Well Sunday is here an the shop ride was a truly interestin’ time. Well, ‘team trainin’ ride took off at 7:00 to do Sweetwater an I stayed[1]back to help on the shop ride. No biggy. Just a ride like all the other rides. That’s what it seemed like. Well the girls took as usual ‘bout 10 minutes early while the guy’s all stayed at the shop gettin’ the new people ready to go. There were people who showed up to ride with no helmet. This was a first fer me. Now I was in a tight spot here race fans. I figured if I tolt ‘em they couldn’t play with us they would go out an possibly get hurt. So I had them go with us, against my better judgment. When we got to the Junior High there was still a guy walkin’ up the hill. Now that ain’t so bad cause I have done the same thing. Well I went back down to where he was walkin’ an noticed he was in middle chain ring an ‘bout 3 in the cassette. No problem, that’s what I’m here fer. So Papa Lou an’ I showed him the gear he could ride up in. Bingo up he went.
It’s the stuff like that we tend ta ferget ‘bout. Remember back when you were first startin’ out ridin’? All them hill’s ya had to walk up cause there was no one there to show the right gear ta be in. Or the best place to climb up er even how to get started on the side of a hill. It’s was flash back time fer the ol’ hoser this day. After we got to the top one of the new guys told his tire had a big bump on it an would I take a look at it. Sure. Holy smokes! His tube was hangin’ out the side of the tire, almost rubbin’ the brake shoe.
“Whoa here partner” I says. I did the air out an reinflate it back to normal, thing but this time I kept the tube inside the tire. Too close. That got me thinkin’. I looked around at the guy’s I was with. Seats were almost all too low and no oil on the chain.
I asked the guy’s “who does the work on the bike’s?” “No one we just ride them.” Oh boy. I could see that this is gonna be interestin’. We all made it to Snake an’ they all took off like gang buster’s. Yehaww. I came ‘round a corner a one of the guy’s was pickin’ himself up off the ground tryin’ ta gather up his chickens. Seems he missed a corner on the trail an’ wacked a bush. His Grip shifter was toast. So I patched it up fer him an sent him on his way. As we went down Snake I noticed all the shoppin’ cart’s that are begin’ to litter the trail. I don’t know who’s doin’ it but last week there were shoppin’ carts only the trail. There were also branch’s an sticks ‘bout neck high all over the Snake trail. So be aware that some one out there is sabotagin’ the trail at random. At the Home Depot I asked him an his partner ta go on back ta the shop cause his ride was over. We went down to the race track an’ had some fun on it. Well almost. Another new guy had his saddle fall off on the way down the second part of race track. Whelp, his ride was over. He says he could keep goin’ but I tolt him if he fergot that his saddle fell off he would be singin’ soprano. At the elementary school 2 more decided that the single tracks were too narrow an’ headed back to Mission. It was sad to see the guy’s quit like that cause we had Proctor comin’ up yet an it is always a hoot.
Proctor was a hoot. We did the dog run part of Proctor, up by the fence, it was like a roller coaster up there. Hell, I bet a dollar to a plug nickel that you could hit 40 er so on one part of it. We got to the horse gate an’ no Papa Lou. We waited fer a short time an’ I decided ta go a lookin’ fer him. Just as I started down the trail he was a comin’ up. He say’s that the bottom trail is in powerful bad shape. So bad that ya can’t even see the ruts an rocks an thing. He found the rocks an’ ruts though. A coupla times actually. The rest of ride was as normal, single track ‘round the green water tower an down JohnnyWalker hill to the golf course an’ back ta Mission.
I feel fer the new guy’s whom wanted to ride but were not ready fer the trails that we go on. We take it fer granted that everybody rides like us on similar bikes an’ equipment. It’s good to back pedal a few years to remember what it was like. The real essence of mountain bikin’ isn’t a tricked boinger ‘er a light weight hard tail, it’s just ridin’ on what ever you have. Attemptin’ everything that comes yer way tryin’ to do yer best to finish the day with out breakin’ er gettin’ too hurt.
That’s how it all started folks an how I ‘member it. Hoserr
HoserrSays 