Another FINE day of riding
I just got in from another great day in the woods. The list of players: Ian L., Mike B., Matt J., Ian B., Wode, myself, and Sophie and Maringo the dogs. The route for the day: Laurel/Pilot/NoName/Slate/1206 from Yellow Gap.
We got to Yellow Gap sometime around noon and got a nice slow start. Ian B and I, as the singlespeeders, led out the group on Laurel Mountain trail. Mike got up front pretty quick and took off with Ian B, we didn't see much of them after that until the meeting log. The trail was in perfect condition, dry enough to not be slimy, but wet enough for maximum traction. The dogs were doing great and everyone was moving along at a fun, not backbreaking, pace. Here's a shot I took of Sophie with Johnson, then Ian L., following close behind:
Matt was killing all the tech sections, as usual. This man has singletrack skills. Give him a steep up, a here-to-there, or the gnarliest downhill switchback and he will show you how to ride it. Here he is at the rock-lift/rooty-death thing:
a video of him at the Crack Rock:
and going for the high line move where the high line is only really visable if you're going DOWN the trail:
Ian L. had some mechanical problems with his fork but luckily there were two professional bike mechanics on the scene:
Laurel Mountain has got to be one of the very best trails out there. It was a perfect day to be on the trail, too. High around 80 degrees, zero humidity, light winds, and still no leaves on the trees so views were abundant. Mike had a good time.:
Maringo had a good time:
and... I think.... Ian had a good time. Great to see you out there Ian!!!
Once we finished the 6 miles of singletrack climbing of Laurel we made our way to the connector and on to Pilot Rock. Matt led out, I followed him, Mike was next then Ian B, Ian L and Wode. We kept that order for most of the way down. I had my first good crash in a while negotiating one of the steep switchbacks. I landed with a solid thud, 'OOmph!' and a cloud of dust. My hip will probably be sporting a good bruise tomorrow. I was good and shaken, and nearly crashed again on the very next switchback. I took a couple deep breaths and tried my hardest and nearly held Johnson all the way into the HumVee section. I was feeling GREAT about my downhillin' and actually got a few compliments (thank you, thank you very much).
Here's a shot of Sophie and I at the top of Pilot.:
and here's a quick video at the Pilot Rock overlook. It was a very early spring, beautiful day:
Sophie, by the way, did EXCELLENT. she is one faaaaaaaasst puppy. Mike was telling me that she just wants to ride behind me and she was doing a great job hanging on to Johnson and my pace. Mike did go down hard once making sure he didn't run Sophie down though.... I guess I need to teach her to GET OUT OF THE WAY! Ian B. went back and cleaned the HumVee section for the first time and Wode had an over-the-bars experience that left him dazed and confused but everyone was ready for the no-name connector to Slate. We took Slate down to 1206 and stopped at the first swimming hole we could find for the dogs, and the people to cool off before the gravel road miles back to the cars. The climb back to the cars was as hard as ever but the mood was bright and lively at the finish. Great ride with great people. If every ride could be like this, every ride would be freakin' fantastic. Thanks for coming out everybody!
