12/30/2025
The night before this ride, I said no.
Too much work to do, deadlines stacking up, and winter in full force. But when I woke up to blue skies — the only sun we’d seen all December — I knew I wasn’t going to get anything done knowing the boys were out riding.
So plans changed.
This was a cold, frosty Saturday in Bamberton. Minus one in the morning. Iced-over logs, slick roots, frozen puddles, and snow-dusted rock. Chris, Rob, Colin, and I met up under the power lines and spent the day riding familiar back roads in unfamiliar conditions — Oliphant Lake, creek crossings cut deeper by recent logging, a whiskey stop at the Men’s Health Retreat, and a sketchy hill climb on Baldy that took us all out more than a few times.
Before we even left, I had to fix my bike. I’d forgotten I smashed my headlight plate during my concussion, so I melted a hole with a hot bolt and strapped it together with a Giant Loop Pronghorn strap. Good enough to ride.
The ride itself was classic: wheelies over frozen puddles, unexpected logging around the lake, a creek crossing none of us planned to do until Rob sent it, and a steep, slimy rock face that punished everyone before finally giving way.
