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11-19-02, 10:17 AM
The Swamp Club’s Alafia Fat Tire Festival Report
Day 1: Friday, November 15, 2002:
I got out of work a little early with the intent to make it to the campsite before dark. Stopped by the bike shop to pick up a light system for Scott (my bro-in-law) from the manager who is a close friend. To my surprise, my knee/shin guards had come in. I ordered a pair of SixSixOne 4x4’s. I’d be able to try them out tonight! Scott saw my truck outside the LBS and stopped in. We then agreed to meet at the house and load up. As we’re loading up, it starts sprinkling. Yikes, not a good sign, but we refused to let a little rain spoil our fun.
Arrived at the campground a little after 6:00 and set-up camp. We pitched the tent and placed a canopy over the tent in case of heavy rain, and another one over the picnic table. I got curious about the night ride, so I rode up to the registration tent to investigate. I asked one of the volunteers, and he responded with, “The ride leaves at 7:00 p.m.” Uh oh, it was five till and we were nowhere near ready to ride!
Scott hasn’t ridden his bike in awhile, so both tires were flat and the light system I borrowed for him wouldn’t fit his bike. We had to get ready, swap lights, pump up both his tires; I had to figure out how to put on my new knee/shin pads, all in 5 minutes and in the diminishing light. The group left without us, and we had to pedal like mad to catch up. At that point, we realized that both of Scott’s air shocks were empty, as his suspension settled into way too much sag. He wanted to go ahead and ride and would deal with his bike as best he could.
We caught the group at the trailhead just as they were heading out. WHEW! We rode in the “B” group, which was fine by us, since Scott’s bike was riding like crap, and I was on my new bike. There were 18 of us total. Since Scott and I didn’t know anyone on the ride, we kinda hung out toward the back of the group. O.k., we were the back of the group with the exception of the Sweeper. The ride was a “Blue” (Intermediate) trail with a little (too little) bit of the “Red” section thrown in. As with all group rides, there was a lot of stop and go as we approached an intersection or technical point on the trail. Scott’s bike was driving him nuts. Every time he pedals over a root or a bump, his rear shock would completely compress and drive his cranks/pedal into the ground. I heard a lot of words I cannot repeat here. The ride lasted about 1.5 hours and we covered about 14 miles, not bad for a group ride in the dark!
We got back to camp, and started a fire and lit some Citronella (sp?) candles. The mosquitoes were atrocious, and bug spray with 29% Deet only slowed them down. They were biting us through our clothes. Three applications of bug spray and they finally left us alone. Sat down around the fire and tipped a few back. Finally turned in around 11:30. Tomorrow would be a big day and we’d both had a long week.
L8R
Day 1: Friday, November 15, 2002:
I got out of work a little early with the intent to make it to the campsite before dark. Stopped by the bike shop to pick up a light system for Scott (my bro-in-law) from the manager who is a close friend. To my surprise, my knee/shin guards had come in. I ordered a pair of SixSixOne 4x4’s. I’d be able to try them out tonight! Scott saw my truck outside the LBS and stopped in. We then agreed to meet at the house and load up. As we’re loading up, it starts sprinkling. Yikes, not a good sign, but we refused to let a little rain spoil our fun.
Arrived at the campground a little after 6:00 and set-up camp. We pitched the tent and placed a canopy over the tent in case of heavy rain, and another one over the picnic table. I got curious about the night ride, so I rode up to the registration tent to investigate. I asked one of the volunteers, and he responded with, “The ride leaves at 7:00 p.m.” Uh oh, it was five till and we were nowhere near ready to ride!
Scott hasn’t ridden his bike in awhile, so both tires were flat and the light system I borrowed for him wouldn’t fit his bike. We had to get ready, swap lights, pump up both his tires; I had to figure out how to put on my new knee/shin pads, all in 5 minutes and in the diminishing light. The group left without us, and we had to pedal like mad to catch up. At that point, we realized that both of Scott’s air shocks were empty, as his suspension settled into way too much sag. He wanted to go ahead and ride and would deal with his bike as best he could.
We caught the group at the trailhead just as they were heading out. WHEW! We rode in the “B” group, which was fine by us, since Scott’s bike was riding like crap, and I was on my new bike. There were 18 of us total. Since Scott and I didn’t know anyone on the ride, we kinda hung out toward the back of the group. O.k., we were the back of the group with the exception of the Sweeper. The ride was a “Blue” (Intermediate) trail with a little (too little) bit of the “Red” section thrown in. As with all group rides, there was a lot of stop and go as we approached an intersection or technical point on the trail. Scott’s bike was driving him nuts. Every time he pedals over a root or a bump, his rear shock would completely compress and drive his cranks/pedal into the ground. I heard a lot of words I cannot repeat here. The ride lasted about 1.5 hours and we covered about 14 miles, not bad for a group ride in the dark!
We got back to camp, and started a fire and lit some Citronella (sp?) candles. The mosquitoes were atrocious, and bug spray with 29% Deet only slowed them down. They were biting us through our clothes. Three applications of bug spray and they finally left us alone. Sat down around the fire and tipped a few back. Finally turned in around 11:30. Tomorrow would be a big day and we’d both had a long week.
L8R