Super Fantastic ride today with Wode.....
We started a little after 11AM at Hard Times trailhead ->South Ridge->Sleepy Gap ->Explorer ->??? ->Gravel to ->Lower Sidehill ->Gravel to->Sidehill ->Little Hickory ->Ingles Field Connector -> Ingles Field ->Gravel to ->??? ->Hardtimes Connector.
Where did the 29er save my ass? Well, on the way down Ingles Field there are a series of old-school dirt berm waterbars that are ever so easy to get a little air off of. Well, when I landed after one of those waterbars my 'extreme sweep' handlebars turned downward leaving my hands gripping a bar that was nearly vertical. It took quite the heavy landing on the front end to accomplish this, BTW. I believe that if I was on a 26er I would have just shot right over the bars. I grabbed as much brake as I could and as Wode described it, I was in and out of control for a good 50 feet before I brought it to a stop. Excellent. I had just told a n00b at the trailhead, before the ride, that if you don't go down everyonceinawhile, you're not trying very hard.... I didn't quite go down but... I think you get the picture.
