North Fork Triple

We got our third taste of North Fork Mountain this month. What a life! It was a ride for Joel's birthday. Anne Brie organized the ride and she had never done North Fork before so that was special. The rest of us were all psyched to get another go at the ridge ride. Our warm and dry experiences earlier in the month were a soggy memory. It started sprinking on the way out, but we were all optimistic that we would stay warm. We all have great gear that is for sure. We had a nice loop planned. We climbed up Redman trail, which is a nice and relatively easy way to the ridge. Then we turn south on the ridge and proceeded to get soaked as the wet laurels slapped us on the way by. We rode on to sleet and some very light snow. By the time we got to the intersection of the ultimate downhill of North Fork Mountain Trail and Landis Trail we had to bail and take Landis down. We were all freezing and starting to get spacy and shivering. Landis is a killer downhill as well, but just not as extreme as NFMT. I rode the 69er which was cool, but have to ride it some more and make a couple of changes to tires and fork pressure before I really get a good idea of how the bike rides. I suggested we take the scenic route on the way home. Without a Gazatteer it ended up being a 20 mile extreme tourist circle. Joel's eurovan did awesome on the steep downs and ups of South Branch Mountain. Sometimes that is how you get to know the area, though, by getting a little lost. I'm amazed at how difficult it is for me to dress right for mountainbiking in the cold. I'm definately a summer lover when it comes to mtbing. Wish I was tough like the girls from Vermont!