Adventures @ Douthat part 2.

After cutting yesterday's Douthat Post short I wondered if this post was really worthy of a two part series but since no-one else in my local blog scene has much to say I guess I will continue rambling on.

After our return to camp on Fri. from the first ride Dustin and I grabbed Melinda and Olga and headed out for another ride hoping for something a little smoother and something with less climbing. We didn't even get off the asphalt when I heard a pretty significant crash. Melinda was trying to adjust her Camel Bak tube with one hand and ride with the other. Well she accidentally grabbed a fist full of brake and went sailing over her handlebar and slammed into the pavement. I have to hand it to her, she took the fall pretty well. She had numerous scrapes, bruises and a little blood coming from her knee. Enough sore spots to make most girls throw in the towel on riding all together or at least for the weekend. She got back on her bike without even shedding a tear and kept on riding.

After a bit of goofing off on some trails features we decided on a route and of course started out with some climbing. I don't think we were 2 miles into the trail when Dustin's free hub body in his rear wheel decided to blow and stopped his ride for the day. Luckily I brought the Karate Monkey as a back up and we were able to swap out rear wheels so Dustin's weekend was not completely ruined.

Beer punch anyone?

Friday night we stoked up a roaring campfire and enjoyed a few adult beverages. As the NTMBA folk gathered in our site Anthony and Chris showed me some pics of their cabin, actually the front porch which had 2 29er wheels chained to the railing. Evidentally Aaron decided he needed to lock up his new steed to the railing but instead of running the cable through the frame he ran it through the wheelset. Upon seeing this Chris and Anthony couldn't resist removing the bike from the wheels and hiding it in a much safer location until the next morning. I'm not sure if hanging it in a tree was safer but at least no short folks were going to be riding a new Niner anytime soon.

I guess this harmless prank sparked a light bulb in the girl's head because they all disappeared in Andy's Element for about 45 minutes. When they came back everyone turned to look in wonder at where they had been. I assured Chris and Anthony they had been on a group poop. Actually they snuck off to their cabin and proceeded to turn everything upside down and make pyramids out of the furniture. We all had a good laugh but for the rest of the weekend I was locking everything down in an effort to escape any retaliation our campsite might receive for the ladies dirty deeds.

Saturday we woke to a beautiful sunny day and after breakfast hit the trails for more climbing and well, more climbing. As the mountain wore on it took it's toll on the pack and began breaking us up into smaller and smaller groups.

I stayed near the back and bounced around from group to group filming and chatting with folks I don't normally get to ride with. As we reached the top my small group of 4 passed the turn off where everyone was congregating at before heading down the mountain. All we really missed was a great view but no real spectacular riding. After rolling back into camp for lunch Melinda, Dustin and I decided to get in one more ride before calling it a day. Once again our ride was cut a little short but this time because of a flat tire. I couldn't believe it when I realized we had everything to change it but a pump, how convenient.

That evening the crew all gathered for a cookout at Anthony and Chris's cabin. Anthony manned the grill with hamburgers and everyone brought their best side dish for the NTMBA side dish competition.

Fat Tony on the grill.

Olga took first prize with her version of Paula Dean's mac n cheese and Abby took a close 2nd with here mother's homemade egg rolls. I think I ate 15 of those things.

Sunday we woke up to a slight drizzle of rain which squashed our hopes for one more good ride before calling it a weekend and heading home. We hung around for a while in hopes that the rain would leave but after some debate we decided it was here to stay

I'm already ready for next year's shindig, I hate it for all the cats who missed it. Good times were had by all and the trails rocked. The only complaint I had was the fee for dogs to stay at Douthat, $5 per dog per night = $30 for Moonshine & Jackson to sleep in the back of my truck. If we would have had 2 screaming kids instead of 2 dogs there would have been no extra charge. No biggie, I made sure they earned their $30, I left every dog turd for the fine folks @ Douthat to pick up. It seemed only fair, what else was the $30 for?

Stay cool