First stop in town was Blackwater Bikes. Tim was holding down the fort. We dropped off the bikes and he started doing his thing. While he worked feverishly on both of my bikes we headed across the street to Hellbenders. Killer Burritos! We grabbed a few beers and picked our bikes. I had to rent a bike Because they were out of stock of my RD hanger. Lesson learned!! I rented a Cannondale hardtail 29er and off we rode. we decided that the first stop would be CVI. The rental felt a little loose but I didn’t say anything. We started the outer loop cw. EPIC!!
The ride started with a mellow gradual climb which got progressively steeper and more technical. The wilderness was beautiful and the climbing put a good burn in my legs.
The trail gets extremely technical as you roll into the Moonrocks. Then slower and tougher in Hoodoo. I knew the climbing was over when I noticed a wet paper sign stapled to a tree.
"XXX Long Technical(although thrilling) Decent"
We started the ride down. My forearms were burning as I made my way down one of the rockiest down hill sections I’ve ever ridden. Very fun. as we made it up to the Institute we knew the decent was about half way. And we knew that the technical slow stuff was about to be replaced by sweeping flow thru open fields back to the truck. Time to fly.
As I came around a long sweeping left hand turn I felt my front wheel collapse and I went flying. No idea why.
So I left the rental with Kellen and rode back to the truck on a service rood that skirts the SE side of the property. we get in the truck and head back in. We see a pickup with Kellen in the back. We flag them down and he hops out. As the young couple pulls away they crash into a ditch. Its time to go back to the ladies.
