Meat Up

The weekend came and went way too quickly.
The Meat-up went off, in spite of the weather, which actually wasn't too bad.

I arrived on the scene late Friday night, after closing down the shop. The kids were all fired up about camping, and the adults were all fired up on Nat's 5 P.A.

I got a chance to meet a couple of the attendees before it became pitch black out, delivered a Fisher Rig to a customer who bought the bike just for this occasion, and made the final plans for Saturday's ride.


When Saturday morning came, it looked as if the sky would open up on us. After breakfast, we started out 13 strong, and by the time we got to the top of the first big climb, it was beautiful blue skies. Of course, I had already elected not to bring the camera, the last thing I needed at this point, was yet another expensive electronic device to crap out on me.

We rode all morning, riding Dead Moose Alley, and White School, and would up at the Burke General Store for lunch. Some of our riders would go back to camp, others would join in. We set out in the afternoon to the Darling Hill side, and blazed through some of the best trails the Kingdom organization has. The highlights were Toadies and Sidewinder. Both of these trails are similar, it is a lot like riding a big halfpipe on a snowboard, swooping in and out of the sides of a ravine. Sidewinder is BIG.

By the time we started heading back to town, the black clouds were gathering fast. We got back to the store just in time for the squall to hit, knocking bikes over, and sending any loose items flying. We called ahead to the camp site for a the sag wagon to come and get us.
It rained hard for a couple of hours, and as it started to get dark, the rain abated, so it was time to start the meat!

There was plenty of food and beer, as some folks had bailed because of the rain. They missed out on some good times. We had two birthdays to celebrate, lots of cakes and goodies.

While the raffle didn't happen, I am going to find a way to dish out the schwag.

After we all went to bed, the skies cleared, making for some chilly morning temps. Fortunately, the coffee was powerful. After we cleaned and packed up the camp site, we rallied for the last ride of the weekend, again on the darling Hill side.

We rode Poundcake to Fence Line, and were headed over to do Toadies again, when I had an unfortunate run in with a big stick. My SRAM XO derailleur lost the battle, as I twisted the hanger into the cassette, and vaporized the carbon cage.
It wasn't a very long walk fortunately.