Motivational March

Always a crazy month in more ways than one. Weather is a hit and miss, school gets crazy, grad classes  are always in the works,...but one thing is for certain, the biggest change that happens is that I WANT TO BE ON MY FITTY! 

My second ride of the season already had me needing to meet a few requirements and there were two particulars that stand out.
The first,....I want to be on Mackey! Especially with a new line that should be in the next time I get a chance to hike in there. It will be a very short but pleasant surprise for people when it happens. I hiked past it earlier this season and had a "Why didn't I just..." moment. I also spotted a different line,...or a better way of doing a section that I always had trouble with. So to say the least, I'm hoping for a much more stylish way of cleaning this section other than banging the hell out of everything the way I had been doing it before.
Why the new found motivation?
As Buck stated on one of the rides through,...If  you can just get that last little ramp towards the end, no matter how you did on the first part of the trail, it makes all the other mistakes okay. I had a pretty descent attempt on Mackey for the second ride of the season but still touched much more than I wanted. I got towards the end of the hard stuff,....... and there was the ramp,..... and the whole idea that "If I could just get this one move." ......This one move has been hard on the Fitty for some reason or another,...shorter wheel base,.... maybe,.... it has quite a bit different bounce,...the Fitty is a bit eccentric,...but maybe it was just the over exaggeration of getting the bike to bounce right. This time, I went into it relaxed, not really expecting to much, and boom,...it happened! And there I was,....alone in the woods,...with that dumb ass, redneck Cheshire Cat grin that had me lookin' like I had just swallowed the canary. I roll down the other side, go to step over the angled shark fins, ....and Bang! Up over the bars, down onto my already mutilated helmet! Down payment for that bit of arrogance! I chuckle to myself,...where are the Cupcakes when you need them?? Oh, that's right, you couldn't get your shit together fast enough to go and meet them!
Back to the point, goal number two of the ride....twenty miles, no matter what! Well it happened,....4 hours later,....there was a little bush-whacking involved but still, 5 mph average,....I'm settin' the world on fire here!
Goal three,...I know,...there were only supposed to be two,...3,000 ft of climbing.
With SDS the first and possibly the hardest goal of the year, I gotsta' make sure I'm gettin' my act together...... So I'm bonking.....at a whopping 2,000 ft of elevation gain,...facing another 1,000 feet to go,  I lay down on the slate crumbles,...almost like acupuncture,...take down every last Gu I have,....5 to be exact,.... How will I ever get back to Whitey? I slum my way up Rattlesnake Rd and manage to roll back into the spot, look down, and see I'm still short on all goals,...but I just gotta' get these numbers out of my head!
I head back out to Virginia,... I love the trail for what it is,... a meandering path with easier moves,...unlike SG, you don't have to go hard on it to enjoy the ride. I skip the big move,...Frank's Rib Donation Spot,...arms are too wasted,...not used to the pull of the Fitty yet,...roll out onto the power lines, scare the shit out of few tourist checkin' out the view, and drag my ass back to the truck..... I panic,...I forgot beer!
I begin talking to myself,...
"You know the rules Travis!"
"Must have beer for the end of the ride."
Shut up, Shut up  I say back to myself.
"Your one sorry Redneck!,....forgetting beer,....shameful!"
I sit in the truck,....cold,....I begin to shake,....images of my last Loose Cannon sitting in the fridge,..all alone,.... go through my head.
This is probably the curse of Curt Finney,....damn him!

Story based on a true ride,
Tractor