MoRon 10-31-06

Ride Report: NoMoNoRon Halloween Ride 2006

Authored by --Briggr1

Let's see. So first, why am I writing the ride report?

Mo wasn't on the ride tonight. She had to go down to Stanford to be with her mother who had some troubles with her heart. Ron was not going to be on the ride either. He was going to hang out with Pete at Nave's and then go to the haunted house.

I decided to speak up that I still wanted to ride by sending out an email to the list, and inadvertantly assumed the role of ride leader for the evening. I also made a comment about the lack of enforcement of late fees, and that I'd be "rolling at 6:31 so I wouldn't need to worry about them". People remember free stuff.

This is the first ride after the time change, and it's freaking dark, and cold..ish. Summer is over, but fall is such a kick ass time to ride. A fairly clear sky, crisp air and bright half moon are in store for the ride.

Made it to the parking lot at 6:15 to find Karen,
http://static.flickr.com/118/285766288_00853a747f.jpg
Fuzzy
, Peter, Dana, Chris, Pete and... Ron?, who was all geared up for the ride? Turns out Ron realized that he had all his gear and, gee, why the hell wasn't he riding again?

Parking lot candy juice was enjoyed as we waited up for Amy to roll over from my house where she was parked and gearing up. Somewhere close to on time we rolled out.

Mind you it's Halloween, in Fairfax. People are everywhere. As we roll away from Java Hut, some teeny boppers yell at us, "Oh how cool! They're riding their mountain bikes on Halloween! Tee hee hee hee!" etc, etc. Eyes roll, and no one even musters a response to this obvious diss from the female youth of Fairfax.

Around the corner, we hit no less than 6 million people in the throws of Halloween bliss. A few hoots, "Night riders!", and "is that a car?" as we ride down the gauntlet past my house. I have no idea why it's such a big deal in my neighborhood, but it's out of control.

Crossing the bridge we pass a serious drum circle... in the dark - don't stop kids, just keep moving. On to Deer Park, the school and 5 corners. Ron hauled ass up the climb on his single, and Karen came up really fast too. Some clothing adjustments and light tweaking and we're off up Shaver.

Ride route is supposed to be: 5 corners, Sunnyside, Shadyside, Pumpkin, Madrone, 5 corners, 2 owl or something in that neighborhood. I miss the turn to go up to hit Sunnyside, realize it halfway down the road and say fuck it. We head across the dam and hit Shadyside. Man what a fun trail. The water bars and rock gutters are fun. We make it to about the 2nd bridge and slow up a bit, and Ron says, "Hey ride leader! You forgetting something?". I swear I was just thinking about stopping and waiting up. It's not that I didn't have the rest of the riders in mind, it's just that that single track is too damn irresistable to stop. We realize we are in a kick ass spot, and decide this is the party stop. More candy juice as we wait for the others to roll up. Then out comes the liquour cabinet. Ron's got 2 Heinekin cans and juice; I've got tequila; Fuzzy has FuzzElixer. Chocolate coffee beans and Oreos are shared. Ron calls Mo and we drink a toast to her mom's health and give best wishes. We run out of beer and get moving again. The rest of Shady is really fun, and everyone hauls ass. Regroup at the bridge, then on to Pumpkin. Somewhere around the area of the steps from hell, Peter gets a deraileur problem. Stick trap. We wait up at the Madrone trailhead where Ron calls Jon for Karen and yells something obscene at him. I move a log that is placed across the trail right at the trailhead. It was really small, and we could have ridden over it. Humph. Weird. Little did we know it was meant to be a sign... that some a-hole decided to place a lot of little gems like this all over the trail. Little did a-hole know, we enjoy the changes in terrain and think obstacles are fun. Their attempt at thwarting our progress and/or good time was pathetic. The trail is covered with waterbars... like these sticks are going to do anything at all... but wait! Chris gets snared by one of the stick traps and endos, but is unhurt, other than his light. Ron and I bail down the trail wailing through the switchbacks. We get to the bottom and look back and don't see anyone, so Ron realizes the photo op and jumps into position... a few minutes later... still no one. Hmmm. Flat? Just as I start to worry and start to ride back up, we see a light coming down. Cool. It's Dana, and he's hooting and yee-hawing his way down. Ron snaps a photo of him. We find out at that point that the delay was a quick duct-tape fix on Chris's light, which looked pro. Ron gets photos of the rest of the gang coming down too.

A good pace ensues up the road back to 5 corners, and immediately on to 2 owl. Everyone has smiles at the regroup point at the bottom. That trail is just fun. The gnarly root snag drop is'nt quite as gnarly anymore though.

Back through the neighborhood, much mellower this time, and cheers from people having a good time in their front yards as we pass by. Nice to know our good time is recognized and appreciated by others. Ron snaps photos of us riding down the street, telling Fuzzy to look back at the camera as he's going around a corner. Nice.

On to Iron Springs for beers and food, the usual. Jon meets up with gang too. We toast the good ride, drink our drinks and eat our eats. All is good.

--Briggr1 08:25, 1 November 2006 (PST)