BAB Mountain Bike Trail Ride

Official Mountain Bike Ride Report for BAB // Bald Mountain--Addison Oaks--Bald Mountain, 14.36 mile Mountain Bike Trail Ride.

There was a ride tonight, Thursday, 7/31, but it was only Joe “Lojack” Rosenhauer and me, AND that new guy again, Kirk Schaeffer, on his old mountain bike!!

Where have all the riders gone? Doug Jones needed new brakes on his “new” bike and his “old” bike doesn’t have any spring left in the front suspension so he cancelled and Tony Bruce cancelled after his bike broke on his commute to work. That’s right, Tony rides his bike to work and we aren’t talking about a simple 5 mile ride, he is riding quite a bit further than that!!

Joe took the lead with Kirk following him, that way Kirk had someone to follow since he hasn’t ridden the BAB // Bald Mountain—Addison Oaks—Bald Mountain 14.36 mile combination trail and gravel road ride yet. I followed Kirk, that way he couldn’t get left behind and lost. That and I could ride slower since I was in last place (see Daniela—there is a reason I ride last).

At the “Pine Tree Loop”, where I lost Dave Kowalik a few rides back, Joe called out “right”, so that Kirk would know to turn right but since it was only his second ride Kirk heard “you all right?” and answered “okay”. Now that was fine but since Kirk couldn’t actually see Joe he went straight and missed the turn! When I caught up I saw that Kirk missed the turn so I had to try to catch up to him to let him know to wait since Joe was now behind us. Of course I hadn’t ridden in two weeks and gained 4.2 pounds while I was in Florida last week so it took me quite awhile to actually catch Kirk. Once I caught him we had to wait for Joe, but of course he was further back down the trail waiting for us!!! Just as I started to go back Joe came up the trail figuring that we must have missed the “Pine Tree Loop” and that we were now in front of him.

Kirk was fine with the pace, fine—heck I was barely keeping up with him—so we took off again since the mosquitoes were eating us alive. When we got over to the Addison Oaks section of the trails Joe continued to lead, with Kirk next, and then me following but pretty soon Kirk was surprised by a steep uphill and couldn’t make it, had to dismount and I passed him!! Lame I know, since he doesn’t know the trail!! However, I started to feel much better so I pressed on, trying to keep just ahead of Kirk to encourage him to go faster because he said he wanted to be “pushed”. I called out downhills and uphills and other terrain to make it easier for Kirk to anticipate things and by golly he really did well. Of course Kirk subscribes to the Doug Jones school of riding (“brakes on a downhill? Who needs those? They just slow you down!) and is a downhill speed demon!! Need I tell you that Joe “Lojack” Rosenhauer was so far out in front of us that we found him taking a nap at the concession stand at the end of the trail!!

Now I have to warn all you other riders, and those of you who should be riding but aren’t. Kirk is riding a 16 year old RIGID mountain bike, with toe cages no less, and it was only his second ride with the “group” but we still rode the BAB ride in our BEST TIME YET, 1:14:28!!!! Rumor has it that Kirk is trying to buy a new full suspension killer bike, so watch out!!!! If he does, Doug Jones will just have to break down and buy that 29 inch killer hard tail race bike he so desperately wants!!!

Still looking for some of our other intrepid riders who were AWOL!

Sincerely,
Dan “Krash” Kiplinger
“Embedded” in-the-field Correspondent and Editor-in-chief for the “Official Mountain Bike Ride Report”.