Turkey Burn

I decided to meet BUMP for their annual turkey burn ride at Oak Mountain at 10:00 this morning. It usually takes me a little while to get ready, so I got there at about 9:40 so I would be ready to go. I later found out that the ride usually doesn't start till later. I think we finally hit the trail at about 10:45-11:00. I must have left the power to the bike computer on as it died right as we were getting started so unfortunately I have no record of this trip. We went clockwise and I fell in near the end of the group. As we got going I slowly made my way to the front as people would stop to rest or get stuck climbing a hill.
One good thing to note, I finally cleanly cleared the large log right before camp trail. I usually will unclip or hit my back wheel on the log even though I make it over, but this time I correctly landed the rear tire right on the top. Near the BMX track I saw a couple of the riders head toward the track. I usually do not ride the BMX track as Iam not very good at it, but I headed up and watched them start around. I rode a lap, with absolutely no grace and no speed and then jumped back on the trail. I next stopped to ride the log at the base of the Chimney rock climb. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I could not ride the stupid log. It took me about 7 tries before I finally did it. I finally caught back up with eveyone at the north trailhead. We climbed the jeep trail and at the top of the climb we stopped and I snapped a few pictures (I didn't take many this ride). I did manage to ride the log on the jeep downhill and played on the short log at the top of the bump while we waited on everyone. I was the last down the bump trail to blood rock and got behind a few people who were walking down. I waited at the top for them to clear and rode down. They were going down the rcky downhill very cautiously so I gave them a few minutes head start so I wouldn't be on top of them. I headed down and think I scared them as I jumped the rocks right before where they were stopped to rest. I finished on up and we got back to the parking lot. I called my brother and he said we would be there in about 40 minutes. I decided to just eat another energy bar instead of getting lunch and stood around with everone for a little while till he showed up.

It took a little while to get ready as I let him have the cleats off my old shoes as they were in decent condition and he bought some shoes to use with the old Time ATACS I had before the curent pair. I also checked the tire air pressure as well as the shock pressure for him while he was getting ready. We finally headed out and Matthew wanted to go Counter Clockwise so we could ride down the jeep trail and we took off. He was doing petty well as he was moving pretty good through the first section. I kept telling him to slow down and pace himself (the thing I am worst at) but I think he was trying to set a good lap time. We got to the Johnson's Mtn climb and he had to put a foot down but rode up all except the large rocks at the top. He seemed to be having no problem with the clipless at all. We rode on up and made it to the blood rock climb. He had to kick the chain into 1st as the bike would not shift (something I need to fix), but rode up with no problem. I was actually struggling more than him because he was just slowly climbing and I kept hitting rocks and having to put a foot down. I need to practice my grannny gear climbing more as my balance seems to suffer the slower I go. At blood rock I tried to ride up it and got stuck at the first part. It was extremely wet and I kept spinning the tire. I tried three times and the third put it in a higher gear. This helped tremendously as it kept me from spinning as much, but my tires were completely soaked and the front was sliding on me, so I just walked it up to the point where it crosses the stream. I got back on the bike and rode from here and was doing well till I met another biker coming down. He was not slowing down, so I moved off the trail and grabbed a tree. I rode the rest of the wa up after the second biker went by.
At the top matthew really wanted to ride the log. I tried to warn him that this one was a little dangerous as it was higher than the rest and had some branches that would catch your font tire if you fall off the wrong side but he was determined. He finally rode up one of the small branches and of the end. I was pretty impressed as he did this easily. We rode on up and on the way he saw the second log, he rode right across first try. I was amazed, but somehow managed to make it mself first try. Finally we made it to the top and headed down the downhill. I let him go first and gave him a little time before I headed down. He was moving pretty good because I didn't catch him till the bridge. I followed him down and watched him jump all the whoopties. he was definately having a good time. We headed on back and I could tell he was getting a little tired on some of the climbs, but he is pretty stubborn and wouldn't admit it and kept going. Not much else to mention other than I cleared the log after camp trail again and we finished right before dark. We had a beer at the truck while we packed everything up. It was a good day as I pretty much spent the whole day riding. Lastly, Matthew was talking about getting a bacon wrapped filet for dinner, so after I got home me and Stephanie went to Longhorn and I got a Steak for dinner. The steaks there are always excellent adn we managed to finish off our meals as well as the appetizer we ordered. I didn't realize I was so hungry.