BUILDING TRAIL KARMA

On Fri., as I dropped Syd off at preschool, I was approached by a 39 yr old woman who asked me " ARE you a professional cyclist"?? Hmmm, NO , not really. "Whats that mean"?? It means I love to ride, but I dont get paid for it. She asked me how old I was and what kind of riding I did. 41 and LONG mountain bike rides. She had a huge smile on her face when we finished talking, 90 minutes later. It was not until Mon that I understood the story behind her smile.

Jim, Syd and I headed to Berryman Fri eve. We slid by the Ozark Trail Association house to grab a chainsaw, since we would need it at CB, our final destination. WE spent the night, a cool night, under the stars snuggled up in our new Hammock, an ENO doublenest hammock. Jealous??? Yeah, we sure are lucky. The next day Jim went for a short BT ride, while Syd and I did a 2 mile pajama hike. Jim was back by 10 to meet the forest service and some OT fellas at the BT campground. The plan was to do a walk thru of some trail reroutes and discuss, you know, top secret trail stuff.Syd and I biked 4 miles at Berryman while he did that. She took a nap as we headed to CB.

We arrived at CB around 3pm. We were looking for Chris Ploch and the Holtmans and found them easily in a somewhat deserted campground. Ploch was doing a no drop ride I wanted to get in on, but that did not work out . I ended up doing my lap by myself around 530. It was quite an entertaining lap so I am kinda glad I was solo. There were several trees down, some you could ride , others you could not. Momentum killers for me. And the most frustrating part was not being able to clip into my right pedal about 80% of the time. I did try to remove several trees with no luck. Thank goodness I know a man with a saw. When I returned there was a HUGE burger ready for me and several side dishes to choose from. Ploch knows how to roll and brought a "personal chef" that cooked burgers and 'homewrecking hotdogs" on request. We sat around the campfire talking bikes and drinking adult beverages until about 1am.

Sun morning we packed up early and drove to the Enough boat launch, since we could easily get to several of the trees and knock them out . Syd knows the drill and went along with us on the 'hike'. She was assured of the swimming after the work . We also found some great rocks along the way that kept her busy. Jim was able to clear several trees and worked until we ran out of water and the chain got to dull. We went swimming and were safe , but tried, at home by 5pm. All in all, not a bad weekend.

This weekend we will be back at CB to finish what we started . We plan on removing all trees and doing some weed eating. The trail should be WIDE open by Sat afternoon. Great , now I wont have any excuses why my lap times are slow. We will be staying until Mon, so come get your ride on or help us build your trail karma.

On Mon , my new friend S., approached me again. She told me she had never learned to ride a bike. She told me of how she would watch her 2 boys and husband ride around the neighborhood, just wishing she could go. She said she was embarrassed and asked me if I had any tips. I saw the look in her eyes and knew I had to do something. I have been very fortunate to have come across some very knowledgeable bikers since I started. So, to pay it forward, I offered to teach her. She is just as excited, well maybe more, as I am. We will start riding lessons next week. I gave her a book on womens cycling yesterday. She will learn to ride on the exact same bike I learned on. Luckily,we are the same height. WOW!!! Talk about being in the right place at the right time huh?

Adding to this awesome life I have..... Another pic of TTM was spotted in the Sept. issue of the MO. Conservationist, Page 1. We really need to contact the photographer. Sydney is bigger now, but Jim and I are smaller. New pics please!! Maybe the 3 of us biking on the trail.....

Pictures will be posted later.