September 16, 2008

  • Meetup.com

    So, I joined meetup.com to see what's going on in the world of social networking.  There are all kinds of groups there such as hiking and biking and just plain old social.  A friend told me about this a few months ago, but I haven't been able to check out any "meetups" until last Sunday.

    I wasn't  up for a long hard ride to Estes, so this is the perfect chance to do something new. Walter had posted a ride meetup at the Soderburg trail head for a 2 hour ride and this sounded perfect. 

    I get up in the A.M and figure that I should ride there cause, well the price of gas is high and well I stiff have the fitness.    Unfortunately I find that I had a flat tire in the A.M, but I figured I had plenty of time since the meetup was at 11:00 and it was only 9:30.  Took me a few minutes to find a tube, but the fix was quick.  Turned out I had picked up some goat heads somewhere last week at the  Lory, probably the pump trak...

    So  I ride over to the trail head and I am there early so I get some food and adjust the tire preasures.  Nice that some Racer Type asked me if I needed help while I was pumping up the tires, after letting out too much.    It's 11:00 and  hmmm, no-one is there yet so I go and strike up a conversation with some guy who also had a Yeti 575.  His was black...   Whle we were chatting the Meetup crowd arived.

    Walter, Amy, Larry and Katlin introduced themselves and after a bit of chat about Yeti's etc we were off and running over to the Blue Sky trail.

    The pace was nice and mellow,  just what I was looking for.   The trails were perfect and with the cloud cover and lower temps this was perfect for a trail ride. 

    The group was nice and stayed together and waited often if someone got out front to far.  I tried not to lead as much as possible, cause well, I was out for a mellow ride and if I got up front  I might just fall into familiar rhythms.

    It was refreshing to be able to chat  most of the time and to be able to look out and enjoy the terrain.   Everyone was so nice and warm and there were no egos here, just a few folks enjoying the trail.

    We decide to do the Indian summer loop clockwise.   The group got a bit splintered on the ascent, but we regrouped 3/4 of the way up.  Nice to rest after trying to follow Walter.  Yeah I was able to stay with him, but it wasn't easy....   We took to the descent, but Amy got a flat on the way down.  Katlin had a tube so we made the repair and off we go again.

    The descent was fun down and this was one of the few times I took to the front.  We regroup at the bottom and everyone was happy with the descent.   It was all too short as we had to climb up to the Coyote ridge intersection.

    Time to rock and roll.   I take to the front but I loose my bite valve when my knee snagged it so I had to stop.   To the back and we are off and running.  This was a good chance to work on some technique when cornering.   The front end still a bit loose, and I am trying to find the right place to balance the weight so I can corner fast even when it's loose.... Haven't found the right spot yet...

    On the way back  Walter gets a flat.  We 3 goat heads and it took us some time to get that all patched together again.   Larry comes back for us after we are going and says that Amy has a flat up the trail.   We  get Amy all patched and we are good to go.

    The ride is just about over and I don't have time to do lunch cause the family is waiting.  I bid my new friends "good hunting", OK not really but it sounds more interesting than fond farewell. Assuming one is a BattleStar fan, if not then it probably sounds odd... but I digress.

    A good time was had by all!   Bummer ,y camera was having issues,  I missed some good shots...