Thursday night I got a call from Thad asking if I wanted to go on a ride and that I should bring beer. I said sure. So I hurried home and got changed and got my bike ready to ride, threw it in the car and took off for Thad's place. I got there and assembled my stuff quick and we were off to try to catch the train to meet up with some other fellas from the shop. We missed the first train by about 10 seconds so we waited for the next train and got off at American Blvd. We left the train station heading for the dry decent into the river valley area. It was fun riding it in the dark as I had never done so before. Night riding always makes me a little on edge because my biggest fear is running into some sketchy person or people at night. This was all fun though, cruising at a good speed and then hitting a patch of sand and not being ready for it really tested the fat bike and it did super well. We got to our destination and started a fire and cracked some beers and had a good chat. I got to know a couple people that work within the company but I don't work with directly. Also we burned some magnesium because it makes fun colors and burns really bright. All in all it was super fun, I learned that I need more options for cold weather gear and that riding and drinking on an empty stomach is not a great idea either, but I somehow knew that already but chose to ignore it.
Saturday was Death Rider's Fat Bike Adventure Ride II. The weather leading up to Saturday was very vague and made it seem like it was going to rain all day. It was overcast but slightly warm, perfect. I got everything together and loaded up the car. I grabbed some snacks and what not for the gas station on the way out, including bananas because I am convinced they can save any ride. I parked near the Sibley house because I thought the hill up to the meeting place would be a good warm up before the ride. As I was riding to the meet up spot my front derailleur stopped shifting, awesome just what I was hoping to have happen. I spent some time trying to get it to work and eventually just said "Screw it!" The chain was stuck in the small ring which I figured was not so bad because I was expecting a lot of mud, sand, and hills. We gathered up and Josh said a few things and then we hit the trail. We took a really back route way to the river bottoms and then zipped in and out of some trees and through some pretty thick mud. Then we literally climbed out of a hole and a bunch of other crazy stuff. I hung in there for about an hour and a half before I just decided this was not what I had in mind, I was not really struggling. It was more of the fact that we were having a pretty massive accordion effect. I was expecting it to be gnarly but it ended up being more hiking than biking, at least for me. A couple guys got a little upset, I wasn't upset at all. It was advertised a little differently than what it was, but Josh spent a lot of time prepping that ride and I think if you actually read his blog you should have expected it to be slightly brutal. Next year I'll be better prepared.
However all was not lost. Pete from Fat Tire MN was at the ride and so I finally got to meet him. When he broke off from the adventure ride I decided to go with him. We rode the river bottoms a little bit with a couple other guys that ended up dropping off too and we all went for a little ride. We all parted ways and I ended up going back to my car and heading home. It had started raining and I was already cold and soaked from some creeks we were riding through. So I headed home and had some pizza with Ann and then fell asleep while watching Louie. When I got up we went out to eat and then to my friend's house, where Ann had organized a surprise birthday party for me. She got me good.
This has been a pretty damn good weekend. I'm pretty lucky to have the friends I do and to be able to do all these things I get to do. Getting older is not a high priority on my list but I am starting to realize that a lot of it has to do with just not giving a crap. Just because I'm getting older doesn't mean I can't keep riding. It doesn't mean anything, it is an age and I will only ever be as "old" as I let myself be.
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