good fun, more friends

  In 1996 there was this dude, and the dude introduced me to mountain biking. Soon he was dragging me through the trails at Burn's Park and to be honest there were times when I thought I was going to die. About two months after I bought my bike, he suckered me into my first mountain bike race. It was nasty and he was injured early on. It was fairly evident from the exposed subcutaneous fat, that he was not going to finish the race. He was all like [with heavy Arkansas accent] “go on man, go on without me.” I have seen enough movies to know that when someone says that, it usually portends certain doom for the recipient of the advice, if he or she fails to "go on." So, like any good friend I got back on my bike and started pedaling away. I think I finished fifth that day. Fifth from the last. I am pretty sure they had finished the award ceremony and were packing to go home when I crossed the finish line. I also recall that my friend had already been to the emergency room, his leg had 20+ new stitches in it and he had returned to the finish line before I dismounted my bike. It was not a pretty day. I seem to be doing better this season than I did 13 years ago and I am excited about racing Burn's Park because it is technically where I started. It is also where I participated in my first Pay Dirt Event. Earlier in the week, I had made plans to ride the course early Saturday morning and stick around afterward to participate in the Pay Dirt opportunity. However, my plans changed the day before and I was going to bail and leave town after the ride. Chris and I had just finished riding the course and I was packing up at the BMX track when Fred Phillips showed up with donuts. As a rule, I never eat donuts however these donuts were imported. So I ate one. Then I was going to leave but I thought “Geez, I'll look like a total jerk if I eat a donut and leave.” In an effort to keep up appearances, I stayed and worked for about three hours kicking rocks off of the trail and trimming branches. It was good fun and I made more friends. Which to be honest with you, good fun and more friends, seems to be the fruit of mountain biking especially if you are engaged in the community.

Where my bike has been since The Battle for Townsend's Ridge 2 weeks ago