Sat. 10/30/2004. It was supposed to be Sunny and 70....whatever.
Last night it was foggy/misty the entire night. I made plans to hit
the trails early 7:30 am. It's just light enough then so you don't
need any lights. The fog svcked. Even though I new the most
dangerous part of my ride would be from my house to the trail head, I
still knew the trails would be difficult due to all the wet leaves. At
least there would be no major mud to deal with.
As expected two knuckle heads buzzed me on the way to the trails head,
can't really blame them because of the thick fog.
I was supposed to hook up with another rider on the UMBC side, I start
on the Landing Road side (for you locals who know what I'm talking
about). It was slow going, I just took it easy on the way down
following the Cascade Trail. A little dab did me just fine here and
there.
I made it to the UMBC side just after 8:00. I was happy to see that
my buddy brought his SS. It was his first time out in Patapsco on the
SS. He was in for an eye-opener to say the least. This guy can smoke
me on the road, but when it comes to the SS and the trails I got his
number.
He calls his SS the dumpster bike. (Frame from the dumpster) Canties
on the front and rear, but all in all when it comes to SSing simpler
is better. Actually that's the whole point of SSing.
The fog never lifted, at least it was warm somewhere around 60-65 F.
I ended up popping 2 spokes on routine fall. (yes falling is routine,
more people should learn that skill) ;-) Thank goodness for discs.
The spokes were right next to each other one on either side of the
hub. The wheel was about 1/4 out of true. Did I say thank goodness
for disc? I lost absolutely no loss of braking power and I was able
to continue without further incident. Now I just need to do a
semi-rebuild.
I was riding my 18t so the going was very easy for me. My buddy on
the other hand was running a 16t which made life a little difficult
for the conditions.
We ended up riding for 3 hours, that's riding, not
ride-stop-ride-stop-ride [censored] that you see people do.
Stoked and ready for whatever the rest of the day brings!
Peace,
Bill