As is typical in the SC, this weekend brought about some fantastic October weather. The evenings were cool while the days were sunny and hovering around the mid seventies. This all adds up to the perfect recipe for mountain biking. With the leaves slowly letting go of green and giving way to golds, reds, and oranges; five of us gathered at the shale pits because as Brian likes to continuously point out, I only ever ride in Coopers Gap.
The plan was to ride some of the standard trails in the Coopers Gap area. We anticipated about four hours of riding and would see almost exclusively singletrack. I hadn’t been o
n my bike in about three weeks so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go but I was looking forward to the ride. Everything started out great and I was feeling strong. I was riding fast and choosing lines that allowed me to float over rocks and trees with little effort. Then about three hours in, there he was, waiting for me to come by so he could ruin my day.
The Man with the Hammer came out of nowhere and rocked my world (don’t worry mom, that’s just a euphemism). I bonked, hard. For those of you that don’t know what this is like, here’s a little taste. Take a bike. Get on this bike. Find a giant tub of mud. Put the bike (with you still astride) into said mud so that the wheels are completely covered. Now pedal. I was sapped. Nothing worked. It was a struggle just to turn over the pedals and I was losing.
Fortunately I wasn’t too far from the end and most of it was downhill. I coasted back to my car and found the rest of the group. They managed to get in a few more trail sections while I slowly pedaled in on the road. I was glad to get off my bike and be done. Even better were the beers that Rich brought to share.
The plan was to ride some of the standard trails in the Coopers Gap area. We anticipated about four hours of riding and would see almost exclusively singletrack. I hadn’t been o
n my bike in about three weeks so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go but I was looking forward to the ride. Everything started out great and I was feeling strong. I was riding fast and choosing lines that allowed me to float over rocks and trees with little effort. Then about three hours in, there he was, waiting for me to come by so he could ruin my day.The Man with the Hammer came out of nowhere and rocked my world (don’t worry mom, that’s just a euphemism). I bonked, hard. For those of you that don’t know what this is like, here’s a little taste. Take a bike. Get on this bike. Find a giant tub of mud. Put the bike (with you still astride) into said mud so that the wheels are completely covered. Now pedal. I was sapped. Nothing worked. It was a struggle just to turn over the pedals and I was losing.
Fortunately I wasn’t too far from the end and most of it was downhill. I coasted back to my car and found the rest of the group. They managed to get in a few more trail sections while I slowly pedaled in on the road. I was glad to get off my bike and be done. Even better were the beers that Rich brought to share.
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