This Rain, this fog, this snow, this wind....where the hell is the sun?!
I could wait no longer. I couldn't stand taking lame road trips on my SS. I couldn't stand being
away from my trails, I just couldn't stand looking at my clean, untouched, unmuddied SS setting in
the corner of my cave. We had to get out or we would both simply wither away into dust.
Weather: %70 chance of severe thunderstorms, gray skies, low 60's F.
Well hey that means I have a %30 chance of having a good sloppy, dangerous ride if the severe
thunderstorms pass us by. The odds were in my favor, at least that's what I told myself.
I put on my biking gear(tee shirt and shorts), prolinked the chain, filled up an extra water bottle,
headed out the door, onto the street, and made the trail head by a quarter to three.
Ugly from the start. The first thing is see is Barney trail damage. Tons of newly formed cheater
lines formed by riders, and I use the term loosely, going around a little puddle of mud. For MV's
sake get off and walk your bike around or take it through the damn mud. Don't start widening what
used to be beautiful single track.
The conditions were such that I had to stay mainly on the rocky trails knowing full well this
could turn out to be quite treacherous. I was on a mission to have a good ride and clear my mind
of the cobwebs that have formed from not riding the trails in such a long time...It was a ride
worth the risks.
About 30 minutes into the ride I run into a family of hikers that had made their way up into the
park. Hmmm, didn't they see the weather forecast? They shouldn't have been out there with 4 to 8
year olds hiking around, not knowing where the hell they were going, not to mention no map, not to
mention not knowing how to read the blazes.
They asked me for directions back down into the park and what are those funny painted marks on the
trees and rocks. After a lengthy explanation I turn them around and get them going back down into
the park. MV only knows what would have happened to them when the skies opened up and they found
themselves completely lost in the woods. This one moment made the entire ride worth while. I
actually helped a family from senseless pain and suffering....Thank MV for Mountain Bikers!
After dabbing my way though a number of rocky trails, I came across a hiker. I stopped to let him
know that he would probably come across a lost family and gave him the run down. He said he had an
extra map and would make sure they would find their way back down into the park. Huh, extra map?
Must have been or still is a Boy scout.
Sometime later I had to take cover in one of the parks tunnels underneath the train tracks that run
parallel to the river. Guess I lost the %30 bet. It wasn't too bad I only waited for about 20 to 30
minutes for the downpour to pass. I didn't mind much, I mean how much wetter can the trails get? So
far my ride was just fine, slow and easy. But I knew it was going to be a [censored] getting back home.
I made loop around and started back out on the main park roads. It's only a slight drizzle by now. A
car passed and honked, I turn to look and I see the two young Cleaver kids waving from the back
seat, I assumed Ward and June were up front having out. It was about 1 and an half hours since I
first encountered them on the trail. Hope they didn't get too wet on their excellent adventure.
After a lung busting, thigh burning, SS trip up and out of the park, I was fully satisfied with the
ride. The trails are in pretty bad shape and I didn't help much by being out on them in these
conditions. But I just had to do it or I would have snapped. I don't think they will be in good
shape until the mid July.
Ride safe, and stay on the trails at all costs.
Peace, Bill(satisfied)Wheeler. The mind serves properly as a window glass rather than as a
reflector, that is, the mind should give an immediate view instead of an interpretation of
the world.
:-]