riders on the storm cont.

I'm sorry to report that this post won't contain any photos from Sun ride. You see I wasn't really thinking about how waterproof the small canvas bag I used to store my camera was when I stowed it away in my jersey pocket Sat morning. As soon as it began to rain I had to talk someone into letting me stash my camera in their Camelbak, thanks Rick! Needless to say with the huge amount of rain we received Sat our camera got a bit wet and never really dried out until we got home. Surprisingly it's still working and seems to be talking pictures just fine. I do plan on upgrading my next camera to one that can take the abuse I put it through. Something that is shock proof and water proof. I really like the one Andy and Abby has but I'm taking suggestions if anyone knows of a god one.
Even though we were a bit late to dinner Sat night I'm glad I went for it and rode Warrior's Creek before calling it a day. You could see jealousy in the eyes of those who opted out and sat under the pavilion that afternoon. That evening we saw a number of folks call it a weekend since their tents got soaked and some early Sun morning but we still had a rather large group suit up to ride Warriors Creek after eating a large round of Piper's vegan pancakes. I never really thought much about vegan pancakes and really didn't know they were vegan until I had a plate full but they tasted better than they looked.
On Sunday's ride the trail conditions were about the same, solid for the most part with a few slick spots and the occasional mud puddle thrown in here and there. There were several newbies to the trail system who despite the conditions were really impressed. I still kept my speed in check throughout the course and my legs and lower back thanked me for it. Riding the Karate Monkey all day Sat had left me feeling a bit toasty. We had heard rumor that the fine folks at the BMCC had constructed a new section of trail but we had missed it the night before since we cut out early to avoid missing dinner. I wasn't really sure where we entered the new section but it didn't take long for me to realize it was new. As we rolled along the new section I admired the trail work and before long we crossed paths with some of the trail crew hard at work. We thanked them greatly for the work they had done and complemented them on their handi work. Not long after leaving the crew we found one of the nicer bridges I've ever seen constructed in the area. The trail itself skirted around the edge of a cliff and just off to our right, wild man Brad Reed spotted a rope swing with a good sized drop into the lake below. Anthony doubled back to confirm with the trail crew that the rope swing and water depth were safe and got a "heck yeah!" We spent the next 20 minutes or so swinging and cliff jumping into the water below. I've done and seen alot of things on my rides but that was probably one of the best times I've spent off my bike during a ride. That is definitely something you can't do on a road ride.
After the brief swim I felt energized and was much cleaner but I really felt sorry for those who decided to leave early and go home.
As we all rolled back into camp we cleaned up, packed up and talked Piper into carrying home the huge bin of chips Alan forgot to take home. On the way home we made the trip complete with a stop in Boone for pizza and a pint of Old Town Brown at the Mellow Mushroom. I can't think of a better way to cap off a good weekend of riding in the rain.
I did take the Hero cam along for most of my rides but I'm not sure how well the footage will turn out with the wet conditions. I did check to make sure the rope swing footage was there and it was! Unfortunately my Hero cam was acting up off and on this weekend so I may have to send it back for another. Be on the lookout sometime next week for another video.