This was my 1st ride since coming back from vacation. My last ride was the rained out event on 08/05/01 where we rode for a while at Shady Grove then it rained and everyone bailed (and I went on to Crawford Park).
Anyhoo...
I thought it would be a good day to go ride so my 2 sons and me (age 9) and a neighbor (beginner) and his son (PW 50) all headed out. The morning started off on the wrong foot when we got a few miles from the house and I remembered that I had left my pants, jersey, and socks on the kitchen table. Time to turn around.
We had some rain Friday, but I figured that by Sunday it should be perfect. Wrong! We got there just after 8 AM. There was still lots of standing water everywhere and the sections of the riding area with black dirt were greasy and the stuff just balled up on our tires. I spent most of my time helping out the kids. The stuff was slick, but tacky, so they were always falling down, or getting so much mud balled up in the swingarm that the tires wouldn't even move. I was already worn out and we had only been there about 2 hours (and I had only gotten to ride about 20 minutes). Add to that my sinus infection that has been kickin' my butt for the last 2 weeks and you can see that the morning was off to bad start...
Some of Yarbo's buddies showed up (Keith and Mike) and they decided that they would try to ride in the slop. Keith and I set out to find a suitable place to cross the creek so we could ride on the backside of the riding area. Coming back to the truck, Keith had a simple crash that crushed his radiator on his CR - ouch! It didn’t leak, but that simple bobble in the mud will set him back ~500 bucks.
We all managed (sort of) to meander through the creek and get to the back area where it sandy with berms and a couple of small jumps. By this time I was worn out from helping the kids (BTW - They were still falling in the mud). I managed to make a few "laps" on a little track out there, but the sinus infection and chest congestion took its toll. I felt like I was going to puke and that my head was going to explode from all of the coughing I had been doing from this wonderful sinus crap. It was about 12 o'clock by this time and getting hotter by the minute. We decided to pack it in. :(
I spent $9 dollars at the car wash just getting the mud off the bikes. My battery in the Suburban drained while the kids listened to the radio and waited for me to finish washing the bikes so I had to call Pearce back to give me a jump. That was the icing on the cake.
Overall it was not a very good ride. I was in poor health and the riding conditions were less than stellar - especially when you are bringing kids.
Would I do it again? Heck yes! The few times I did manage to ride without having to stop and drag a bike out of the mud or start a bike completely erased all the bad stuff.
Call me an addict, but I am ready to go again (as soon as I am 100%).
-jeffd
Anyhoo...
I thought it would be a good day to go ride so my 2 sons and me (age 9) and a neighbor (beginner) and his son (PW 50) all headed out. The morning started off on the wrong foot when we got a few miles from the house and I remembered that I had left my pants, jersey, and socks on the kitchen table. Time to turn around.
We had some rain Friday, but I figured that by Sunday it should be perfect. Wrong! We got there just after 8 AM. There was still lots of standing water everywhere and the sections of the riding area with black dirt were greasy and the stuff just balled up on our tires. I spent most of my time helping out the kids. The stuff was slick, but tacky, so they were always falling down, or getting so much mud balled up in the swingarm that the tires wouldn't even move. I was already worn out and we had only been there about 2 hours (and I had only gotten to ride about 20 minutes). Add to that my sinus infection that has been kickin' my butt for the last 2 weeks and you can see that the morning was off to bad start...
Some of Yarbo's buddies showed up (Keith and Mike) and they decided that they would try to ride in the slop. Keith and I set out to find a suitable place to cross the creek so we could ride on the backside of the riding area. Coming back to the truck, Keith had a simple crash that crushed his radiator on his CR - ouch! It didn’t leak, but that simple bobble in the mud will set him back ~500 bucks.
We all managed (sort of) to meander through the creek and get to the back area where it sandy with berms and a couple of small jumps. By this time I was worn out from helping the kids (BTW - They were still falling in the mud). I managed to make a few "laps" on a little track out there, but the sinus infection and chest congestion took its toll. I felt like I was going to puke and that my head was going to explode from all of the coughing I had been doing from this wonderful sinus crap. It was about 12 o'clock by this time and getting hotter by the minute. We decided to pack it in. :(
I spent $9 dollars at the car wash just getting the mud off the bikes. My battery in the Suburban drained while the kids listened to the radio and waited for me to finish washing the bikes so I had to call Pearce back to give me a jump. That was the icing on the cake.
Overall it was not a very good ride. I was in poor health and the riding conditions were less than stellar - especially when you are bringing kids.
Would I do it again? Heck yes! The few times I did manage to ride without having to stop and drag a bike out of the mud or start a bike completely erased all the bad stuff.
Call me an addict, but I am ready to go again (as soon as I am 100%).
-jeffd
