Sunday, November 2, 2008

On Venn Diagrams and Mountain Biking

"Did you guys see a guy on a hard-tail with a rigid fork wearing a red shirt?"
One of us said no, we hadn't seen anyone in the last five minutes or so while we had stopped to chat along the trail.
"Did you see anyone go down this trail?" he said pointing down Owl's Maze atop of Dryer Rd. Park.
I could hear Kitima's brain working and she could probably hear mine. You know how that relationship ESP can kick in.
Well if we didn't see anyone then we didn't see your boy go rocketing down Owl's Maze.
This man probably suffered mightily trying to learn Venn Diagrams. Perplexed he led his other four friends down the trail.
Kitima and I had bumped into Joel and a buddy of his while we were buzzing around the trails on Friday. I had just emerged from a two-week long sloth-a-palooza and was looking for an easy ride but Joel was selling a brand new trail.
"It's called Juicy Bacon."
I was sold but Kitima needed more convincing and Joel continued.
"It is like Ribbon Candy but faster and a bit straighter."
Kitima was hesitant since she hadn't been on her mountain bike in months but she finally agreed. I think because the name was a pork product.
Joel led the way. He looks a bit like Lou Ferrigno on a bike but the dude can ride...hard. I followed with his buddy Steve behind me and Kitima in fourth. The trail reminded me of riding down a steep and high half-pipe you'd find on a ski trail. You'd compress your bike in the trough and get a little unweighted on top where you'd turn. It was one of those trails where you heard your friends, and yourself, yelling "Yoo", "Woo", "Hoo" or "Oww, that branch punctured my spleen!"
Joel and Steve continued on after Juicy Bacon and Kitima and I headed back to the lot. We met up with the spokesperson from the Donner party a little later. He found his friend!
"You found him!" we said but he didn't look too happy.
"Yeah we found him but we lost another one."
We kept going before he started asking more inane questions. He was scratching his noodle hard.
It would be hard to find someone in there that day though. The trails were littered with dry leaves and it sounded like your bike was rolling over Rice Krispies and Pop Rocks. The wind was strong at the top of the trees so it always sounded like a jet was about to land on your Camel Back.
Kitima said something but I only caught a few words of it.
"Wait...your...loose...tighten...or...femur...compound..."
It probably wasn't important.


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