Slow in Low....

I got out this afternoon with Wode for a couple hours of Bent Creek.
From the new parking lot->up to Boyd Branch Rd->Ingles Field connector->Ingles Field->Tony Michaels->Greens Lick->Sidehill->Little Hickory->Ingles Field->Hardtimes connector->Homestead->Deerfield->Pinetree->Campground->back to the Jeep

Wode arrived at my house at about 11am and we were on the bikes right about noon at Bent Creek. I had gone out and watched one of my favorite local bands the night before so the late start and slow pace were exactly what the dr ordered. Wode took the lead all the way to five points. I took over from there though and pulled Wode up to Greens Lick. I had changed my bike cockpit configuration the night before so the high speed descent was rather interesting. My stem was far too short so the bike was under me in a weird way and by the time we made it to the bottom Wode had not lost sight of me the entire way and I wondered if it was time to head home.... Well, without conversation regarding such we went right into Sidehill to Hickory to five points. I was also trying out the Cane Creek ST Thudbuster for the first time ever so seated climbing was different also. By the end of the ride the thud had disappeared under me, a very good sign. There was a ton of traffic on the trails so descending to Rice Pinnacle was slower than usual but the last thing I wanted was a head on collision with another trail user. We took Hardtimes connector over to the other side and continued riding for a few more miles. Once we were over at the continue-on-Pinetree-or-head-over-to-Explorer intersection Wode called it, he was done, so we heade back to the parking lot.
Thanks for getting out there Wode! That was exactly the ride I was looking for.

oh, it was also an electronics-free ride today. No camera, No ipod, no GPS... well, I did have my phone on me and actually took a call. It was Rich saying no mountains for the CLT crew on Sunday. Poop.