Gandalf that was a pretty short ride report for a wizzard. How about regaling us with a yarn and maybe some shots.
Sorry we just got the baby to fall asleep on his own and in his crib and I needs to just veg out for a bit. I'm heading out for day 2 in a few minutes but I'm sure Dave will do a better job with a ride report tonight.
Well, I'm about to fall asleep from 90 awesome miles on the saddle. What an epic event. Perfect conditions today, loads of fast flowing trail witness some technical sections thrown in, minimal road sections, great food at the end, all in all, reliably one of the best rides of the year. Now if the club could magically halve the number of attendees to eliminate congestion in the early sections, it would be trail heaven.
We loved it too. Yesterday's hills and tight stuff was awesome but today was fast and flowing. I had a thought today that would help space everyone out. They should consider letting no more than 10 riders every 30 seconds at the start. It wasn't too bad after the first couple miles for me. I started with the first 50 or so and got by a lot of the traffic after a couple miles. Great Day, great fun, great food and conversation after!
Getting a better feel for it now gents, sounds like a great balance over the 2 days. Any pictures tp throw into the pot?
It was my first time at this event and it sure lived up to it's reputation. I only rode on Sunday and fast flowy singletrack was the order of the day. This was a great ride and I will be back next year for sure. The congestion in the morning was a pain. At the gas stop we went through as quickly as we could and then kept a fast pace the rest of the day. I think after that we were just in front of the main pack so it wasn't too bad. At one dual sport I attended last year they did kind of a rolling riders meeting where they took like 20 guys at a time right when they picked thier numbers. After you had your number you were good to go out. 550 riders all going out at the same time was pretty exciting though!
OK, I rode both days and all I can say is WOW! I brought Deb down and she rode Saturday, while I got to wick it up (if you'll call my barely B-rider pace wicking it up) on Sunday. I rode the big bike stuff most of the day to spare Deb from getting too beat up. We actually hooked up with a Husky TE450 rider Tim, who was more than content to ride our pace. We were the first ones through the big bike trails and it was weird but cool riding on virgin leaves. At the last big bike cut off, I said to Deb, lets ride the trail to the end, it's 16 miles and we're "fresh" from all the cut-offs. Since we were freezing on the road sections, she was game. Tim and his friend (who we found at the 2nd gas) did not want join our adventure. So we headed into the last trail section and Deb was actully making some time on her famous street legal TTR-125. Well, we got too cocky and I ignored this other "big bike cutoff" sign at mile 12, because I thought there aren't supposed to be any big bikes in here anyway??? So we kept riding. About a 1/2 mile later, we turn right and there's a sign that says "last hero section". Next thing you know stick farm! Deb was not prepared for that. After we got through that, those 20' up and down rollercoasters started, which felt like 40' feet to her small-wheel TTR. Needless to say, we pushed on about another 1/4 mile and then got escorted out by a nice club guy. All in all though really good ride for Deb. She was like a celebrity that night, talking with all these riders that saw her throughout the day. The weired thing is that I heard that the guys that took the original big bike cut off at 60 miles somehow ended up in that last hero section, including this woman on a KTM 990, OUCH! Sunday was like how the others had described, it just rocked! I rode with some A guys who got into the course RIGHT at the beginning, so no bottlenecks! I ripped as fast as I could trying to catch my friends. At about 65 miles, my one friend really hurt himself hitting a tree WFO in 4th gear (and tight woods)! We found a road and he and his brother rode out leaving me to finish by myself. Dumb a$$ me goes to the 2nd gas, decides I don't need any (310TE) and I head off the wrong way to start section 3 all over (DOH!!!). About 5 miles in I realize I'm riding all very familiar terrain by myself, and fast for that matter. At 11 miles in, I find a powerline and ride out to the road. The bike is on reserve and I'm freaking out. I find a club guy who says that gas station I blew off was right around the corner. So I got gas and rode the right way to finish the day. This time the pack had caught up, but no worries for me, I was beat-up riding all day without resting except for for the fuel stops and about 5 minutes at the hotdog cart to stay "ahead of the pack. Mark your calendars! This one is a keeper. Also, great dinner, schwag prizes and a rock band playing in 38 degree weather along with a 10 foot bonfire.
Spinkta thanks for you and yor wife for leading the way after I lost my riding partner I had a blast see you the next run / give me a shout if you going out in the area
TL, were there any big bike cutoffs sunday or did you ride all trail? I never saw any hero sections. I hope you had a great sunday? I'll PM you about riding.
I didn't ride Sunday. Woke up and couldn't pick my arm up. So I went home before I hurt myself further
Although not from this year, here is what the terrain looks like. You need to be an ECEA member to view a lot of stuff in the fourms, which this link comes from. Joining the website is free for those who are unfamiliar with it. http://www.ecea.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21342
