Went to Oak Mountain today for an easy ride to let Matthew ride a lap. He has been wanting to get back out there as it has been about 9 months since he has ridden. He is as stubborn as I am about not giving up so I knew he was going to ride the whole thing no matter how long it took. He borrowed my GF Sugar and I quickly guessed at his weight for the shock settings. He also decided to try clipless pedals for the first time. I had my old Time ATACs and old shoes that never quite fit me right. I know they did not fit him very well, but he wanted to try them so he made do. He clipped in and out in the parking lot a few times and we hit the trail. Going counter clockwise everything was going well untill we got past johnson's mountain. Then going up the rocky sections on the way up to the blood rock climb the clipless got him. He fell over a few times trying to negotiate the rocks. To my knowledge both him and Tommy rode all the way up to blood rock.
Once there I tried to climb it again about 5 times. I made it to the turn by the tree a couple of times, but seemed to always get stuck there. My tires were getting more and more wet and sandy with each attempt so I eventually called it and headed on up. I seem to do better by gearing high at the beginning to keep from spinning and downshifting once I get over the first section. Some day I will ride up this thing.
I tried to get Matthew and Tommy to ride the log at the BUMP/Jeep junction as well as the one on the way up the Jeep trail, but I couldn't get them to. Going down the Jeep I stopped at the third ditch to catch Tommy and Matthew jumping since this is the best place to get some air. Tommy went first and flew. I snapped the picture a little early, so he is just launching, but I was thoroughly impressed. He was 3-4 feet in the air and landed about 12 feet down the trail. I tried to get him to do it again but I think it scared him a little. Matthew crouched like he was going to jump, then just coasted out. I am sure the borrowed bike as well as the clipless pedals helped him decide to not be stupid (at least this time out). Continuing on down the trail we came to the last of the log rides. We all stopped and I got Tommy and Matthew to try and ride it. There were no crashes, so everything was good.
The next item of amusement was at the BMX road crossing. There is a small ditch that I usually bunny hop. Matthew went down to fill up his water bottle and I was playing with hopping the ditch. I was goofing around and was going to pop a wheelie over then hop over to my front wheel. Well I managed to land the front wheel on the edge of the far side and the wheel rolled back down to the bottom. I was precariously balanced on the front wheel for about a second. The camera actually slid out of my back jersey pocket and hit the ground before I got unclipped and got my feet on the ground. Tommy witnessed the whole thing so maybe he will give a better account, but this is the closest I have come to crashing the new bike. I know it is coming and me acting stupid doesn't help, but I have not flipped the bike yet.I ran into Eddie Jones on the last section of trail. I had been wanting to meet him, so we stopped and chatted for a few minutes. He also has a motolite also and we talked bikes for a few minutes and went on our way.
Back at the truck we sat in the back and had a beer. During this time about 10 cars of boy scouts pulled up all around us. I don't know the policy on drinking so we finishe up and headed on out. However during this time there was a wreck in the parking lot. Some lady in a huge SUV backed into a pickup truck on the road. I have no idea why she kept backing up. The guy in the truck started honking as soon as she started backing up but she just kept going till she hit him. I am pretty sure I saw her on the phone when this happened.
All in all it was a fun ride. The weather was awsome and with all the stops for pictures and playing on obstacles it took about 3:15 for the lap. As is my standard after ride tradition we went to McAlisters afterwards. We hung out there for a while and laughed at the pictures and videos I took on this ride.
In one of the videos I was trying to take pictures over my shoulder, but I accidently had it on movie mode.
Pictures and Videos:
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