GGOJA and Farmer John are to blame for this .. pure and simple. GGOJA planted the seed and FJ was more than happy to water it !
A small group of us showed up to ride The Place .... Thumbs, Farmer John, GGOJA, Old n Slo, and myself. It turned out great, and except for Old n Slo's scrap with a tree branch, we got out in one piece, bikes and all. PlaceLast himself and the littlest PlaceLast (a lot less little than when I saw him last) also showed up to take pictures, lend a hand, and spectate. And the spectatin' was pretty good I think !
The Place is a creek trail that has been unused for a some time. I accidentally ran over a rattlesnake on the way in but the snake just slithered away like it was nothing. A loose rocky trail leads you slowly uphill and then down toward The Place and eventually the rocky trail morphs into the rocky (yo adrienne!) creek trail. The Place is only about 1/4 mile long and then it just becomes too impassable. We rode in as far as we could. About 2 hours or so to do the 1/4 mile.
The hard parts are the boulder piles that litter the creek. Plus everything is slippery from the water and the creek is very narrow with the walls sloping up and away on either side. Most of the time it's just up and over the piles as best you can. I was tired after the 1st pile ... and only 10 or 12 more piles to go. Tony was saying how fun it was to clear a pile on the first attempt. I was saying "great, a 1 in 5 chance of having fun !"
Here's a typical scene: GGOJA on the left clutching it over a rock pile, PlaceLast in the back getting a shot, and me on the right trying another line.
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/GGOJA-PlaceLast-Eel.JPG
Then there's the proto-typical "assist". Farmer John up and over with help from Thumbs. John would have made this solo. I tried the line and didn't make it until FJ rammed from behind with his bike ... gave me the momentum to get up and over. I offered to give him a hand on his turn but he said "no". He had pretty much figured out the line when Tony snuck in and gave him a push.
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/Thumbs-FarmerJohn.JPG
The only misfortune of the day was this:
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/oldnstitches.JPG
That left eyelid is indeed split. What I don't understand is why is Old 'n' Stitches still smiling ?
Here's GGOJA stylin' the Bulldog.
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/Ggoja.jpg
Here's me in somewhat deep doo-doo.
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/eeldeep.JPG
And more of the same .. with Thumbs in front this time, a spot he frequented all day.
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/Eel.JPG
And finally, the King of The Place is ......
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/thumbsfocus.JPG
Yup ... Thumbs had the cleanest lines on his 1-2-5. No doubt.
I can't remember everything else that happened so you guys can fill in the many blanks. Right now I think I need to go soak.
http://home.earthlink.net/~emjelliott/_uimages/coolingoff.JPG
I had a great time ... thanks for showing up fellas.