Sherando Oct. 2012

33 miles of dirt. Mostly single track with some fire road climbing and a short stint on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 5k+ feet elevation change. 6k+ calories burned. Awesome ride! We left just after 7am. Me, Carter and Nate were psyched and ready to roll by 9:30. Nate on his 29er, stiff fork, single speed bike. What a beast! Nate destroyed us going up the hills, but I crushed it on the way down. I was loving my long travel on the gnarly descents.

We stopped for "lunch" around 1 after Carter lost a bolt to the cleat in his shoe, but after some jerry-rigging with some twigs, it seemed to work out just fine. That was our only malfunction. No flats, no bent rims, no bent derailleur hangers. Everything worked as it should and nothing needed replacing, refilling or fixing. It was weird, but I'm not complaining. Today you'll have to click a link to see the ride map, as my phone lost GPS signal and didn't capture the second half of our ride. Carters phone worked the whole time though, so here's the link: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/veuGmVojiXI

At the point where we got on the BRP, we met a lady that was finishing a hike. She had come from PA with her family, as she told us they do every year, and offered us a beer since they were finishing their weekend and had a lot left over. We initially politely declined, and then changed our minds after she told us it was Spaten Oktoberfest. We carried them with us until the finish, and graciously enjoyed a victory beer. We stopped in Charlotesville on the way home for some dinner, and got home around 9:45pm.

Luckily Maddog got to stay at Kaz's house with her dogs and use the doggy door, so he didn't have to wait for me to get back from riding to go out. I promptly went to bed and woke up a solid 10 hrs later. It was awesome!