In the woods...

Hmmm...This year I had decided to play more in the woods, but Mutha Nature, I'm convinced, hates MTBer's...So at this point I have only lined up once, sad I know!!!

When I started riding, my first bike was a mountain bike. The first few months were spent on bike paths and on the road. Then a friend of mine suggested going out to Minor Park and check out the trails there...that was all it took to get me hooked on riding in the woods!!

From that point on me and my riding buddies were in the woods. It's funny as I think back to those days, we would ride for an hour and just be flat out toast when we were done. As we progressed the rides got faster and longer...to the point where we would be wheel to wheel inches apart going as fast as we could go on every stretch of single track we rode. Most of the time it wasn't a problem hammering down the trails this way...most of the time...

One instance stands out to me...this trail at Minor is an old railroad bed and is slightly canted downhill, about a mile long and straight. Big ringing this section at 20mph+ is easy!!!

This day we had been riding for quite a while and were on the return trip back to the trail head. Once we got on this trail the speed went up to at least 20mph probably more...and in usual fashion we were wheel to wheel on semi loose single track trying to go faster!!!

About a 1/4 of a mile into this, a trail intersects the one we're on and there's a small jump...you know we jumped it!!!! That's just the way it is...speed and a small jump what could go wrong???

As this freight train rolled on as fast as we could go, rider number 1 hits the jump a little sideways and flies to the side of the trail, rider number 2 was over lapped a bit and grabs 2 fists full of stoppers, touches rider 1's wheel, starts to wad it up in front of...you guessed it...me...of course I was 2 inches away from his wheel, so I grab as much brake as my hands can hold....

Rider 1 recovers and rides away, rider 2 ends up in the weeds on the ground, and I ended up in the weeds on the ground with a toasted front wheel...to add insult to injury I had to walk out...

Ah yes...the good old days...how I miss it!!!