yoothgeye
I build stuff.
Anyone up for a ride?
Earlier this week my friend (and fellow RRB member) Cody aka: the-rookie said we needed to go riding more, most of our time has been spent building. We wanted to hit the local MTB/hiking trail, but time just isn't on our side, so he suggested we ride it at night. This is a trail, no lights, big drop offs, deep ruts, bad washouts, lots of wildlife, etc... I told him he was crazy, then a couple nights later I met him at the trail head at around 10:30pm. He had recently mounted a headlight/taillight on his bike and I was rocking the wearable LED headlamp with a bicycle taillight clipped to the rear strap.
As we slowly pedaled into the dark trail barely lit by our lights I joked about us dying then said "Well, we know there's a downhill coming up..." as I sped up. He fell in line as I bombed the hill just as we would in daylight. Big mistake... BIG. There had been a lot of rain since our last time on the trail and I soon realized I was in a mine field of ruts, I did my best at the speed I was going and avoided the really bad stuff, but hitting the bottom of the hill where the ruts caused a loose washout the bike started fishtailing and it threw me. I rolled down the trail and off the side into the undergrowth, my headlamp fell on my last somersault and all I could see it illuminating was the big dust cloud I had just caused. They cover the trail in some sort of finely ground granite and it was in my hair, my shirt, my mouth, everywhere, but I was fine, just a few scratches.
I laid there just waiting for Cody to come barreling down and getting tangled up in me and my bike, but I hopped up, grabbed my light, pointed it uphill toward his light and yelled "I'm OK!" to which he replied, "I'm done!" I gathered my belongings and walked up to where he was. The worst of the ruts that I had avoided was the one that he got into, it kinked the sidewall on his rear rim, jabbed a large finger sized hole through his tire and tube and now we are finding out that it jacked up his bottom bracket too.
We were defeated, not even 1/8th of a mile into the trail, I had eaten it and his bike was broken. This wouldn't be the end.
We walked to his house and grabbed a wheel/tire from another bike and slapped it on and went back to the trail. Using a tiny bit of sense this time we tried again, slower. We ended up going a few miles in pitch darkness, taking time to stop and watch the deer and racoons. The cool night air was a welcome reprieve from the summer heat.
2 nights later we attacked the trail again, this time starting after 1am. Cody back on his rim, now fixed, but with a clicking BB. He also upgraded his handlebar light and added his wearable headlamp to the equation. With the extra light and a new respect for the night, we made great time and had a ball.
Lemme ask again, anyone up for a ride?
Earlier this week my friend (and fellow RRB member) Cody aka: the-rookie said we needed to go riding more, most of our time has been spent building. We wanted to hit the local MTB/hiking trail, but time just isn't on our side, so he suggested we ride it at night. This is a trail, no lights, big drop offs, deep ruts, bad washouts, lots of wildlife, etc... I told him he was crazy, then a couple nights later I met him at the trail head at around 10:30pm. He had recently mounted a headlight/taillight on his bike and I was rocking the wearable LED headlamp with a bicycle taillight clipped to the rear strap.
As we slowly pedaled into the dark trail barely lit by our lights I joked about us dying then said "Well, we know there's a downhill coming up..." as I sped up. He fell in line as I bombed the hill just as we would in daylight. Big mistake... BIG. There had been a lot of rain since our last time on the trail and I soon realized I was in a mine field of ruts, I did my best at the speed I was going and avoided the really bad stuff, but hitting the bottom of the hill where the ruts caused a loose washout the bike started fishtailing and it threw me. I rolled down the trail and off the side into the undergrowth, my headlamp fell on my last somersault and all I could see it illuminating was the big dust cloud I had just caused. They cover the trail in some sort of finely ground granite and it was in my hair, my shirt, my mouth, everywhere, but I was fine, just a few scratches.
I laid there just waiting for Cody to come barreling down and getting tangled up in me and my bike, but I hopped up, grabbed my light, pointed it uphill toward his light and yelled "I'm OK!" to which he replied, "I'm done!" I gathered my belongings and walked up to where he was. The worst of the ruts that I had avoided was the one that he got into, it kinked the sidewall on his rear rim, jabbed a large finger sized hole through his tire and tube and now we are finding out that it jacked up his bottom bracket too.
We were defeated, not even 1/8th of a mile into the trail, I had eaten it and his bike was broken. This wouldn't be the end.
We walked to his house and grabbed a wheel/tire from another bike and slapped it on and went back to the trail. Using a tiny bit of sense this time we tried again, slower. We ended up going a few miles in pitch darkness, taking time to stop and watch the deer and racoons. The cool night air was a welcome reprieve from the summer heat.
2 nights later we attacked the trail again, this time starting after 1am. Cody back on his rim, now fixed, but with a clicking BB. He also upgraded his handlebar light and added his wearable headlamp to the equation. With the extra light and a new respect for the night, we made great time and had a ball.
Lemme ask again, anyone up for a ride?
