OK it's been a few weeks since my favoritest event of the year--Blue Hills Mountain Bike Day. I need to report before too long or my memory will fade to 'it was a good time'.........
Well the day started out by raining all night--I could hardly sleep, for one because I always have a hard time sleeping when I have a big event early the next day, and also I just don't sleep well when it's raining. I think the latter is because rain sometimes puts a 'damper' on a planned ride--not always though.
As of 5 am it was still raining, and I got maybe four hours sleep( bed at 1 am) but I was determined to make the day happen either way. After a good breakfast(I already forget what it was, but probly eggs and toast and coffee) I loaded ALL the bikes and gear--The wife, kids and mine on and in the car and trucked over there. To be fair it was really just an incessant drizzle, not really raining, but the radio/tv/internet could not tell me what really the day would be like.
I met Mr Boles and he handed me some yellow arrows and I set out to pre-ride the int/advanced side. Of course anybody in their right mind had decided to pull the covers up over their head and stay in for the day, so I proceeded to do my duty. Fortunately, the arrows we had put up before the 3 days of torrential rains started were amazingly still up and not all curled over from all the moisture.......so I had a fairly consistent ride with only a few stops to add an arrow or three.
I got back and things were starting to swing--tents were going up, Joe Sloane was there with the coffee and donuts, ( Joe is the tireless soul who has organized this event almost singlehandedly for 12 years!), volunteers were actually showing up, and everyone was smiling in the mist!
By opening time, 10 am, all the vendors were ready to show their stuff, and riders were starting to 'trickle' in....... I was fairly drenched, and proceeded to hang out and chat with my friends at NEMBA and make the rounds with the vendors. It was probably 58 degrees, and even with two layers of everything, was kinda chilly.
The sun did try to show a coupla times.....
Anyways, wife showed up with the kids as planned and they rode circles through and around the venue, mostly on the obstacle course, which was soaked, and the plywood teeter-totter and ramps were slick. They had no trouble though, being the experienced riders that they are........
I took Isabella for a ride around Houghton's Pond--just happened that the heavens opened up and we got even more thoroughly drenched--but we had a great ride together.
back at the roundup, I needed to focus on getting the scheduled rides going. Having plenty of ride leaders, this was easy, and more and more riders showed up despite the weather....
A few rides went out, and it seemed that the vendors were bored, but as the day progressed more people showed up and made it worth their while(I hope).......
Quadcycles' with their pro trials rider doing a coupla shows for the crowd, pumped up the scene......
My turn came to lead my 'Buck Hill Leisure Ride', and I had I think 12 of us! A dad and his 6yo son peeled off after a few miles(that's REALLY tenacious of a 6 yo to even hang on that long!), and I introduced the group to the climb. Buck Hill is one of those loose rolly rock drainage ditch type of trails. Really shouldnt even be a trail, but it's our only legal way up and down. Once we were at the top, we enjoyed the 'top o the world' view only available at Buck Hill. We took our break up there to enjoy the view, and most were smiling again(read:done cursing me) by the time we set on going back down.....
The rest of the day:
Trials Show again
Bike Limbo(didn't win)
Raffle(didn't win)
Talking with friends and sponsors
Final count waas t least 300 riders, despite the rain and miserable drizzle!!
Bike ride again with Stephen at home, before I got into dry clothes and took a nap.
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