Ride report for 5/23/06 (Work off-site)

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Ride report for 5/23/06 (Work off-site)

Postby Tawmass » Wed May 24, 2006 8:52 am

On 5/23 a group of us from work did our monthly, team-building off site meeting. The majority of off-site meetings generally happen at a local pub or some other enclosed area. But our little circle of coworkers ride! Since it's been raining (hard!) since the previous weekend, we opted to ride Jordan Creek, since it has a better soil base for inclement weather, plus easier trails for the newer folks. On this day we had Kent "Slim", Billy "Tater Tot", Shawn "PB&J", Gordon "Looped" or "Flash", Istvan "Snickers" and yours truly.

Once we arrived there, we all started to get ready donning our raingear, etc., when Flash 'fessed up and admitted that he had a front flat. No worries, there was enough of us, that this should've been a no brainer. Things are not always as they seem. The first problem was nobody brought any 'good' tools, so we had to use fanny-pack tools, sticks, rocks and a hatchet, as evidenced by the pix. The second problem was that the axle wouldn't separate from the hub. The third problem was that after the bad tube was replaced with a new, heavy-duty tube, we realized it had a snake bite - argh. I grabbed my spare, standard tube and proceeded to re-change the tube, and this time it took. We finally got Looped's XR250 back together and we all cheered.

This was Flash's second ride on his mighty XR, so he was still basically new. Also new was Snickers, since he'd never been on a quad, let alone a motorbike. He's from Romania (the land of vampires!) and had never ridden back home either, so he was in for a treat! Lucky for Istvan, Kent's wifey offered the use of her quad, so he was set. We headed up Roger's Road dodging the ruts and mudholes. Flash only had one lipskid as he gassed it on the side of the path, wherein his rear tire spun out and his throttle stuck. His sphincter must've tightened as the XR went sideways with the throttle pinned. Billy and I did sympathy sphincter tightening too, concerned that one of Gordon's body limbs might end up inside the frantically spinning wheel. Gordy fortunately saved his body extremities and even wouldn't let me start his XR after the auger. Fortitude.

We continued up Roger's Road, then headed up to an easier section of Foxfire Trail at the summit, in the section where Warn Industries had adopted the trail - Thanks Warn! I went ahead and snagged a few shots. Then a few of us went up and down the end of Foxfire on a nasty little hillclimb section. First out of the bag, PB&J did a major digger when his front wheel slid out. Then Slim bailed twice after repeated attempts at conquering the climb - persistance. Tater Tot and I made a couple attempts up the steep gravel pit. I tried once and ran out of traction inches from the top, almost cartwheeling back down. Tater did the same thing, but tried it one more time and made it - good job!

We then went on up to the summit where Tater Tot wanted to run everyone up the brutal side of the Firefox Trail, but I voiced my concern that we'd be there all evening, so I routed them onto the trail from the East end. This was considerably easier for the newer riders and still provided Kodak Moments, as you can see of Snickers pushing and squirming his way through the trails. Good times. Then everyone had to come down the nasty, rock-faced sections, but good instructions had them descending with ease.

Since the light was waning, we elected to head back down Stick-In-The-Nose Trail. I decided to tuck in behind Slim and watch his lines. Kent was really riding well. He's only been riding for about a year, and as we continued the descent, I said to myself, "Self, he's taking the lines that I'd take". He was really riding smooth and showed good throttle, clutch, brake control. He's darned near ready to get the earned title of "Line King". :-)

Of course, the anticipated barley pop back at the trucks never tasted so good. Istvan provided great entertainment taking Flash's XR on a little spin, and promptly dumped it in front of the bike trailer. :-)

To see ALL the photos, go to the following link:
http://tawmn.smugmug.com/gallery/1488787


A bad day riding is better than a good day at work!
-Tom
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