What started off as a couple of friends getting together every Tuesday for a ride at Big Creek in Roswell, GA, has turned into a pretty large group ride. We started this whole idea because Wild Wings has “two for Tuesday” where you get 16 wings for the price of 8. This provided the perfect excuse to get a weekday ride started. It started with about 5 of us getting together every week, and it has now grown to almost 30. It is really great to have a ride to look forward to week in and week out.
This week, all of the usual suspects showed up (Raja, Chocolate Girl, iride, Tweety, Concrete Blond, epojoe, Lonestar, Omega, D-Rock, RedRocker, Think1….the list goes on). I decided that it had been awhile since the full face had been brought out of the garage, so I slapped it on and stayed in the free-ride section of Big Creek for the entire night. These rides normally start in the xc section before making their way to the FR area for some brutal climbing anyway, so I knew everyone would be back making some gully runs eventually.
Long story short, I got my flow back. The Terremoto was perfect all night. By the end, I think I got somewhere close to 15 runs in or more. The freeride area has everything from rock gardens, drops, gully runs and jumps, and for some reason…I just started to get that flow feeling about half way through. It was perfect.
Having a huge group on the trail full of a bunch of riding buddies is a great way to spend a weekday night. A friend of mine out west, Bill Freeman, passes along stories of their huge riding clubs Wednesday rides, and I am starting to feel like we are getting something similar over here. A huge part of the mountain biking allure, for me, is the group of people that we get to ride with. With all of the different backgrounds and riding styles, everyone is still on the same page and having a great time. You really can’t ask for more. It is also great to see some pure cross country riders get a taste of the dh/fr scene. The Big Creek FR area is a perfect place to get that introduction, and the smiles on their faces says it all.
Thank you goes out to Mama/Chocolate Girl/Laurie (she goes by many different names) for the pictures. They came out great as always, and if you want to see more, you can find them on her blog here.
Looking forward to next week!
