If It Ain’t Raining…

Then it’s not spring in North Carolina. 

It’s been quite shitty around here lately, and with trails closing left and right due to sloppy conditions, I’ve kinda bee hurting for a trail fix.  In lieu of our regularly scheduled Tarheel Trailblazers Social Ride, TomTom, Good Guy Greg, and I headed over to ride the trail that really never closes…

RTS

Yes, “The Trail” has a new moniker, RTS.  As in, Ride That Shit.  It’s all underground and whatnot, which means you don’t have to worry about a damn thing except getting your ass out in the dirt to ride it.  We’re building this thing to be ridden in all kinds of conditions, and just like your friendly mail carrier neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night keeps us off our little haven in the woods.

Last night, all we were missing was sleet.

Yes, I brought my little-wheeled squishy bike.  I wanted to have fun, so I brought the “fun bike.”  With flat pedals, five inches of travel, and tiny little wheels, it was perfect for shit conditions.  However, it wasn’t so perfect for a guy that’s used to riding a rigid single speed.  That thing was all over the place, and I had a hard time climbing with it.  I still had fun though, and now with well over two miles of tight, twisty, rooty, and rocky singletrack it’s worth the trip out there.

Since we’re still in build mode, we all stopped where the trail dead-ended and put down our bikes.  With roughed in trail in a huge gully section, it was difficult to gain traction for simple tasks such as walking uphill. 

Just ask Good Guy Greg.

This gully is our newest playground section out there, and if you’ve even ridden at Warrior Creek then it may look somewhat familiar.  To make some of the trail rideable though, we had to build a bridge.  It was a simple task, starting with some cedar logs.

With pre-cut planks, it was easy as Good Guy Greg and TomTom attaching them to the cedar while I just stood around in the rain taking photos.

It turned out pretty nice, and hella sturdy.  It’s about thirteen feet or so, and it will keep your momentum when you go swooping up and down through the gully.

We’re much closer to the end of the first loop now, and it won’t be much further until we get to ride it without having to stop abruptly.  We just need a few more workdays, and a few more folks willing to come out to finish our “always open” trail. 

Hopefully some of the regulars will head back out there.

Yup, Eastwood I’m talking to you.  You know you wanna bring that shiny new rigid single speed out there to play on the death rocks.