Now with more carbon

Singlespeed night is little more than a ceremonial title; only the every-ride-is-singlespeed crowd shows up with their simple one geared bicycles. And none of the multi-geared riders make even a token attempt to resist clickety-clicking at every grade change. But, pre-BRs were still shared, that being the easier tradition to maintain.

A walloping pack of riders assembled at the Knott Lott. Cappy nominated Unknown Local for RL, NoHandle seconded, and we burst, nine strong, out the gate. Conditions were quite fine, balmy temps, moist but well drained soils -only a jogger would miss such a perfect evening.

Qualifier start, up the road to some new and brushy trails that ended up dropping back to Qualifier proper. Back up to the Sly Park Rd gate, on to Park Creek Road and over the Radio tower, down to the reservoir. B stopped to tighten the headset of his newly retuned S(not) Works, now with a rigid Niner fork. Actually, Newb tightened it since he and B had swapped steeds. The pack abandoned the three of us, disappearing into the night. We tried to follow, but the trail junctions were several, so we returned to the point of separation. Finally, our shouts were answered and we were re-united. Only to have Cappy announce a flat tire. We continued, rolling over secret trails covered in slash, out to Park Creek. Here, RL#1 ceded authority to RL#2. With Cappy at the front we headed for the Chopping Block. At the top, NoHandle shoved his way to the front like a 45+ A at a cross race, and we all enjoyed the delicious decent. At the bottom, we turned right around and climbed the Block. I think everyone cleaned except Xteric who derfed it right at the beginning. From there we bombed Wedding March; swirls of leaves entrained in the wake of our tight, fast pack. Onto 1A, and the lake back to the Lott.

And then there were tacos.

Don’t miss the Monday VD ride.