I Wasn’t Ready For That

Last night I headed out to Paris Mountain with a new little surprise in my hand. I received my 21 tooth cog from Endless Cog’s last night. So I was excited to put it on and see how it felt dropping a tooth on our local mountain.

Earlier in the day I had spied a thread on MTBR started by a friend of mine. I posted up that I was riding if anyone wanted to come out. SingleMinded1 posted up that he would be out there at 6:00. So I figured that would give me enough time to throw one of my Nevegal’s on the front tire, change my chain and gear.

I had never met SingleMinded1 but I looked up a picture of his bike and it was a single speed On One. Not too many cats roll with that kind of style around here so I figured I could spot him.

I got all my fooling around done and it was 5:30 so I headed up the left side of the mountain with plans to meet SingleMinded1 on my way back down the main trail everyone comes up. I had a nice fun easy climb up and was really grooving on the way down passing people going up here and there when I passed somebody on an On One. I yelled back for him to hold up and I introduced my self. As planned I had found SM1.

We turned around and started up Sulphur Springs. HOLY CRAP, this guy took off like a bat out of hell up the trail. I figured he was running some insane ratio and after a minute of killing myself to hang on, I just let him do his own thing. I was working on my fourth night in a row riding and I didn’t need to be doing that.

Eventually the trail flattens for a second and he had slowed down enough that I caught back up before the two steep ups. He killed it up the steeps again and all the way up to the paved road section. We started rolling up the tarmac when I asked him what he was running, 32X18. Are you friggin kidding me? In the mountains, on a 29’er running 32X18, that’s what I call “KILLING IT.” I asked him what his background was, BMX racing, 10 years of Mountain Bike Racing, a long hiatus, then in the past few years he started riding dirt again. Well that explains it.

He had to walk, thank the heavens, for a second going up the steep section on the road. Then I struggled to hold onto his wheel the rest of the day until we split up at the top of Firetower.

Things were uneventful for me. I dropped the chain twice because I always do that a couple times when I change the gear until I get it just right. I completed a circuit and I think tonight is going to be a restful evening. I need it.

Peace