So much good riding since I've been back from SSWC I don't even no where to begin. The week after our return was our wedding anniversary so my lady and I took dueling Crosschecks out and rambled down the C&O Canal, paid $1 each and took a ferry ride across the Potomac River so we could then pedaled into Leesburg, VA. Once there we headed to the Vintage 50 brewpub to sit outside in the sunshine, eat good food and put away some beers before reversing course and heading home. Pretty great way to spend the day with my favorite girl.

From there it's been fixin' and freewheelin', singletrack and gravel. Dragged A. Neal out for some skinny tire fixed gear riding on the Salamander trail, a place many people like to have full suspension for. Super fun, use every skill you've got type of riding. Returned to do it the next week solo, just as good as the first time.

Then out to Lake Redman in York, PA with Mike, Mike and a few others. It's been a long time since I rode those trail or rode with those guys so I was stoked that they were able to make it out when I put out a last minute call for riders So much fun, the YAMBA crew works those trails and they have done so many improvements over the years and deserve a big THANK YOU. I only wish that stuff was closer so I could visit more often.

Headed down to do a Wednesday night ride with the old Avalon crew and we had a bunch of guest riders appear, guys I don't get to ride with much. Trails were dry and fast and the weather was good once again.

But that's not it because the hits keep coming. Can't forget that I got to ride the Watershed with another Mike, who was back visiting from Bangkok. He used to be a regular riding partner when he lived here so it was good to carve some dirt with him again. From there, onto McKeldin with Julie and Jay to hit another place I haven't touched much lately.

Wrapped up this past weekend's riding with the 1903 ride, version 2. Had a bunch of people turn up for this little sufferfest I put together that hit 3 covered bridges and lots of hills and gravel roads in the mountains. Weather once again was great. Got to insane speeds descending off of the Catoctin ridge line on sketchy, chewed up gravel and dirt road. Truly the highlight of the ride for me. With 50 miles under our belt, four of us took the lead as we started in to it and we punched it from the start. I was the only one in that lead group which was turning the fixed drivetrain, so legs were flailing to keep pace with the freewheelers. Washboard, buried rocks, ruts, bumps, dirt baked road surfaces coated with gravel, we had it all as we did a white knuckle descent at stupid fast speeds dropping 1000 feet of elevation in 4 sphincter puckering miles. Speed is somewhere in the high 20's and patches of long patches of gravel get you real squirrelly as you fight your way through them and hope you don't wash out. If you took your eyes off of the game for even a split second you were jolted back to reality. At one point, as I was laughing with excitement like a little kid, Todd looked over and said "we're not right" and I knew exactly what he meant. Sane people would want something other than a 35mm tire pumped to 90psi and would probably ride at speeds that limit total bodily destruction if you eat it. Fortunately we all survived with out any gravel rash and there was only a single flat tire which occurred at the very bottom of the descent. In the end we wrapped it up with 66 miles and headed out for food and beers to refuel. All in all we had over half of the riders in the group running fixed, embracing the full spirit behind 1903 ride (see Sept. 24th post below for an explanation).

OK, got to run, going to head out on a sub-24 hour overnighter then to Loch Raven on Sunday for a chix and dix MTB ride. Rubber side down and all of that. Enjoy the weekend, forecast is beautiful here again, hope you get the same.

- riderx