Riders in Their Teens

The count became a baker's dozen when C-Man and XTeric rolled in just as the other 11 riders fished buttering their chamois. While teens are not permitted to ride in the ranks with FT3, groups in their teens, while rare, are acceptable. The mighty group included one new member, and one new-old member, yours truly - so without further adieu the group rolled to the qualifier. Atop the first rise, the top finishers, including yours truly, assessed our numbers and awaited the arrival of the newest rider, wondering if we would have to send him packing. Riders continued to roll in, but the newest newbie was not present. Alas, he arrived, sans seat, sporting only an uncomfortable-looking shaft. As the group recognized it was a mechanical issue, not a fitness issue, the group began to announce potential handle's. The new rider informed us that his hometown handle was "The Catastrophe." Since FT3 has had it's share of catastrophe's over the years, we opted not to name him as such. We took in some of the best trails around, suffered another mechanical and two crashes, then climbed to the top of Fleming Meadow to  determine the new rider would be named "Shaft."

Shaft went on to have the best night of his life, riding the best trails in the world with the coolest people in the world, then finding that we get served the best food in the world, including chickenbake. Thanks to Lars, who, even though he was not present, we had chicken bake in his honor. We ate the chicken bake with honor, and our stomachs honored us. Later that night our stomachs hated us, we sweated, and the next day we enjoyed red hot Wednesday.

Why not do it again?

ONE!