It Doesn't Take Much

It doesn't take much to entertain me and my friends when it comes to a bike ride. We don't need mountains, beautiful vistas, or epic trails to have a grand time together. Of course, we would prefer to have all that, but sometimes Mother Nature throws a wrench in our plans. Rather than be defeated, we make the best with what we have. Take a group of good friends, add mountain bikes, mix with zippy singletrack, blend together for a couple of hours, and it will yield a deliciously fun ride.

Regularjoe's second attempt at a birthday ride got scrambled yet again thanks to the eternal rains we have been "enjoying". Instead of going north to Bear Creek/Pinhoti as planned (where it was raining), we decided to gamble on beating the rain by heading northeast to Chicopee Woods in Gainesville. Our gamble paid off.

All the cool kids were there, and FarmerG even brought some party favors. Homegrown loofahs! Ain't that cool? I sure am glad he decided to skip the WBL roadie ride to come play with us mountain bikers. Thanks Greg!

Our friends are cool like that. It has been nice to reconnect with Greg after all these years. We began riding with FarmerG in the early 90's and have alot of old memories to share. It has been refreshing to see the mixing of our old friends with our new. We're all very different, but we all seem to get along so well. Mountain biking must be a timeless sport.

Speaking of old friends, we ran into Tom and Belinda in the parking lot. Good people, they are. Also saw Don, one of our original mountain biking buddies. We logged many an hour training with Don, and it's as though time never passed when you see a good friend like that. I cannot imagine our life without cycling. The friends we have made through the years is a precious thing to me, of which I shall never take for granted.

Our newest friend, Millhouse, was sporting a new fork on his previously fully rigid singlespeed and we were all anxious to hear what he would have to say about it.

Whilst waiting for some of the sleepy heads to arrive, some of us zipped off for a quick warmup on the Lake Trail.

Let me translate "quick warmup" for you....chase Raja & FarmerG as they fly off down the trail. Nothing like a sprint to get you warmed up. It was cold out, and I was wishing I was riding San Felasco with Martina enjoying 78 degree temps and sunshine. No sun for us today. Cloudy and gray with rain on the way. But we weren't going to let those stupid clouds rain on our parade. It's Regularjoe and Robin's birthday ride!

As the herd starting rolling down the trail, I was captivated by the sight of the long trail of riders snaking through the woods.

A fast pace was set (surprise surprise) and we all did our best to keep up with the leaders. SkidSteer did not seem to be having any trouble!

Millhouse was mumbling in front of me as he tried to get used to his new fork. I hear rumors he almost did an endo, but I missed that, darn it.

New signs have been added at Chicopee as well as some super fun trails. I will always remember the work partys here digging out the ZigZag trail, but I must admit, the new trails are much better. Flying Squirrel is the Bomb!

We zipped,

and we raced,

then regrouped just in time to chase again.

There's nothing like singletrack to bring a smile to your face!

There were no Christmas trees or mystery trails to explore, and no sheriffs to summon on today's ride. Just good old fashioned trails to ride

in the company of good friends.

And the weeeeeds! Can't forget the weeeeeds for Kate!

Oh! And the food! Don't forget the food!

Yea, it doesn't take much to entertain us! I love the simple life, the simple life and my friends. It doesn't get any better than that.

Southern Abenteuers

Since living in Switzerland, Jeff and Becky have experienced countless exciting adventures, or abenteuer, as they call it in German. Kate is particularly famous for leading some grand expeditions climbing countless mountains for hours on end, perfect for Jeff's insatiable appetite for adventure.

Back here in our slow Southern universe, we do not travel far for abenteuer fun, because it doesn't take much to entertain us. No energy is wasted looking for fun, for it seems to follow us everywhere we go. What began as gray dreary start to the New Year has turned out to be a barrel of non stop fun and abenteuer.

Ever since I climbed Haleakala on Maui in the rain, the weather has been nothing but yucky and mucky back home. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever ride again with the sun shining down upon me. But I have been diligent and ridden on these gloomy days pretending I was in Maui climbing to the sun.

We had a brief reprieve on New Year's Day and woke to an odd shiny object beaming rays of light on the trail. With all our friends scattered here and yonder, it was looking like we would not get in a traditional New Year's Day ride. At the last minute, a small group was rallied and we gathered at Blankets to ride.

We rolled out of the parking lot with Cyclesmith, Robin, bikeaholic, Barry, Alexis, Speedy, CliffordBRD, Tim, and regularjoe. Right off the bat, Tim set a blistering pace with Clifford and Barry keeping chase.

I was feeling unusually spry that day, and gave it my best shot to keep up. My lungs were searing, my heart was bursting, and my legs were on fire. Tim was blindingly fast and hammered us into the ground. It was fantastic! I'm normally not keen on race pace rides, but since my body could somewhat deliver, I decided to go with it.

Hammering intensely while trying not to throw up, I reminded myself why I stopped racing. It's not that I mind suffering. I just like to suffer on my own terms. If you put a race number on me, I will turn myself inside out until the Finish Line. There is no backing off. But when hammering amongst friends, you know eventually we'll all stop, regroup, laugh, and do it all over again. It's an adventure!

The only one not enjoying the New Year Adventure was Raja. "Did you have a good ride, honey?" I asked him. "No, the MotoLite rear end is just too harsh. I'm stripping it down tonight," he replied.

So, the frame lies naked and rejected in our living room (I call it the fancy closet because it's filled with bikes and such instead of furniture). But alas, Raja the ultimate internet searcher, has found reports of success with PUSH from other MotoLite owners with similar complaints. The bare Motolite now awaits a soon to be PUSHed rp3 in hopes that it will ride the trails again captained by the man who knows no fear!

Our encounter with the sun was short lived and 2009 resumed with clouds, drizzle, and rain. We were supposed to have a special mtn bike ride Saturday celebrating Robin, Joe, and PJ's birthday. It was also the one year anniversary of when Regularjoe crashed Robin's birthday ride and became our new fast friend. But the rains had ruined our plan, and the ride was postponed till next wkd.

I was not amused and wanted to ride, rain or not. It took some poking, but eventually I was able to herd up some cyclists ready for adventure as I was. We were not disappointed. Notice anything odd about this picture?

You know you're in for a fun day when somebody first pulls out a Christmas tree and then a bike! In all the excitement over Speedy bringing the holiday decorations, Regularjoe locked his keys in his truck. The plot was thickening.

Al, Jdubbya, PJ, Raja and I were rolling on the ground with laughter, while Regularjoe and Speedy ignored us. It just got better by the minute.

Regularjoe finally relented and called the Sheriff to bail him out, so to speak. By now, Al and I had enough pictures to keep us photochopping through 2010 and we had not even started the ride.

The fog was thick, but it did not dampen our spirits. Regularjoe was finally free, and the ride could begin.

Equipped with our mountain bikes, we were not phased with the nasty conditions. When we weren't cracking jokes and laughing our heads off, we managed to actually ride.

Over cool bridges,

and off onto dirt roads,

we planned to do the Mixed Loop course, until it started getting a little too muddy. From the looks of this hardpacked gravel road, we knew Johnny Monk would be a mud fiesta.

So, with a change of plans, we hopped back on the paved road and made a game of it.

Time for us to take our friends to Hulseytown.

Hulseytown is a looooooooong road climb on super rough pavement with the KOM ending by this cemetery. Thus, I call it the Col di Cemeteri.

The fog wasn't lifting one bit, but the temps were rising nicely. Raja started the climb from the back and managed to chase everyone down, taking the KOM.

We explored some dirt roads off Hulseytown.

I won't go into the details, but the Thong Trail had us laughing!

We got real adventuresome and tried to find a trail that Crockett had told me about earlier that day.

Not having a clue as to where we were going, we felt like kids again playing in the woods.

With the exception of me and Raja, everyone present on the ride is a parent. Ranging from 2 kids to PJ's big litter of 5 young uns', I think they were all enjoying being a kid themselves for a day. We did not really care where we were riding, as long as we were riding, we were having fun!

Reaching a crossroads, we put out an SOS on the phone to Crockett. Maybe he can figure out where we are and tell us which way to head! At the last second, before we rode off the cliff, the phone rang with Crockett on the other end. He didn't have a clue as to where we were! Oops, guess this wasn't the trail about which he was telling me.

No worries, we heard some dirt bikes and worked our way through the woods towards them to find the road. More fun was had bringing it home, and we laughed our way through 3 hours of a fantastic Abenteuer.

Regularjoe and PJ got in their birthday ride afterall. Happy birthday, my friends.

The next day the weather was, guess what.....still dreary and rainy. That didn't stop us from getting out for more riding fun. Tweety got us together and we struck out from Alphatucky in search of a good workout.

Robb, Regularjoe, Speedy, RaceyTracey, and Psychobilly rounded out the group.

We enjoyed a tour of the beautiful roads of Alphatucky. In between hill climbs and sprints, we laughed and played and had a good time. How can you not have fun when you ride with a guy in an outfit as fine as Mattycakes? Is that Euro cool? I'm not sure yet.

I've said it a millions times and I'll say it again, my friends are the bestest. We take care of each other. Whether it's getting you back on your feet when you've fallen down or cleaning your bike, they will do whatever it takes;-) I love 'em.

2009 has started with a bang. If the past few days of abenteuer-ing is any indication, then this year is going to be off the charts. Fasten your seat belts, move away from the doors, and please keep your hands inside the vehicle.

This train is about to leave the station! I look forward to riding with you all in 2009!

Here's a link to the pictures from our Abenteuer, or you can just watch the slideshow here.

Choices & Opportunity

Life is a constant stream of choices and opportunities. The choices we make and the opportunities we take largely determine the course our life will follow. Today I rode with some kids that are charting a course for great things. I doubt they have any idea what amazing opportunities are being laid out before them, but one day they will. In 20 years they will look back and realize how incredible their parents were for leading them on a journey that shaped their lives in such a positive way.

Surely I'm not the only one that often thinks, "if only I had done such and such as a kid, then I..." When we are kids, we don't know we're supposed to be paying attention to the opportunities before us. We don't know that every little tiny choice we make can have major consequences down the road. That's why we have parents to direct our path, which appears to me to be a particularly hard job.

Fast forward through my life 44 years to today, and you can easily see where my choices and opportunities have led me. The day after Christmas with no where to go, I had 4 choices for the day's activity. I could ride by myself because Raja is under the weather, join MarkD at Blankets for a mtn bike ride, join the atlbike group for a road ride, or go shopping. Shopping is never really an option, so it was a matter of road riding or mtn biking.

I'm making the choice these days to do more road riding since it tends to yield me greater physical benefits for when I do choose to mtn bike. 2008 was not a year of many hours on the road bike, and it is definitely showing. It's all about choices. If I want to have more fun when riding in the dirt, I need to be in better shape. If I want to get in better shape, then I need to ride the road bike.

Sending out an email to a few choice knobby tire friends, I managed to only entice one in joining me for a skinny tire ride. Robb was sporting a purdy new Blue bike and had enjoyed his first road ride experience, and he was ready for more. I had not expected him to be so eager to join in, so I did not have time to debrief him, give a pep talk, or explain the intricate workings within the quirky life of roadiedom. He was going to be thrown to the lions and all I could do was pray that his choice would prove to be a good opportunity.

There were about 35 riders ranging in age from 10yrs old to 51yrs old all waiting at the Brewery parking lot in the chilly morning air. I was delighted to see many familiar faces I have not seen in a long time: Brent, Robin, Hillbilly, Rod, Barry, Alexis, Wendy, MarkT, MarkO, Sweetwater.

As we readied for the ride, I noticed a number of little fellas milling about, so I could not resist making their acquaintance. I met Matt, Nick, and Mikey, the junior cyclists of our group.

Nick is MarkO's son, and I knew that Mark had been working with Nick for a couple of years on the bike already. Nick is 10! I was told that Matt is a triathlon champion and Mikey does track. These were not your typical little boys out to play with daddy on the bike. I cannot put into words how delighted and thrilled I was to witness this event.

With a nice consistent pace, we managed to keep the pack together for the whole first half of the ride. Even though the streets were wet, it did not dampen our spirits.

We were rolling along, and I said to Rlaz, "where's my boy? I don't see Robb, where is he?" My panic was short lived when I realized he was riding up front cruising along sandwiched quietly between riders. Last night, Robb emailed to ask if "baggies" were allowed on the ride, which made me encourage him to wear them all the more. I was so proud to see him riding alongside everyone else in perfect form sporting a fine pair of mtn bike baggies.

This was my first time to ride the new Beautiful Backroads route. I like this route much better and think it's even prettier. I was really enjoying the lack of hills on the ride. The relatively flat course made for perfect spinning at a winter pace.

Riding beside Barry, I heard him say to Cam, "this is that fun road, isn't it?" I knew that meant, "this is that fun fast downhill road." Cam replied, "Yea, come on, let's go." So I jumped on their wheel as they started to sprint. I can't climb fast, but I can give it my best shot at warp speed pursuit on a fast road. So I was grinning on the inside as I anticipated the upcoming roller coaster ride in their wake.

Three short hills later after I dropped one of my lungs on the road, I said, "guys, this isn't a downhill!!!!!" Yea, thanks, they had gotten their roads mixed up and miscalculated at my expense. Time for me to sit up with my tail between my legs and wait for the pack to carry me to safety.

Other than the pseudo downhill, a brief scare from a charging deer and a long stint with SuperDog running along with us for miles, the ride was uneventful. Cam and Barry tried to lead the dog back home, but it refused to give up a chance to play with them so they had to eventually outsprint it. Sounds pretty easy, huh? This dog was like the Bionic Canine and surely on EPO. We were all amazed at its speed and determination to do the entire ride with us.

No one handed out any favors to the young cyclists, and Nick and Matt rode in line with the rest of us like they were pros.

At one point, I think Nick was wanting a little sympathy help and I expected his dad to crumble like a cookie giving in to his pleas. But Mark didn't bat an eye, spoke firmly to Nick and they carried on strong as could be. Impressive.

At times the pace would pick up a bit, but Nick and Matt dug deep and never broke stride. If you've ever ridden in a pack of 35 riders for 3 hours, you realize what a truly impressive feat this is for these boys. They were holding their own in a sea of experienced adult cyclists. As far as their future is concerned, these boys are going places. They may not choose to be pro cyclists, but the discipline they are learning now will carry them far in any area of their life. Ride on!!!

We stopped midway at a typical little Georgia backroads store to regroup and refuel. Cam and Barry caught up after their multi-mile backtrack to send Bionic Dog back home and we continued on with the ride. A quick check over my shoulder, and I could see my new charge was hanging on fine.

The forecast had said warmer temps of 60 and sunshine breaking through midday. Was it my imagination, or was it getting darker and colder? I had on my winter Sidis, so I was good despite the illusion of dropping temps. The pack seemed to get more serious as the tendency to drop in line, nose to wheel, grew more frequent. JeffL was content to act as the freight train as he pulled us through the wind that was strangely growing stronger. Had we consulted the weather forecast for the wrong state?

I was secretly hoping someone would have a flat or that BionicDog would appear so we could slow down. In silence we picked up speed on the zippy road as I tried to keep pace while ignoring an occasional grimace from my protesting legs. Beside me, Alexis was rolling her eyes at the increasing pace. She knew this wasn't a proper winter pace, but we still were too stubborn to back off.

As we made a right hand turn, I realized there weren't many riders behind me. Hmmm, Robb wasn't in front of me, and I can't see him behind me. Uh oh. It's not cool to invite someone to a ride and then go off without them. I told Alexis I was turning around to make sure everything was okay.

I was mortified that all this had taken place, and just knew that this would be the end of Robb's desire to ever join me for a road ride again. "Stupid roadies, just leave me hanging out here to dry, can't we help each other out like we do on mtn bike rides." These are the things I imagine he's thinking by now.

As I was riding back, I realized how stupid I was being since I had not been paying attention to the route. Now I wouldn't know where to turn to backtrack. Just as I made a wrong turn I heard someone holler, "No Laurie!" Without me even asking, Barry and Alexis had also turned around to join me as well. Maybe this won't turn out to be so bad afterall!

I breathed a sigh of relief when Robb came into view riding with Pete, Wendy, and Micah. Robb had gotten unhitched from the pack for a second, and that was all it took to mess up his momentum. Never underestimate the power of riding in a pack. It reduces your workload by 20%. If you're new to the game, it's hard to get back on the train.

Pete can ride a bike all day and night (literally), and without prompting had taken Robb under his wing. I sat back and watched as he coached him along making sure his first experience was a positive one.

An Opportunity had arisen for something good or something bad to happen, and choices were made for good. I was feeling so good about my choice in riding today. Not that anything in particular was happening for me, but that my confidence in the camaraderie in the Roadie Kingdom was being restored. Robb and I belong to a very special tight knit band of mtn bike friends that make it their goal to see that every ride is a memorable for all involved. What we have does not happen in many circles, so my heart was warmed at the show of support and encouragement displayed before me.

Micah's derailleur cable was buggered, and he couldn't get out of his big ring. He was having a struggle as well. No one was making a big deal about anything and there was no discussion on what to do or who will help. Barry just stepped up to the plate and provided his assistance.

Then it just got downright contagious.

Robb was rejuvenated and wasn't about to let go of a wheel this time. We were on the homestretch and I was so proud of him and everybody in my group!

By now we had all agreed the temperature had dropped instead of risen during our ride. Closing in on 3 hrs riding in the cold and dreary weather, I wouldn't have guessed I'd be a happy camper at this point, but I was!

In fact, both Robin and I were "the happiest girls in the whole USA!"

I had gotten in a great workout amongst friends, made new friends, and introduced a friend to a new opportunity. I never got a chance to help him out with advice, because everyone else was doing it for me!

His 2nd ride on a road bike and he knocks out 52 miles with no problem! Uh oh, I've got a problem on my hands. He's my friend, but I still have that nasty competitive streak hiding inside. Just one more cyclist I've got to keep up with now!

MarkO was beaming with pride over Nick's incredible ride finishing with the pack, and Matt's parents were proud as well. I was happy for MarkO since he was getting to see the fruits of his labor and sacrifice pay off today in his son's accomplishment. They both have much in which to take pride, and I salute them.

I didn't have anything to do with it, but I felt proud of "my boy", Robb:-)

It was freezing outside and the wind was whipping up, but we still all hung around afterwards laughing and being entertained by Hillbilly.

It would have been perfect if only Raja had been here. Poor thing, he's going stir crazy at home. I told everyone not to post on the forum what a good ride it was, but they did it anyway;-) I don't want him to feel left out. Thanks for all the well wishes from everyone to Raja. He misses you all!

Hillbilly put together a fun video of our great day on the bike.


I'm looking forward to tomorrow's adventure and hopefully the weather will cooperate. I finally get to ride with Racey Tracey and the gang. We're doing the Snake Time Trial course, but this time my Choice is to do the 17 miler. It's an Opportunity to be with friends and being with friends always leads me to great places.


Postnote: Here are some pics from the great ride we ended up having Saturday at the Snake in Dalton, GA. Robin and Ony experience the Snake for the first time and rode like champions. Millhouse nailed it on his rigid singlespeed and wowed us all with his strength and skill. I definitely learned that doing the 17 miler is much more enjoyable than the full 34 miles like we did last month!