. So I laid there and thought real hard as I watched the rest of the group ride off up the trail ahead without me. Eventually I was breathing again and back on my bike wondering when they would figure out that they had one less rider. But it wasn't but a few minutes later that I encountered Mike coming back to look for me. This as Dennis went off on an adjacent trail thinking I had simply made a wrong turn (very likely since I have no clue where I am out there). But I was fine and ready for another hour or so and off we went. Shortly before the finish, Rick went down somewhere and lost his pump. So he doubled back to find it. Rick is apparently getting used to the way his shiny new 29'er handles out there...(whereas I'm getting used to the way a bike actually handles out there...). I noticed Rick had some slightly skinned knees peeking through some newly "vented" tights. But it was all in a day's fun on the trail and I think everyone had a good time or workout. Let's do it again and again! And remind me to bring my helmet cam along next time...
Not sure how long or far we went exactly, but it was just enough for me.
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