( ANDY AND CHRIS ON PATROL )Saturday morning I got up loaded the exploder and then made Angie and I some breakfast. After breakfast I set my bearings for Kingsport, namely Bay's Mountain Park. Saturday was the NTMBA's "club picnic" so to speak. Last year we did not have one due to the club dropping the ball. I'm really proud of what the club seems to be now, it has alot of energy and several people pitching in. This year with new officers and a brighter spirit the club got together with the park to have the first annual "Bike at Bay's Day". Free admission to the park, free lunch provided by Texas Roadhouse , and 3 bike shops with demo mountain bikes to ride! It went off without a hitch too (except for one of our members crashing pretty hard and getting a concussion). It was awesome, alot of folks that I have never seen before and one's I see all the time. Anthony (our Prez) got everything rolling with a small speech around 1030. The first ride went off with 46 people. WOW! Brandon led the way showing them the new trail with Greg, Melinda, John and some others helping. I was standing around when Brian from Hampton Trails said here ride this.....................pretty nice BMC four-stroke. It had a Fox fork on it but it looked raked out on the front. I didn't think it would ride or handle as good as it did but I was impressed. My ride was cut short with a flat and I had to push back. After the BMC rep changed the flat he said I picked up a thorn. I really liked the Lime green...sweet!
Mark from Larry's brought a slew of 29er's. Gary Fisher and Cannondale's. I tried the cannondale because I have never ridden a lefty before. It was different. I was suprised that it didn't noodle when you were turning it.
They all made it back safely except for Aaron who took a spill on Azalea trail and gonked his head pretty hard, hard enough to crack his helmet! He's ok now, his Dad was riding with him and he's a Doctor. I heard he seen little blue birds and stars for about two minutes though. Glad you're alright Aaron. Greenbelt Bikes brought this cool thing also... a MADSEN, Bucket bike.
Mark from Larry's brought a slew of 29er's. Gary Fisher and Cannondale's. I tried the cannondale because I have never ridden a lefty before. It was different. I was suprised that it didn't noodle when you were turning it.They all made it back safely except for Aaron who took a spill on Azalea trail and gonked his head pretty hard, hard enough to crack his helmet! He's ok now, his Dad was riding with him and he's a Doctor. I heard he seen little blue birds and stars for about two minutes though. Glad you're alright Aaron. Greenbelt Bikes brought this cool thing also... a MADSEN, Bucket bike.After everyone made it back we had a little hang out time before the Texas Roadhouse served up some tasty burgers and chicken breasts with some baked beans.....yum!
After lunch we had a trail side maintenance clinic and basic tuning. I fixed a few bikes for attendees that needed some TLC also. There was about 10 folks that were really interested in learning more about the basics of the sport. Brandon handled most of the MC-ing with some tidbits thrown in by yours truly. I showed some new riders that never have changed a flat how to do that. I also showed them how not to install a CO2 in crooked......bang! My bad. It felt good to give back to folks who really appreciated it, that's nice! I had a really good time. Hopefully we gained a few members. It would be nice to have some more volunteers to work on the trails, lol. Over all turnout was estimated @115 with 96 sign-in's. I think it was a success!
The following pics are courtesy of Greg......
I'm lazy, I left my camera in the exploder and didn't want to walk back and get it. This week I may hit Dupont, not sure yet. Saturday is the 12hrs of Tsali and I was racing a on 4 man team but two backed out and we are just hangin' out now. Probably do a few laps and then drink some adult beverages afterwards. Ho hum.
LAter G.....................................
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