Crazy Mad Props
to Jamie
for hosting the first Ghouls & Fools Fall classic in Jim
Thorpe, PA. What started as just a little idea a few weeks
ago became one of the greatest epic rides I've ever
participated in. Eighteen or so Folks from all over of
varying degrees of skill collected themselves in the train station
parking lot for a fall color bike riding extravaganza. Here's Ben
preparing himself for the gluttony of such a
ride.
|
 |
And I mean gluttony. We were
looking to ride at least 30 miles. Food, beverage and
miles were in abundance. Mark made us some super
magical
chocolate chip cookies to guarantee us a
safe voyage.
|
 |
Mark and I throwing back some
pre-ride nourishment. Calories of any kind were welcome and
necessary to carry out our
expidition.
|
 |
Our
fearless gearless leader sportn' his glam rock star shades made for
the ride by his
sister.
|
 |
The
group rolling through town to the trailhead. There were
tourists actually taking pictures of us as we rode through
town.
|
 |
Early in the ride
at Mauch Chunk lake, we stopped for a bike pile up and group
photo.
|
 |
Along the trails, Scott and
Jay found some rocks to ride while waiting for the rest of the
group.
|
 |
|
The group stopping
along the lip of a coal mining seam cut. The first half of the ride
wound its way through the Jim Thorpe strip mines. I've
been
through here numerous times, but still can't find my way through the
maze of quad tracks, jeep trails and old mining
roads.
|
 |
The only casualty of the
day was this. It's amazing to take so many people on such a rocky
ride and not have a single flat. This frame crack
must have been
a sacrafice to the pinch flat gods. The craziest thing is this
is titanium. It's not supposed to
crack.
|
 |
The Moab of
Thorpe. There's a large rock slab we have to walk up along the
trail. Some of the more daring (or sober) in the group took turns
riding down the slab.
|
 |
Here's Martin taking his turn
on the slab. Not bad for a skinny old dude.
|
 |
About twenty miles in, Jamie
parked his car full of food and beverage to consume and restock for
the rest of the ride. Here's Mark and Chris
making sure their hop
levels are up to par for the rest of the ride. The rest of the ride
turned out to be an abbreviated version of the famous
American
Standard and Deer Path trails. These trails are what made Thorpe
famous for mt. biking in PA and on the east coast.
Unfortunately
they've been closed to mt. bikers for three or four
years now. We took a chance and rode them anyway. American Standard
is basically a
non-stop rock garden. For miles it's rock after
rock with little or no relief. Suprisingly riding a rigid bike
hindered me in no way through this
section, then Jamie drug my
ass all over the Deer Path. It's a fast curvy - almost burmy -
singletrack twist through the woods. Jamie was
relentless in
keeping it pinned and painful. My legs beyond burning, I pushed
hard to stick to his wheel. Yeah that's right. Two rigid
two-
niners out front killing it in
Thorpe!
|
 |
Mark's hop levels at
obvious peak capacity - might of had something to do with the Blithering Idiot he threw back at the snack
break. This
stop was halfway down a sweet windy rocky downhill. We were
flying three wide through the corners floating over rocks and
leaves. We
stopped for a view
into the valley. The leaves were beautiful up and down the
hillsides. Brake calipers were adjusted, then we bombed to
the
bottom. Thirtyseven miles and nearly seven hours later
we were back to our cars. A post ride snack thanks to newcomer Nancy
really hit the
spot. After a few farewells, handshakes
and a triple shot Cappucino we headed home.
|
 |
Thanks again to Jamie
for the excellent adventure. Thanks to Scott Wippermann for the
photos. And Ben, all of this is fiction. The ride really
sucked after your frame broke. We were ready to
kill each other, get back to the cars and leave. You missed nothing.
Sorry
man. We'll just have to do it again.
Parting shot.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
