Man Overboard!

Weekend routine has become, well, routine. Ride in the mornings and work on the house all afternoon. Though this weekend was slightly different. Rode Friday night instead of Sat. morning and didn't ride any roads as they're all crappy with snow, ice and slush. But the woods were great! The snow remained frozen through the weekend and there was more "top riding" to be had. This time it was Valley Forge for some snow riding fun. It began as Ben, Scott and myself. We later met up with Craig for a short while, though only a very short while. It turned out to be a ride of thrills and spills. We each took turns with spectacular crashes. I was first with a huck off a log that stopped dead when I hit the snow. Somehow of all the frozen spots, I picked the one soft spot to land and stuck my front wheel. The bike stopped and I kept going. Luckily no damage done. The second was Ben. Down a treacherous chute, he lost control and knocked his elbow against a rock. It was gnarly enough for me to decide the chute was above and beyond my ability. The third crash was Scott. He went to do a log-over, but stuck his front wheel on the opposite side and very slowly went ass over tea-kettle. It was slow enough I thought to myself "Look Scott's falling." Then a second or two later - "He's still falling." Banged up his shoulder pretty good - enough to be able to push on it and make lumps appear and disappear. Fourth and final was Craig. Not anywhere near as catastrophic as his shoulder blade dislocation at Middle Run, but definitely more entertaining. We were trying to ride/traverse a trail they call Washington's trail (some other bikers called it Ho-Chi-Min) that runs on the river bank below the train tracks. It was an off-camber Russian roulette kind of thing. They described it as very hard under normal conditions. Now that it had snow completely frozen across it at a 60 degree angle, it was impossible. We tried it anyway. For a brief while we could ride, slide and drag ourselves along. Then it got nutty. Ben and I were out front daring our way across the ice. Ben took the low line and I went high. Craig, emboldened with his new Sidi cleats decided he'd try walking straight across. I didn't see how far he got, but I did see him spiraling on his back toward the river. Splash! He and his bike went in - only up to his shins, but enough to get him wet, cold and home. From there the ride was less eventful. Though I will say, for every moment I wished I was heavier Friday night for more traction, I was glad I was lighter to stay ontop of more of the snow on Sunday. Ride done back to the house to work.

This post was inspired by a tasty product called West Coast IPA. Brought to you by the brewers at Green Flash Brewing Co.

Thank you and goodnight

-b