RIDES: MY WHITE PRIVILEGE - THORN CREEK 5/13/2015

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

MY WHITE PRIVILEGE - THORN CREEK 5/13/2015

Trail Boss – Spode Daddy
Riders        - IdaSpode

Loop – 35 miles
~ 15 mph avg
    1 gal fuel consumption , 35mpg includes two spills

My first off-road ride in a couple of weeks since I injured my hamstring .
I think it may have been close to three months since David has been on his bike.

My first trail ride on the FreeRide .
Still has stock skinny man springs , no Rekluse and Maxxis trials tires.

The bike is super light ( ~200 lbs w/o fuel ) , easy to flick around but still feels stable.
The engine is like a diesel , all torque , no surge with throttle , heavy fly wheel feel.
Small fuel capacity , 1.8 gallons but depending on the terrain should have 50-60 mile range.

The Maxxis trials on the front totally sucks, might be a conspiracy to kill old white spodes .
Mud was a slick as greased pig shit , the front gave way a half dozen times .
On the first hill climb the front slid off the trail . By the end of the ride I was paddling DOWN HILL !
Not too sure about the Maxxis on the rear either .

The ride had it’s comical moments :

On a hill climb on Minneha Ridge both of us wiped out.
Then on Peg Leg Dave spun out in switch back. He high sided and had to roll through the brush to the trail below.
We got his bike through the brush back to the trail.

Right after the switchback is small tree across the trail . Being cautious I didn’t carry enough speed to roll the
rear wheel over . I decided to walk it over , but lost control and and was dragged over the edge of the trail !

Took a few hundred yards to remember how to feather the clutch on hill climbs , the it took a while to get the
hang of using the clutch with the rear brake .

My hamstring was sore by the end of the ride.
On the way home I set up an appointment with Brooks , my physical therapist. David said I was “walking like an old black woman”.
When I got home I ordered a Rekluse from Moto One.

David bottom of Easter Creek