Checking In (Nothing To See Here)

Whirlwind of feecus going on since I blathered last. Me and the unit (Wifey and B-Man) headed home to WPA for a few days to see some family. I wasn't going to bring the bike and but then Wifey made some sort of all to true prediction about me being a dick to be around if I didn't get a ride in, and refused to continue our crime fighting if I didn't. So I did. And damn glad I did. Not just because there was a crime wave that needed taken care of, but also because I have not ridden in the mountains of PA since early last fall. I wasn't sure I would have the time to squeeze in a trip, but it was worth a shot.

My sister, nephew, Wifey and B-Man were going to one of the local amusement parks for the day. I would rather set fire to myself than go to such a place. Wifey knowing my hate, and my willingness to set myself ablaze, gave me the full on go ahead to go for a ride instead. WOOT!

I didn't bring a CameBak, just a couple bottlesd, so a long ride in 86 degree heat and humidity would be out of the question, but I figured that a ride from 31 over to Seven Spring, a lap of the course and back could be a possibility.

*As you will note there are no photos in this post. I took some, but my lap top ran out of juice, I forgot my charger, and am forced to use my father inlaws PC notebook (HOW THE F*CK DO PEOPLE USE PCs??, WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS!).

I was a tad worried about the ride. I haven't climbed anything remotely like what I was going to be climbing today in some time. I also have not ridden rocky singletrack in a while either. Would I have to walk the climbs? Would I crash in the rocks?

After some riding on Fire Tower Rd. and down Jones Mill I made my way over to the killer gravel climb up the back side of Seven Springs resort. This is a bitch of a climb that last year I would often find myself in my granny gear spinning up as Aaron and D-POW shot up the thing on freaking single speeds. Today I am happy to report that I made the whole damn thing in my middle ring, did most of it standing and powering up and gave myself a huge flat ass Michigander pat on the back for doing so. I guess the constant power required on Michigan dirt roads and singletrack paid off in some freaky way. I will say that I did hit this climb way earlier into the ride than I used to. I had only ridden about 8 miles when I hit the climb, as where in the past I often had about 20 with some climbing already in my legs. But I'm still gonna back pat. It's really all I got right now.

Once to the top it was into the singletrack, over the rocks with no problem and on with the rest of the 24 hour course. I have probably ridden this course litterly hundreds of times, so it was sort of a good choice to reacquaint myself with the PA rocks. They posed no problem, and I had a great time riding.

I used the El Mariachi and that bike was just awesome. Lots of folks think that a FS is the best bike for the rocks, and while they definitely have their advantages, the El M does fantastic, since I am out of the saddle and able to flick the bike around a bit easier.

There is an even newer section (to me) of singletrack at the top of the rocky quad type trail. It is SUPER fresh and lumpy. Not sure why they added this part in, maybe due to some property sales up closer to ther road? I love singletrack, but this course is already sort of a slow 24 hour course and many sport riders and slow expert riders (see me) may even have trouble completing a night lap without running out of light, especially if you have a mechanical. Having said that, I won't be racing it... so bring on more singletrack! LOL!

Soon I was back to the gravel road, and heading back on Fire Tower to the xB. I was sweating like a damn fool, almost out of water, and glad that I didn't bite off more than I could chew today. I was also glad with my performance. Sure the ride was only 25 miles, but it had more climbing than I have probably done since I moved to Michigan last fall!

On the way home I stopped at the Six Pack shop for what I believe is the best pepperoni roll in all of the world. They were out. Crap!! So I had to pull a D-POW and get some beef jerky. It sucked.

Still a couple days left here in the 'Burgh. It was nice to get a ride in, and nice to see family, but I am ready to get back to central Michigan. Strange how quickly one can become attached to an area, even stranger for me, since I was in full on bitch mode about having to move there in the first place. Oh, the life of a malcontent.

Later.

Not sure why this stupid PC won't allow me to spell check, format type, etc., ? Stupid PC. Bill Gates can suck it. Nerd!