Rides: We Band Of Warriors

After a rather dull day off on Saturday I was afforded a surprise day of kick ass singlespeeding on Sunday. I arrived at the FATS at 1030 on Sunday morning to find 10 other riders mustering for singletrack battle. I quickly pulled on my armor, mounted my steed, and joined my warrior brethern as they prepared to ride into the fray.

It would be a long morning of battle. Many would fall and blood would be shed.

We started off with Deep Step Trail, my least favorite, for our warm up. It was really cool to be out with such a large group. I think this had been my first true group ride since riding with the MORE group back in May. After we finished Deep Step I got to chat with most of the riders and find out who I was riding with. There was Todd from Pisgah Forest who helped build the FATS, Bill from North Augusta who also helped build the FATS, Alan from Augusta who was out for his first ride on a brand new singlespeed, and another Todd (I think) who was back in Augusta from Seattle to visit and ride with the old crew.

The next trail we assaulted was Great Wall. It was Great Wall that slew the bulk of our warriors. It was also on Great Wall that I discovered that Todd from Pisgah Forest rides like a bat out of hell. Steve would say that, "I couldn't carry his lunch". When I finally caught up with Todd at the next trail intersection he was calmly drinking H2O while I panted heavily and plopped down on a tree stump. When the rest of the group rolled up I was pretty well cooled down. Someone had flatted so our break was somewhat extended. Before we started riding again six riders decided to bail out to the parking lot. The tide of the war was turning.

Anyway, Todd continued to bury me on the next two trails and by the time we had finished the entire 25 miles of the FATS I was cooked. We returned to the parking lot victorious.

We few. We proud. Todd said we all earned a stamp on our "man" cards.

I shook some hands around the parking lot, stretched, and left.

I was so hungry I had to stop at Fazoli's and eat a huge plate of Fettucini Alfredo and Chicken Parmesan.

As hungry as I was it was a privilege to get to ride with some other riding fanatics, especially ones that had significantly contributed to the building of the FATS, thanks guys.

It looks like I'm headed to Gatlinburg, TN for the Christmas weekend...so...yeah.