Mountain Bike Church #1

In case anyone was wonderin' about that early November('04)  Sunday in Wompatuck State Park:

The first* official 'Mountain Bike Church' was a wheelie uplifting experience. With 3 inches or so of combination of Virgin light powder/crunchy popcorn snow (depending on what part of the Wompy microclimate you were in), riding was a Joy. We rode over the technical stuff-well, it was like, walking on water, although much drier. The Sermon was performed by the crackling of the tree branches and the sound of icicles melting in the warming sunlight. I must admit the 8 o'clock 'mass' was a solo ride, which was fine with me because I had no idea what riding would be like and gave me a chance to scout it out and prepare for the First Gathering. And I assured myself that I was not alone...

The 10 o'clock started out with myself and three Wise People, 'Jessica', 'Ben', and 'Ed'. All brand new to Wompy, I think they too were ready for the 'baptism' about to commence, as they all arrived with big smiles and pleasant conversation. We had steaming dixie cups of freshly-brewed tailgate Brazilian espresso and Jessica's freshly baked sweet 'Wonder Scones', then proceeded to explore the 'left' side of the 'Cathedral'. We rode for an hour and a half with hardly more than a coupla goofy falls, and no mechanicals, save for the fact that my front derailleur was frozen stuck in the granny the whole time. Didn't make much difference since we averaged 5.0 and wasn't worth trying to go faster. Riding in the snow requires us to really pay attention to everything that's around us and gives us a chance to Reflect as well as work on our balance and technical skills. Studded tires were not at all necessary and would have been a Burden. The only sketchy stuff were the Bridges which were icy underneath the snow. The only sin was we couldn't ride all day……………

Now for the Cranxology:

Grease all where your chain will flow,

Lube all where dirt may go

Clean all including the seatpost

Ride all day till you're ass is toast………

Amen.

*All this doesn't mean that we 'invented' the church that day.....the MountainBikeChurch ideal has existed for many centuries.......only recently has the icon of knobby-tired bike come rolling along to confirm our ideals and to quantify our passions for speed, distance, ride time, and to get us out to breath the fresh air and to share all of that with our fellow riders......