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What a crazy ass adventure tonight was!!! :blink:
I left the house about 5:30 noticing the thunderstorms in the area. The sky to the north and east (in the direction of Burlington) was pretty dark. It got progressively stormier as I got closer, but once at the route 4/69 merge it lightened up. By the time I got to Lamson Corner, it was pouring. :-x
Pulled in next to Chris Grassi and rolled down the window and told him we'll wait it out. Once the rain lightened up, I took the bike down and raised the hatch and we sat back there until it let up (about 10 minutes wait total). We then found powhunter and powbmps also emerging from their cars.
Within a few minutes, we were off. Grassi's new bike is very sweet and will surly serve him well. We headed into the saturated cemetery twisties. The trail was more water than trail, and normally I wouldn't opt to ride them, but since powbmps Chris was down from New Hampshire, we rode anyway. There were actually a fair number of riders out tonight despite the rain. The cemetery twisties were a little miserable being so wet, but I did clear one of the techy spots. Grassi was battling a headache so he opted to bail down the doubletrack. I don't blame him. Challenging trails, new unfamiliar bike and a headache is not a good combo. I could tell he was disappointed though.
Well, Chris, Steve and I headed up the climb. I actually cleared the whole thing with a short break right before that challenging part. I've found the rock I've been trying to ride around is easier to just ride over. We then headed east at the big boulder towards the Stone Road area. Steve and Chris liked the mellow singletrack crossing through there. Light was fading so we decided to crank it southeast to hit the nice smooth downhill and take the fire roads back.
Chris and I made it to the area where the trail we rode Sunday peels off towards the Devil's Kitchen and we stopped and waited for Steve. We got to bullshitting and then realized we were waiting a pretty long time. Chris commented how quickly it was getting dark. A bit concerned about Steve, we backtracked to find him. We kept riding and riding. It was then like someone flipped a light switch, it was getting dark so fast. I knew we were about as far away from the parking area that we would be on this ride so after several unsuccessful call-outs to Steve, I tried calling his cell. No answer.
So Chris and I rode a bit more and came to an intersection - one that I never noticed before, and certainly didn't notice tonight. We figured Steve must have went that way, the direction towards the upper part of the Devil's Kitchen. :-o At that point, I made the call that I had to get the two of us out of there. On the way back to where we turned around, my cell rings. It was Steve who apparently navigated the Devil's Kitchen in the fading light and found his way to a fire road and eventually to pavement. I'm still not sure where he came out, but I'm sure he'll chime in. I told him to let me go so we can get out and that I'd call him and try to figure out where he is and drive over to pick him up.
Chris and I carefully picked our way out. Probably another 3 miles in virtual darkness. I was really close to pulling out my hiking headlamp, but I just wanted to keep moving. The DT wasn't fun in the dark, but it wasn't that dangerous given we were going pretty slow. Eventually, we discovered why it got dark so quick when we saw lightning. Another storm was rolling in. :-o We pressed on and got to Lamson corner just as the lightning started getting really bright and flashing often.
We then saw this minivan pull in and who jumps up but Steve-O! Apparently, a group of of "cougars" gave him a lift. :lol: Steve hurried off since he had to go back to some diner or something to retrieve his bike. I bid farewell to powbmps Chris who was back on his way to New Hampshire. Sorry the ride didn't go as well as planned, but I sure gave you one helluva adventure! Still, good riding with ya!
Time to buy a headlight and a light for the visor...
I left the house about 5:30 noticing the thunderstorms in the area. The sky to the north and east (in the direction of Burlington) was pretty dark. It got progressively stormier as I got closer, but once at the route 4/69 merge it lightened up. By the time I got to Lamson Corner, it was pouring. :-x
Pulled in next to Chris Grassi and rolled down the window and told him we'll wait it out. Once the rain lightened up, I took the bike down and raised the hatch and we sat back there until it let up (about 10 minutes wait total). We then found powhunter and powbmps also emerging from their cars.
Within a few minutes, we were off. Grassi's new bike is very sweet and will surly serve him well. We headed into the saturated cemetery twisties. The trail was more water than trail, and normally I wouldn't opt to ride them, but since powbmps Chris was down from New Hampshire, we rode anyway. There were actually a fair number of riders out tonight despite the rain. The cemetery twisties were a little miserable being so wet, but I did clear one of the techy spots. Grassi was battling a headache so he opted to bail down the doubletrack. I don't blame him. Challenging trails, new unfamiliar bike and a headache is not a good combo. I could tell he was disappointed though.
Well, Chris, Steve and I headed up the climb. I actually cleared the whole thing with a short break right before that challenging part. I've found the rock I've been trying to ride around is easier to just ride over. We then headed east at the big boulder towards the Stone Road area. Steve and Chris liked the mellow singletrack crossing through there. Light was fading so we decided to crank it southeast to hit the nice smooth downhill and take the fire roads back.
Chris and I made it to the area where the trail we rode Sunday peels off towards the Devil's Kitchen and we stopped and waited for Steve. We got to bullshitting and then realized we were waiting a pretty long time. Chris commented how quickly it was getting dark. A bit concerned about Steve, we backtracked to find him. We kept riding and riding. It was then like someone flipped a light switch, it was getting dark so fast. I knew we were about as far away from the parking area that we would be on this ride so after several unsuccessful call-outs to Steve, I tried calling his cell. No answer.
So Chris and I rode a bit more and came to an intersection - one that I never noticed before, and certainly didn't notice tonight. We figured Steve must have went that way, the direction towards the upper part of the Devil's Kitchen. :-o At that point, I made the call that I had to get the two of us out of there. On the way back to where we turned around, my cell rings. It was Steve who apparently navigated the Devil's Kitchen in the fading light and found his way to a fire road and eventually to pavement. I'm still not sure where he came out, but I'm sure he'll chime in. I told him to let me go so we can get out and that I'd call him and try to figure out where he is and drive over to pick him up.
Chris and I carefully picked our way out. Probably another 3 miles in virtual darkness. I was really close to pulling out my hiking headlamp, but I just wanted to keep moving. The DT wasn't fun in the dark, but it wasn't that dangerous given we were going pretty slow. Eventually, we discovered why it got dark so quick when we saw lightning. Another storm was rolling in. :-o We pressed on and got to Lamson corner just as the lightning started getting really bright and flashing often.
We then saw this minivan pull in and who jumps up but Steve-O! Apparently, a group of of "cougars" gave him a lift. :lol: Steve hurried off since he had to go back to some diner or something to retrieve his bike. I bid farewell to powbmps Chris who was back on his way to New Hampshire. Sorry the ride didn't go as well as planned, but I sure gave you one helluva adventure! Still, good riding with ya!
Time to buy a headlight and a light for the visor...