Day One - More Blood

We went for a 6 mile warm up loop on a trail called Joe’s Ridge. The air cut my throat like a thin wire. It was dreadful. It really was not that challenging at all, but I quickly fell to the back of the line. Jerome, ever the gentleman waited for me. There he was…. on a single speed, first year riding waiting for me. We got back to camp and I spitting up phlegm. There was no way in hell I was riding the next section they were planning on.

Tom arrived from Denver. We loaded his bike on the van, packed what we needed for the day and left the camp site for town where (Jerome was aghast that were might not provision up with more beer!). Half a dozen Hall menthol lozenges and two Gatorades and I was beginning to feel ok…sort of.

We drove out to the trailhead where we unloaded. It was midday. The heat washed over us and as I peered up the ravines where we were heading I simply wasn’t a happy camper. We watered up and headed out.

It was rather spectacular. Tom belted down off the road and dropped in on the single track. Too fast. He tried to jump the rocks and it didn’t execute as expected. We all stopped about 10 feet from him in shock as he shot to his feet. There HAD to be something broken. 8 minutes into the ride and man down! He was fine, just a pinch flat which he changed.

The first section of the ride was ‘More Fun’ affectionately known by the locals as ‘More Blood.’ Imagine looking at the top of a mountain and spying little goat tracks zigzagging back and forth up it—that was ‘More Fun.’ I was sure that I have a seizure going up there. It was rocky, bouncy, steep and hot. Everything I thought I wanted to avoid for the day given my morning ride experience.

Finally we got to the crest and the 360-degree view was incredible. I was suddenly breathing on. “Game On” as Mark is fond of saying. A little later Tim crashed hard deeply bruising his side on a knife-like rock. And then came the succession of punctures. 12 in total for the ride! It was ridiculous, but they were always welcome photo opps.

We passed onto Mack’s Ridge. We climbed and climbed and then raced down the other side with three punctures slowing us down. We connected with Lions Loop and then onto Mary’s. It was a thread-like trail on the edge, and I mean on the edge with the river below.

“Horse Thief is a must-do” we were told with authority by Mark. The entrance to the trail is a series of giant steps which need to be negotiated with bike hoisted high. By now it was getting on into the afternoon. It was a fabulous trail dipping and rolling and fast. I was still feeling good following Tim, Tom and Mark.

Aaron never ceases to amaze me. His technical skill is lovely to watch. Tom is a very strong rider. After a steady start, Tim shot out and was often in the lead, another very strong rider. Randy moved back and forth, stopping a few times to take ‘action’ shots of us. Mark was solid, as Chickering always is.

The last haul was to get out of the bowl of Horse Thief. By now, we were all whacked. “That Coors is calling for me” Jerome called out behind me. We got back to the huge series of steps we had used to descend onto Horse Thief. Carrying our bikes up there on this time was brutal!

Fast run down Mary’s towards the car. I was close behind Tim up in frost and we were hammering. It felt marvelous to be closing an amazing ride…all 22 miles of it as the sun set to my ride. ‘Psssst…’ Tim had a pinch flat literally a mile from the van. I tossed him the last tube we had amongst us; one that I picked up from a store in Wausau called Rib Mountain Cycles. Tim threw the tube in and used a cylinder to pump it up. It deflated immediately. Bum tube! He walked it out.

Back at camp Tim drummed up spaghetti which put a perfect cap on the day. After the slide-show of all the images we shot today, I heard “What about a 5 or 6 miles night-ride.” I moved delicately off to write this blog. No bloody way in hell I was going to mount my sore ass on a saddle tonight!