Slangin' Rocks at the Collonade

Friday, April 18, 2008 - The Collonade. Conditions were variable but at least the lighting was bad.Nate finally had no more excuses not to come mountain biking. He had a bike to borrow, he was supposed to take the morning off from training after Thursday night's Crit, Nancy was opening - I was pretty excited to finally get to see that guy in action. He showed up an hour and a half late on his road bike in full kit and then ate our food!! It's official. He is a lost soul. I'm glad he got stuck in that hail storm on the way back to The Shop!

At 7:30am on a typical cloudy Seattle morning lighting under the Collonade is not ideal. Strange shadows are cast from the support pillars. Breaks in the clouds instantaneously flood the area with light then just as your eyes adjust the light scatters and it gets real dark. It's hard to tell if it's damp soil or shadows passing underneath you. Keep looking ahead. Spot the exit of the turn. Trust your tires. It seemed to work. I don't think anyone washed out. Plenty of close calls on the wall ride and the random plywood but, I suppose, close calls just keep it interesting.

Jeremy was back and on Justin's borrowed Enduro so he was ready to rock and roll. He did some scouting laps and then dropped his ass behind the saddle and went for it! It was good to see him get his confidence up and get after it. Plus, the old school moto jersey caught the camera's eye!

Glen is going to be good. It's only his second or third time on a mountain bike and he's already asking questions about fore/aft positioning heading into jumps. Collonade is a great place to learn.

Lance continues to step it up.

But the pièce de résistance, literally, was the post ride breakfast. Leif brought the propane stove and we fired up breakfast sandwiches on the spot. Definitely needs to be a continuing trend.

The only problem, so far, with riding Friday mornings is that it is nearly impossible to find motivation to work after having so much fun.

Quote of the day: "It occurred to me after getting money from Stan that I am actually slinging rocks under the Collonade!" - Kennedy

Broke-Back award: Nate Solomon - he showed up in full road kit (with neon accents mind you) to a mountain bike park. You know he had a euro-trash cap in his jersey pocket, too!

Air of the day: Me - got a little loose going into the last table and ended up doing a superman to cancan landing. That stung the ol' hematoma a bit.