"Lojack Gravel Road Ride"

Official Mountain Bike Ride Report for the “Lojack Gravel Road Ride”, 22.5 gravel road and trail ride.

First off, I have been taking some good natured ribbing from Craig “Chief” Drozd and Doug “Rhino” Jones due to the lack of ride reports lately. Of course the last ride report that Doug did was my spectacular crash years ago and Craig’s was a year or two ago after either the Iceman or Chequamegon Fat Tire mountain bike races! Heck, even the “new” guy, Kirk Schaeffer, had the audacity to razz me about not seeing any ride reports, he even asked me if I had his correct Email address!! I think he is just mad that he doesn’t have a nickname yet, but since he is riding, and crap he is fast, and he is a friend of Doug Jones, I think I will cut him some slack and write up the 5 missing ride reports for everyone’s reading pleasure. So, I will be sending out a number of delinquent ride reports in the near future.

There was a ride Saturday, 8/2, starting at Joe “Lojack” Rosenhauer’s house, so this ride will be formally known as the “Lojack Gravel Road Ride” from now on. It was going to be just Joe and me but Craig Drozd called me early Saturday morning (he was on vacation and didn’t see the ride invitation until late Friday night) and asked if we were riding and since we were he saddled up and drove to Joe’s house to join us! Where have all the other riders gone?

We started off and I quickly fell behind Joe and Craig. That seems to be a common refrain but I chalk it up to them having almost a two month head start on me this year in regards to training rides. Then I hear Craig exclaim that he forgot his sunglasses on the spare tire of his Jeep, again, as he done in past rides! We highly recommend riding with glasses because you can have a serious crash if you take a branch to the eye on a downhill or fast section, heck you could also just suffer a serious eye injury, and of course it is mountain biking so you could end up with sand, dirt or rocks in your eyes from the riders tires in front of you. That is why it is difficult to decide whether to lead and be the first to encounter the branches and have to call them out for the following riders, or follow and risk all the debris from everyone’s tires in front of you. But hey, its mountain biking so it is all good.

When we got to the 3 mile “trail loop” (think Gilligan’s Island-just a 3 hour tour!!!) Craig and Joe made me lead since they thought I was dogging it. Now what you have to realize is this is a simple 3 mile trail loop with a 9 mile first hill, yes you read that right—a 9 mile first hill. It starts out in the parking lot and goes up; through a tunnel of trees so you can only see so far up the trail, then it has a series of turns so you can see even less far. It is loose sand and gravel to make it that much more difficult. It goes up somewhat gently for a good ways, and then it pitches up considerably more so you are quickly downshifting out of the big front chain ring into the middle front chain ring. It turns right and pitches up considerably more, turns left, pitches up considerably more, turns right again, pitches up considerably more, then flattens out on a bare patch of dirt in an opening with no trees and you think that you are at the top. But NO, it pitches up again and you are sure that this hill has turned into a giant treadmill, and that it keeps speeding up more and more and inclining more and more before you can get to the front of the revolving tread and turn it off!!! So you down shift into the small front chain ring! It pitches up, and turns, and pitches up and turns again and again and you downshift until you are in “granny/granny” gear (small front chain ring, big rear cassette ring for the lowest possible gear you have) and your lungs are and legs are burning and then you see another clearing up ahead. You think you are going to find that guy on the top of the mountain you go to ask the meaning of life but nooo, it pitches up again and you look down at your gears in the futile hope that you can find a “great granny” gear!!! Finally, the tread mill quits and you crest the top of the 9 mile hill, barely able to breathe, vision narrowed and dimmed due to the lack of oxygen only to plunge into a steep downhill with two turns. As you try to stay on the trail and miss the trees and rocks you think what a long wild ride it is going to be, except it abruptly turns into another uphill??? You struggle up the hill and wonder what the heck happened to the big downhill that should follow that 9 mile uphill when all of a sudden, another step down hill with two more turns about twice as long as the last one. But again it abruptly turns into an even steeper uphill and I furiously downshift again, and drop the chain off of the front chain rings almost crashing and have to stop while Joe “Lojack” Rosenhauer flies by me. I quickly put the chain back on and run the rest of the way up the hill so I can try to get back on the bike before Craig “Chief” Drozd passes me, and yeesss, I am successful, no sign of Craig yet.

I rode like crazy through the winding trail as it goes through knee deep grass and raspberry vines getting wet from the dew and scratched up at the same time. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if I could keep in the center of the trail but nooo, I have to try to catch Joe. Then, as I pass through the apple orchard I about crash several times, why you ask? Think about all those movies you have seen where the bad guys fall after the good guys dump a bunch of marbles on the floor. Yep, a bunch of fallen apples is a lot like marbles, especially when you still haven’t regained all your vision from the oxygen deprivation. After a couple of wicked down hills with 90 degree turns at the bottom, scrubbing off all of my speed, then some sandy spots just for good measure, I got to the final 3 short but very steep hills but I still don’t see any sign of Joe, or Craig for that matter. I drop my chain off of the front chain rings again on the steepest hill and as I walk to the top I am thinking why is it so hot this early in the morning as my sunglasses are fogging up. Finally I get back to the beginning of the trail where I find Joe leisurely reading the information on the bulletin board. I take off my helmet and sunglasses and put them on the ledge on the bulletin board so I can raise my seat post to try to get some more leg extension and speed. Craig rides up and declares that he had some mechanical problems with his rear wheel several times and had to straighten it so that was why he was so far behind. We check our odometers and sure enough, it is only 3 miles, but that 9 mile hill is not a figment of our imaginations, seriously!!! If you don’t believe me, you come ride it with us!!!

Just as we started to ride back to the gravel road Craig was kind enough to remind me not to leave my helmet and sunglasses on the ledge!!! See oxygen deprivation is real as I never ride without a helmet, and had Craig not been suffering from it also he would have realized it would have been even funnier to remind me at the top off hill on the way back to the gravel road so I would have had to go back my helmet and glasses and ride the hill a second time!!! We insist that everyone who rides with us wears a helmet!!!! We don’t want to have any serious head injuries that could have been avoided with a helmet, that and many of the trails actually state that helmets are required. We also recommend wearing gloves so that you don’t have to dig gravel out of the palms of your hands if you do happen to crash.

About half way through the 22.5 mile ride, Craig flew by Joe and me so that he could stop up ahead at an intersection to adjust his rear wheel again. I don’t know what he did that time, but when we started riding again he just took off and left Joe in the dust. But don’t feel bad for Joe, because Joe left me in his dust as well!! Turns out that when Joe and I finally caught up to Craig, in Joe’s driveway, Craig was just frustrated with his rear wheel and took it out on it by riding like a bat out of hell the last 12 miles!! So, while I finished in about 1:44:00, I am sure that Craig finished in the low 1:30:00’s, which is pretty darn fast for 22.5 miles.

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”.

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”.

Pontiac Lake Recreation Area

Official Mountain Bike Ride Report for Pontiac Lake Recreation Area Mountain Bike Trail Ride

There was a ride last Thursday, 7/24, but I was on vacation so no one wrote a ride report. I heard that only Craig “Chief” Drozd and Doug “Rhino” Jones showed up for the ride so where have all the riders gone? However the good news is that Doug did bring a new rider, Kirk Schaeffer, who was riding a 16 year old rigid (no suspension at all) mountain bike with toe cages! I also heard that Craig had a fairly bad crash, although there were no eye witnesses, and that he had to take the short cut back to the parking lot because he couldn’t continue the ride. Craig was on vacation this week so I don’t know what his medical condition is but we hope he is recovered and ready to ride next week!

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

"Chicago" found!

Exciting news!!! Dennis “Chicago” Kennedy is alive and well! I repeat, alive and well, so call of the search for his body!!

I saw Dennis in the parking lot at work last Friday, July 18^th, the day after the last BAB ride where he was a no show, as I previously reported. He was driving his wife’s Mustang convertible, again, dropping Lynn off at work, again. So, he didn’t try to take the engine out of her car and Lynn hadn’t “offed” him!! But why wasn’t he at the BAB ride then?

As I approached the car I told Dennis he was going to be flamed in the “Ride Report”! He told me it was too hot to ride, especially since he had heat exhaustion once before and never wanted to do that again. Since I have known of several people who actually have had heat exhaustion (I am sure Dennis did too!) and how dangerous it was I told Dennis he had a good excuse so I wouldn’t flame him.

Then Dennis laughed at me and told me that wasn’t the real reason he wasn’t there. The real reason was that he “just didn’t want to go, didn’t want to GO, it was just TOO DAMN HOT!!!” Lynn chimed in and confirmed that was the reason and that he was healthy and fine and the heat exhaustion thing was just a ruse and was not a good enough excuse and go ahead and flame him.

So, that confirms it!!! I believe that Dennis is, in fact, secretly training with the Olympic team and simply doesn’t want to tip his hand as to how superior of a mountain biker he is than the rest of us!!!

I am convinced that we will not see Dennis riding this year until he shows up at the Iceman race and smokes the rest of us!!! That or he will be selling his Iceman registration to Alex Zawinsky for a profit since Alex couldn’t follow the instructions for registering and didn’t get selected for this year’s race and is desperately trying to buy his way into the race!!

Sincerely,

Dan “Krash” Kiplinger

“Embedded” in-the-field Correspondent and Editor-in-Chief for the “Official Mountain Bike Ride Report”.

Exciting mountain biking news!

Exciting news!!! There was a Chicago sighting last week! No not that Chicago. Chicago as in Dennis “Chicago” Kennedy because Dennis bailed on us (Craig, Doug, Joe, Bill and me) and went to Chicago instead of riding in the Iceman mountain bike race November of last year!

I saw Dennis in the parking lot at work last Wednesday, July 16th. No he wasn’t driving his manly Z71 pickup truck, or his Willy’s Jeep, or even his cute little Mazda Miata convertible, he was driving his wife’s Mustang convertible, that’s right, his wife’s car. Worse yet, I hear but I have not seen nor can I confirm that Dennis actually drives (horrors) --- a minivan!!! If that is right; Dennis is a --- soccer Mom!!??!!

We talked about the BAB (Bald Mountain-Addison Oaks-Bald Mountain) ride scheduled for the next day, Thursday, July 17^th, and he said he really wanted to be there, that he needed to be there, that he would try to be there but that he had hoped to have at least four rides under his belt before riding with the “group”. Even though he is obviously in great shape (thin, lean and mean looking) I could see the fear in his eyes as he looked at me, old, graying, no muscle tone, a bit of a pot belly but he knew I was riding with the “group” so he was obviously worried about whether he could keep up with “group” since he hasn’t ridden yet this year.

I noticed he was stroking the Mustang, nervously glancing at the hood and I could see the wheels turning in his head. He was thinking that the 20 HP lawnmower engine from his riding lawnmower that he was in the process of bolting onto his bike the last time we swapped Emails wasn’t going to be big enough for him to keep up with the “group”. So, he was thinking about taking the big V8 engine out of his wife’s Mustang and bolting that onto his bike instead!! I know what you are thinking and the visual image in your mind of Dennis straddling that big V8 bolted to his bike as the frame collapses but he is an amateur mechanic and a wild and crazy guy. Dennis would try to do it, if only to be able to open the door from his garage into the house so that he could yell to his wife “Lynn, I’ll be back in a little while, I have to go to the bike store and buy a new bike because mine is broken.” Dennis would buy that new killer bike, sub 20 pound, carbon fiber, really fast bike even if he couldn’t keep up with the “group” on it so at least he would have the satisfaction that the rest of us would be so distracted with bike envy/lust that we wouldn’t notice that he was slow!

Now you have to understand that Dennis already did this to me once, which is why I could see the wheels turning in his head, could read his mind, and could understand his motivation. Back in 1999, when we were worried about the year 2000 playing havoc with all of the computer systems, Dennis was working too much to get very many rides in but he convinced me and my son Nathaniel to ride with him on THE Millennium Polar Rhino Ride on January 1, 2000. Nathaniel and I showed up early and signed in and as we headed back to the parking lot to get our bikes, Dennis went running by us to go sign in, in his business suit!! He was just coming from work and told us he would meet us in the parking lot so Nathaniel and I searched the lot for his truck and his trusty Blue Trek mountain bike, but we couldn’t find it. I did see a truck that looked like Dennis’ but it had a brand spanking new Specialized Stump Jumper Pro full suspension killer mountain bike on it, I think it still even had the stickers on it!! Dennis came out the parking lot and just grinned as he unloaded the bike mumbling something about it being a late Christmas present from him to him. I don’t remember much about THE Millennium Polar Rhino Ride other than Dennis’ new killer bike! So, it is an effective tactic, so effective that I used it myself in the Iceman race last year!!

So, either Dennis is secretly training with Lance Armstrong or he is having trouble bolting an engine onto his bike in such a fashion that we won’t notice it, or he might actually show up for a scheduled ride and surprise us!

Sincerely,

Dan “Krash” Kiplinger

“Embedded” in-the-field Correspondent and Editor-in-Chief for the “Official Mountain Bike Ride Report”.

Pontiac Lake Recreation Area Mountain Bike Trail Ride

Official Mountain Bike Ride Report for Pontiac Lake Recreation Area Mountain Bike Trail Ride

Joe “Lojack” Rosenhauer, Peter Hill, Alex Zawinsky, Matt Bradley and I rode the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area trail ride last Saturday. Joe and I got to the parking lot at 8:05 AM and while there were a number of riders there, none of “our” riders were there yet. “They” wanted to ride at 9 AM but “we” wanted to ride at 8 AM, so we compromised on 8:30 AM but Joe and I were early. Peter showed up on time but Alex and Matt were late with Alex providing a (lame) excuse about not being able to find one or both of his mountain bike shoes! Having never ridden with Matt and since he was carpooling with Alex, I can’t lay any blame on him because he was there ready to ride, unlike some of our other intrepid riders who were, yet again, AWOL!

Upon test riding his bike in the parking lot, Alex noticed he had some mechanical problems (further fallout from the Potawatomi ride in the downpour!) and needed to borrow a allen wrench because he didn’t have any tools, spare tire, patch kit, or pump—nor did Matt. I attribute that as a attempt to reduce weight on their part and therefore ride faster than me since I carry all of that plus a cell phone to call 911 and a “Road ID” ankle bracelet with my emergency information on it, just in case! Alex adjusted his rear brake cable (something that is really critical to keep from “endoing” on a steep downhill!!!) and his loose handle bar stem (something that is really critical to keep from face planting into a tree in a hard turn!!!) That Potawatomi ride really took a toll on everyone!!! Craig Drozd’s, Doug Jones’, and Daniela Bredemeier’s bikes are all still down for repairs, Joe Rosenhauer had to replace his front brake pads, chain and rear cassette, Alex Zawinsky had to replace his rear quick release skewer and adjust/tighten his rear brake and handle bar stem, and Steve Burgin lost all his brakes and hasn’t been out riding since Potawatomi! Knock on wood, my bike seems to have been unaffected so far (maybe it’s because I ride slower and more gently than the rest of the riders?)!!

Before we started the ride I lowered my seat post a little so I could dismount more quickly since this was the first time I have ridden Pontiac Lake since my infamous June 17, 2003 spectacular crash and I was very apprehensive, especially since we didn’t have a paramedic on this ride like we did that day!!! Big mistake, I couldn’t pedal efficiently and was immediately dropped by the guys!!! Then I was passed by two more riders and I knew I was going to have to stop to adjust the seat. While I was adjusting the seat five more riders went by but they did ask if I was okay (I couldn’t believe that I looked that exhausted less than 10 minutes into the ride—but I am old so maybe that threw them off as well!).

I eventually caught up to Matt Bradley, of course I’m not sure if you can call it catching up if he is standing there waiting for me while being eaten alive by mosquitoes but it was nice of him to wait for me. Matt and I rode together for awhile, him flying downhill but struggling uphill because he was still recovering from bronchitis and couldn’t breathe well, me cautiously going downhill (memories of my crash!) and struggling uphill but not as much as Matt because I downshifted more! I think that Joe, Alex and Peter waited up for Matt and me several times as well but when we started riding again they quickly dropped us. When I told Alex that I had lowered my seat he scolded me and told me to never do that because it saps all of your strength because you use your muscles differently. Now I know better because the longer we rode the better I was feeling compared to the start. FYI, Alex says that your seat height (center of the crank bolt to the top of the seat) should be .73 inches times your inseam, which at that point Peter began to compare the height of his seat to the rest of our bikes as he appears to be the tallest of all “our” riders. It appeared that my seat was even higher than his though, so go figure? We’ll have to do some real measuring, and weighing, of the bikes on a future ride to do some comparing and evaluating, and of course—bragging rights for the lightest bike!!

When we got to a paved road, Matt decided to ride back to the parking lot as the heat and humidity had combined with his bronchitis to wear him out. I was actually feeling better but the energy sapping from my seat adjustment mistake kept me from being able to keep up with Joe, Peter and Alex all of the time (that’s my story and I’m sticking with it—it couldn’t have anything to do with me being older, heavier, and more out of shape than those guys!!). However, we were going faster than before, at least I was going faster than I was before, for all I know they were going slower than they were before!

When we got back to the parking lot we found that the 11-12 mile trail that we used to ride in 2000-2003 was only a little over 9 miles now. So that means that they cut out some of the more treacherous sections, especially the 300 yard long, 60% downhill grade, multiple ski jump like monster of a downhill that I spectacularly crashed on in 2003!!! Probably in my honor, no less!! But hey, I finished without crashing, keeping my promise to my wife who wasn’t home at the time, just like in 2003, to “not do anything stupid”!!! I did have to dismount on one downhill section with two drop offs and on a couple of “rock gardens” and I had to walk up a number of hills as well, but I did finish which was a huge emotional hurdle for me. I think I might even go back again because I really do want to find that downhill I crashed on and reflect on my good fortune of having a paramedic along on the ride to take care of me, and good riding buddies to help me out as well, even if one of them took pictures and distributed them to everyone at work, and is still holding my famous Timex hostage!!!

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

Sincerely,

Dan “Krash” Kiplinger

“Embedded” in-the-field Correspondent and Editor-in-chief for the “Official Mountain Bike Ride Report”.

BAB Mountain Bike Trail Ride

Official Mountain Bike Ride Report for BAB // Bald Mountain--Addison Oaks--Bald Mountain, 14.36 mile trail ride

Doug “Rhino” Jones, Joe “Lojack” Rosenhauer, Dave Kowalik, Peter Hill and I rode the BAB // Bald Mountain—Addison Oaks—Bald Mountain 14.36 mile combination trail and gravel road ride last Thursday. When Joe and I got the parking lot Doug and Peter were already there waiting and Dave arrived a couple minutes after we did. Dave was going to ride his “primary” bike this time which was a Specialized full suspension instead of his “backup” bike like he did on the last BAB ride, so we expected him to be really fast today. I was worried about Doug as well since he was riding his “backup” bike, his trusty Barracuda hard tail race bike instead of his new Giant full suspension since it still had mechanical problems left over from the Potawatomi ride in the downpour, and I remembered from when I first started riding years ago that he was really really fast on the ‘Cuda!

When we started the ride Joe took the lead, followed by Doug and me, and then Dave and Peter. We took gravel roads directly to Addison Oaks instead of riding the Bald Mountain trail because Doug needed to leave early. Doug was telling me about Daniela Bredemeier’s mechanical problems with her bike that she said would cause her to have to miss the ride (further fallout from the Potawatomi ride in the downpour!). Something about one wheel being out of true causing her brake to rub (which of course would slow her down!!) and her chain scratching her paint job so she was going to take it back to the bike shop for a tune up. Doug told her to put a “Lizard Skin” (bullet proof nylon sleeve held on with Velcro to protect the bike paint) on and not to worry about it but of course being the fashion maven she is, Daniela passed as it would ruin the color scheme on her bike. That and she really wanted to fix the problem, not just disguise it. Doug also told me about a sweet new 29 inch hard tail superbike that he was thinking about buying, something that would allow him to smoke the rest of us on future rides.

When we got to Addison Oaks Doug suggested that Dave or Peter lead since they had been lagging behind on the gravel road portion sandbagging the rest of us. Of course Dave had already stopped to take a drink or adjust his bike and the rest of the guys stopped as well. I saw this as my chance to surprise them and take the lead while they were all stopped so I wouldn’t get passed very quickly on trail! So, I took off and didn’t look back (I didn’t want to see them gaining on me!) after awhile I heard a bike behind me and I was worried it was Doug, who can ride about 2” behind my rear wheel all day long if he wants to force me to ride harder. So I rode harder and lost the bike for a short while but when I heard the bike again I called out to find out who it was (I didn’t want to turn around and look because I have a tendency to crash when I do that!) and turns out it was Joe, not Doug. We went through a pretty technical section and at the bottom of hill I was taking at a high rate of speed just before a hard left turn and a steep uphill my seat came loose and the nose of the seat was pointing straight up as I was trying to hold my butt up off the rear tire! Needless to say I had to stop to make repairs and all of the guys passed me. I say all of the guys since they had all just caught up to me so it was only a matter of time before they would have passed me anyway. Can you say “out of gas”?

I finally caught up to the guys at the concession stand where I saw Peter had his bike upside down and a wheel removed. I thought maybe he had a flat tire but by the time I got there he had it back on the bike and they were ready to continue riding. We had a short discussion where the guys humored me by telling me that I had been putting on a blistering pace (who knows, maybe I was)! Then Doug said he had to ride back to the parking lot because he was out of time. The rest of us decided to ride the Bald Mountain trail on the way back. Doug, Joe and Peter took off, and I followed but held back because I saw Dave stop a couple of times as he was checking his bike out for some reason (that’s my story and I am sticking to it—it had nothing to do with me being exhausted!).

When Dave caught up to me just before we were about to leave the gravel road to jump into the Bald Mountain trail he asked if he could ride my bike to test something out. While he was riding mine I rode his and sure enough his didn’t seem to be “right”. I found that he had four or five loose bolts on his suspension, which is not a good thing to say the least! I got out my allen wrench and tightened everything up and after a quick test ride Dave took the lead into the trail, while I was stopped putting my allen wrench away of course!!

When I finally caught up to the guys in the parking lot Dave already had his bike in the car but Peter, Joe and I decided to ride the South loop of the Bald Mountain trail. I was able to keep up with them, most of the time, but it was a good fast long ride on a day when we only had a few sprinkles of rain and good company. Still looking for some of our other intrepid riders who were AWOL though!

Sincerely,

Dan “Krash” Kiplinger

“Embedded” in-the-field Correspondent and Editor-in-chief for the “Official Mountain Bike Ride Report”.