sat-er-dai

After sorting it out with the Eagle of Deutschland over an extended phone call on friday night, we surmised a trail epic for the next morning. Nesquehoning loop would be first, refuel somewhere, and then ride the strip mines and hookup onto the Pisgah ridge. I left my house at 9:30 and grinded the rail grade to meet Scott, Werner and Griz at Redner's Market in Nesque. As we rolled out from there it was sleeting and pretty cold. We climbed to the top of the ridge to meet Dean at the fabbled "box fan" trail intersection. The air was smokey and he was, of course, fixing a flat. We rolled at a brisk pace out past the water tank on the lower, oh so sweet single, aand climbed to the top of the ridge and rolled back towards Nesque. The trails on that ridge are my favorite. People who have sampled will probably agree. Almost at the end of the ridge, Dean rolls up and said he thinks he broke his fork. Looking at it for one second, we agreed it was totally blown. Dean bailed to his house, grabbed his other bike and met us with the water and food at the link between the Nesque ridge and Pisgah. Only Dean would bail on a ride to grab his spare bike to finish the ride. A true lover of the two wheels. While everyone is slaving at work, Dean is maintaining the local trails and riding everyday. He is a true endurance rider to say the least. He might not be on the front with a fast pace, but he can outlast most riders any day of the week. With a refuel, the weather starting to shape up, and Dean rollin' we headed towards the Pisgah ridge. Turning our way through the strip mines, Dean and I were trying to hookup to what Dean calls "the critical link." A point in the strip mines that is a hike-a-bike right to the singletrack. Sure as shit, it was right where we thought, and we proceeded to ride the Pisgah ridge back to Thorpe. The Pisgah ridge is some super technical riding. I feel lucky having it as my home turf. After exhausting all of the singletrack on Pisgah at a decent pace we were back at my place in Thorpe around 5:00. Not a bad day in the saddle for a spring fling.