Today I got to do what I love to do

Today, I got to do what I love. It didn't start out that way. I was supposed to go ride road bikes with some fellow bike nerds today. Not something I normally pick especially since I rode my road bike so little that I sold it. The weather was supposed to be beautiful today and one of my regulars really wanted to be on the road given that the forecast was calling for 60 and sunny. The closer we got to Sunday, the worse things were looking. To top it off, I had to be up at 0400 to drop my wife off at the airport. As I drove in the early morning rain and fog,  I thought to myself, "this is ridiculous, there is no way I am going to choose to be on the road in these conditions." I promptly returned home and went back to sleep. I woke briefly and sent the texts notifying my buds that there is no road riding for me.
I had a backup plan; a mountain bike ride was scheduled for 1300 on Camp Robinson. The weather never really got any better and I developed yet another backup plan. If it was too wet to ride, I was going to at least do a little trail work. I loaded my bike in the truck, double checked my gear and headed out to the parking lot at the trailhead in Training Area 02. When I got there, there was a fairly solid pace of nerds and I knew I was riding. One thing to understand about riding bikes in Arkansas is that if someone else is willing to do it, the riding conditions are good enough if not perfect. (I know this seems to contradict what I wrote earlier about road riding. When one participates in more than one cycling discipline, one can default to one or the other. That is, some choose road over mountain and vice versa. Some riders consistently choose one over the other and some choose one over the other depending on the season. I am a mountain biker 365.25 days per year-366 this year.) So even though the air was so damp that my glasses fogged and became useless 3 minutes into the 3 hour ride, it was good riding weather. Even though some of the rocks (especially on Advanced Trig) were slippery, the trails were in great shape. Even though I had three pretty solid wrecks and I am sure my rear wheel is jacked, it was an awesome time. Also of important note, there are few conditions in Arkansas that I am aware of that there is not someone who is willing to ride; even during a Snowpocalypse.

So, we rode.

10 Bridges to Outer to Porta to Outer down Helter Skelter, Ball O' Nails, the short side of Budha, Advanced Trig, Dead Elvis, to Dogwood, up Elevator, down Elevator-Dogwood to Can O' Corn, Pipline to Merlin, up Shipwreck and out 5Mile. We all wore too many clothes to start and eventually had to shed layers as well as our fogged up eye protection. The rain had not saturated the trails so in the muddiest sections, the trail was very tacky and provided plenty of traction. It was the exposed roots and rocks on the north facing slopes that seemed to be the only source of slide. The pace was frisky yet civil enough to allow for jokes and conversation. We regrouped at the intersections, discussed our options and figured out who was missing. By the time we cleared Elevator, only one rider had left our group by choice and one by accident. Back at the trucks we refilled with water and snacked on Fig Newtons. Some were finished and headed home to tend to whatever duties that were waiting at home. Some of us had legs and time and I needed to go back to where I wrecked the first time to look for the strap that had released from my hydration pack as I slid along the ground. This was fine with me since I wanted to get in another hour or so of riding. Luckily, James was riding with me (as in he rode with me in my truck to Camp Robinson) and he really could not choose to not ride. This too is a rule of being a bike nerd, if one nerd is willing to ride another must go. What is a bike nerd? Well, that's another rule of being a bike nerd, you do not talk about bike nerds. That's really not true, but it is a topic for another post.
The important thing is, I logged almost 30 miles today on some of the sweetest single track I've ever ridden. Single track that is a few miles from my back door on a day where a lot of people would choose to stay inside and I had more friends than I could shake a stick at out there with me. It's what I love to do.