The Road of a Thousand F-Bombs

Miles today: 154.3 (881.6 so far)

Hours in the saddle: 5:54 (23:28 so far)

Theme music: clenched jaw and teeth rattling around in my head. Also, Gotan. 

Got up and had breakfast early at the event. This is a really well-organized event. We lined up for our “intermediate” ride to the VT ski slopes and were given a choice of the easy way or the intermediate way. We chose the latter, I mean, we’re not really beginners anymore, right? We did a month in NM last summer, random stuff since then, and the weekend thing last month. 

Well...DAMN it was some rough road. It was apparently a jeep trail. At one point, I told Jaron he could go a little faster if he wanted to, and he informed me that his pace was *not* for my benefit. For real, I was just standing up while the Tigress bucked like a bronco in heat and holding on for dear life. She took a real beating. She got suuper dirty, too. We splashed thru some mud! There were some big muddy ruts and I was surprised that they went ok. There were several dips w/ a small amount of water crossing the road and steep hills. One thing I have learned is NOT to lose control of my speed going downhill. Put it in first and pump that rear brake. And it worked. 👍🏻 And so many of the things I’ve learned worked today. Had a lot of opportunities to go down and didn’t. 

And I now appreciate ground clearance. We lowered my bike so that I could try this style of riding. Adventure bikes are tall. We did add preload to it the night before and the seat height was at my limit. And we unloaded everything so we could ride fancy-free and since we are staying in the same place for 4 nights. But, I was bottoming out over most of the bumps — I heard ALL kinds of rocks scrape against the Tigress’ belly pan, and I could feel rocks actually pushing up my foot pegs. I hit a big one and took a little dive. Apparently someone else behind me on a really good ADV bike couldn’t get over it either, which made me feel a little better. I didn’t see it in time to go around it is all. It was some rocky-ass road. The shadows from the trees make it hard to see. A thousand fucks is the only reason I got thru that. Jaron prefers to introvertedly struggle in silence while Julie makes the intercom blush. (Fuck. FUCK. Ok. Fuckfuckfuck. Ok. Ooooookay. Fuck!) 

So here’s some minor cosmetic damage from this morning. The panel and crash bar are from when I bit it. (Am not hurt at all, I was only going about 10mph and have good gear.) 

The panel will just get secured w/ orange duct tape at some point. I’m not worried about the crash bar, that’s what it’s there for. The new turn signal position worked out! It’s fine. 

This is from lowering the suspension. I don’t remember what the spec was, but if the spring is designed to have 10 inches of travel and you take 2 of them, then you really only have 8 and this can happen when it wants to compress all the way. 

It’s all cosmetic and I just remind myself that my princess is at home in the garage. 

After about an hour of this we met up with the easier way and we bailed. And Jesus, I’m so tired at the end of the day, it was a good thing we did. We talked with the leader of the “intermediate” route after we all got back and he said that a couple of people switched to the easier way every time we met up, and that by the end, they had 5 participants left of the original 15. They designed the routes to intersect several times for just this reason. 

Honestly, we took up this style of riding so that we could go camping and did not have to turn around when the pavement ended. I think we’ve achieved that now. We referred to the group taking the “intermediate” way as the Masochists for the rest of the day. I’m not really interested in doing that kind of road just to do it. Is there a really awesome view at the end of that road? Does it lead to a really cool place to camp? These are my questions. 

The easier ride still wore us out by the end of the day. We rode to a ski place for lunch (and met up with the Masochists). The easier way consisted of dirt roads, some gravel, and pavement. One really awesome road went to an amazing view. It was just switchbacks in 1st gear the whole way. We hadn’t been on a road like that since the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument or park or whatever. Totally awesome. 

After that there were whispers of ice cream, and democracy prevailed for a route change. We talked with locals while eating our maple-vanilla soft serve. We were emailed ahead of time and briefed this morning on making sure the locals like us being in their town so that we can come back. Waving at people, not doing obnoxious biker stuff like wheelies, and also not stressing out cattle and horses. I’d heard someone say to stop if we passed a horse. We came across a rider on horseback and the leader kept going slowly, but we all got off the throttle. And random locals were videoing our group passing. Oh — there was a run-in with a goose. The guy in front of me slowed down for a goose that was crossing the road. It stopped, and then dove in front of him. The goose kept going and was walking fine, but it left behind a significant number of feathers. I looked around and I don’t think anyone saw. 

The final leg of this route got a little rougher and steeper in some beautiful forest. We got back to the rally at 5:00 and talked with some of the people from our group for a bit before heading out. First, to the motel to turn the AC on, and then to a highly recommended hipster dinner spot. Dinner was fantastic. Julie likes the motel. It’s super well-kept. Jaron is annoyed with the AC situation, and because the fridge was unplugged when we got here. AC is a requirement for Jaron, and not every place here even has it, so... 🤷🏻‍♀️ What can you do? 

We’re absolutely whipped. It was a great day though. We’re signed up for a group ride tomorrow as well, but it will be an hour shorter and is rated as “easy”. I’m just not sure these knees are getting up at 0600 tomorrow.