Thursday Night NEMBA

Thank you Dave B for hanging back and waiting for me! Just as I was about to leave work I was hit with an "issue" that kept there much past my required departure time in order to hit the 6:05 NEMBA start. Prior weeks I had it down to the minute of when I needed to leave work and still leave enough time to get suited up in the car, check the pressure in my tires, lather in DEET, throw my personal belongings in my camelback, check myself in the mirror (style is everything!) and be ready to go with a minute to spare. But that came crumbling down on me yesterday. I was still committed to riding and just figured I would wing it once I got there. Although admittedly Iʻm not sure Iʻve really graduated to that level in Big River after only riding there 3 times. And all three times, the blood vessels were ready to burst in my eyeballs as I doing all that I could just to hang onto Jasonʻs back wheel (or at least even see it off in the distance).  But no need, as I was rushing to my car Dave called and said the group just took off and that he would hang knowing I was on my way. Now thatʻs a solid! Got to say - so far my mountain biking experiences here in RI have been very cool thanks to some very serious acts of kindness from both Jason and Dave.

Dave led us on some common trails, most of which looked familiar from the previous rides. I can actually remember some trail names this time (see, itʻs finally starting to sink in), but wait, itʻs no that impressive - I know we started out on Hero loop - a fairly mild well traveled loop that starts and finishes on Burnt Sawmill Rd. We pealed off of Hero, but really I had no idea where. I do know we ended up on a trail call Coaster - a fun, fast, banked turns down hill. Other than that it was just following Dave, who at one point wasnʻt sure where we were either. Thatʻs the beauty of this place - for 3 weeks I have ridded there with people who have been riding there for many years, and each week we managed to end up in an area that no one knew where we were. Itʻs simply huge with endless options thrown at you all along the way. It was starting to get dark so we cheated - I pulled up my map on the Garmin and we were able to at least figure out the general direction we needed to be heading in. "Felt like cheating" are Daveʻs words and I totally agree. It took the adventure out of getting completely lost, heading in the wrong direction for hours before you realize it, and wondering back to your car in blackness for at least an hour. Itʻs a situation thatʻs unfolded a thousand times for me in my mountain biking life, and each time the beer at the car tastes that much more worth it. This time, it was nice to get back to the car, but the thought  of wondering if we would be spending the night in the woods and possibly eaten by a bear never crossed my mind and that took some fun out of returning to the car! None the less, as I like to say, it was a blast and Iʻm already looking forward to next Thursday night. Hopefully Jason will be back - he was not as fortunate with his work "issues", and was stuck there.