October 22 6:00am ... So after another week worth of telling myself this is the day I am going to get back in the gym or that I was going to go running after work... and not doing it, I got up early to make breakfast this Saturday morning since I knew I would be out on my mountain bike for a couple hours. I find that 2 eggs over easy on a couple slices of toast and a banana make up the perfect preride breakfast. Got some carbs, some protein, and some fruit. A little OJ and a bottle of water and I'm ready to go.
I get to Wompatuck State Park right at 8:00 and my friends are there. Little T(she got me onto mtn biking), Crazy Mike C(visiting from PA and riding his brothers 29er singlespeed) and Early American Jeff(a little older than the rest of us but crazy fit and fairly new to mtn biking). We hung around and caught up for a little bit and then off we went. The ride was a blast. We went at a pretty good pace and banged out 13.5 miles in about 1hr and 45 mins of actual ride time.
Right off the bat, we hit a rooty incline and EAJ crashes. One of those crashes that doesn't look too bad but probably hurt like hell. Blood on his knee and elbow, EAJ shakes it off and continues on only to realize he broke his rear break lever. He decides to keep on with the ride and we hit it again. With the recent rains and the fact that Wompatuck never dries(it's aptly called Swampatuck by most riders) we hit a couple fantastic puddles. These aren't just 2 feet long and 6 inches deep puddles, I'm talking about the type of puddle you roll up on, stop to try to gauge the depth and when you can't you just say eff it and try to make your way across only to realize the puddle is 2 feet deep and there's a ton of rocks under the surface, just waiting to knock you on your ass! The first was uneventful but at the second puddle I think Little T made it half way then stopped, got it together and finished it out. CMC and EAJ cranked through, riding high on their 29ers, and I jammed through it on my 26 with cold water up to my friggin knees!
All through out the ride there was a ton of mud, wet roots and slick rocks. This led to a few spots where if you got stuck or were in a bad gear, you were screwed and you were walking past the obstacle. Later on in the ride there was a drop off a rock followed by a sharp right hand turn and EAJ went cruising over it and went ass over tea kettle taking another pretty spill. Again, bleeding now from his wrist and a little from his chin, he got right up and kept on going God bless him. After this we ran into some old guy with his dog off leash who didn't seem to care that there were riders coming through and that an offleash dog is a risk to the safety of both the riders and the dog. He was a miserable dink and got into it a bit with Little T when she said he should hold the dog while we ride by. After that we headed back to the lot.
I was super impressed with EAJ's ability to bounce back from a couple spills and keep on riding. I'm sure he'll be feeling it Sunday. Also, CMC cruised through the whole ride on a singlespeed and I'm pretty sure he didn't even break a sweat! And Little T, as always, cranked up every hill and over every root and led the whole ride. It was such a great ride and a great time!
Funny what a difference it makes when I don't do anything during the week. After riding this morning, I can already feel my legs tightening up and my plantar fasciatis flaring up. It's not easy being a weekend warrior. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
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