Mountain Bikes

[JackoliciousLegs]

Bahhh... I went on a CM last friday and it was great. I even took my fancy shmancy bike. Everybody was super friendly.

[HAULN-SS]

Configuration Management?

[Ginger]

Configuration Management?

Do you know how to read?

oh... I know who the douches are and aren't. the general public does not

Granted, it was more for anybody reading Chris' link.

Bahhh... I went on a CM last friday and it was great. I even took my fancy shmancy bike. Everybody was super friendly.

People can be nice and still douchebags

[Apoc]

Granted, it was more for anybody reading Chris' link.

I was too lazy to find the road bike thread.

[CaptainHenreh]

Jack is a critical masshole?

[Evan]

I wish there were critical mass rides around here. Id put spikes on my truck and go have some fun

[Ginger]

Wakefield this afternoon?

[Evan]

Critical Massers have always been douchebags... don't make the mistake of associating a general cyclist with the holier-than-thou city punters that run this crap. People love to make fun of spandex roadies, but, because of sponsor name displays, prominently displayed team names and logos, we're generally far better behaved than those tools.

true, but I think the mentality of the CM riders has trickled into mainstream riders to the point they think they are entitled to block public roads and hold up traffic. (oh noes RJ, I brought it up again! )
I know Ive experienced this quite a bit

[Ginger]

Correction- Reston tonight. Full loop from Michael Farady drive trail entrance, round out to the W&OD exit, cool down headed back on the trail (I'd like to actually put a bit of speed into this ride).

[WRXtranceformed]

Kind of a sad story and actually one of the most depressing nights of my life the other night. Mountain bike related.

I was sitting on my couch at about 9:30 when I got a call from my buddy Stefan that he needed my help. He and my friend Scooter were in SC at a sports complex that has a huge forest attached with dozens of miles of trails through it. They had taken their mountain bikes out after dinner for a quick 20-30 minute ride. Scooter had brought his dog with them, a 4 year old lab/pit bull mix. He had brought 4 separate water bottles just for the dog.

While they were in the middle of the forest, the dog collapsed. They were dumb and didn't bring flashlights or their cell phones, so Stefan rode all the way out before it got dark and called me. We met with another one of my friends and hiked into the woods with flashlights. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to reach them, fortunately another biker with a helmet light rode from the other direction and met up with him before we got there. He still sat in the pitch black woods in the wilderness for about 2 hours with his dog.

Dog was in terrible shape, I'm not a healthcare expert but it looked like it was dying. Blood and shit coming out of its ass, puke everywhere, erratic breathing, wild eyes. The other bike guy knew the woods well so he rode out and met up with my buddy's wife who brought some moving blankets so we could make a sling and carry the dog out to get her to a vet. Unfortunately right when he got back the dog died on us. So we spent the next 2 hours carrying the dead dog out of the woods.

I know you guys are riding up in Suburbia, so it might not apply as much, but I just wanted to reiterate how important it is to be prepared and to not take small things for granted. These trails were tucked in woods in between a Food Lion and a bunch of developments, but we were so far into them that it might as well have been the wilderness. Ride safe out there guys.

[ScottyB]

wow Lee thats awful....sorry dude

so i guess the dog was running behind the bikes? maybe it overexerted itself somehow.

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah the dog was running with them, it definitely overexerted itself. My buddy had been taking long rides with it around the neighborhood over the past few weeks to get her ready for it, but the mountain biking trails have steeper elevation changes and it is hot as hell down in there.... even at night. The trees just hold all the humidity in and there is no breeze.

My buddy is heartbroken. He loved that dog and feels really responsible. I told him I was glad that it wasn't him or Stefan, because we would have had to bring in a rescue team for them...there's no way that they would have made it out of those woods if Stefan had left 10 minutes later... you couldn't see more than 2 feet in front of you.

[Mike]

He feels really responsible.

uh... duh?

poor dog

[Ginger]

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If that thing's in decent shape, it'd be a decent deal. The shock configuration isn't right for an '07 Enduro, though... looks like an '06.

[Evan]

hoorray! RJ went on a ride without crashing!

[Ginger]

When do you come back from travel? I want to make sure we pick a day (maybe a weekend?) that your roommate and Alex and can go ride and drop the hammer :-D

[Evan]

I come back on the 17th

[Mike]

hoorray! RJ went on a ride without crashing!

it's not a ride unless you go down.

[queue motorcycle jokes]

[Evan]

it's not a ride unless you go down.

thats what I tell Andrew's sister

[Mike]

oddly, that's also what he says to yours.