Whenever I ride I make it a point to be in the front. I like to ridr second wheel when I can, if not I like to be leading. I know Matt is the same way. The reason for this is when you ride at the back, even if it is only 3 people you become a victim of the slinky effect. Last night Matt and i got to Fair Hill about 4:45 and headed out for a warm up before the group ride at 5:30. It was good, we did a short loop and swung back to the lot to see if anybidy else showed up. Todd pulled in, and SS dan showed up , bit he had his road bike. Turns out his SS had 2 flats so it was road ride or no ride. Todd led us through Little Egypt. Fatmrc is right, you can't stay with him on the downhills. We always got right back on when the hills came though. We flew around Little Egypt, as we were climbing the road on our way back Todd Attacked, I went to counter and he cut me off. I had to back off and swing to the other side but I still got him in the end, but this was a sign of things to come.
We went back to the lot and nobody else showed up so we took off. Todd took us down some older stuff that I hadn't ridde in a long time. It was a blast. I was lucky to be riding second wheel. Matt on the other hand was suffering from the " Slinky Effect". It is when the guy up front throws down a big burst then suddenly backs off. By the time this gets to the last guy he doesn't have the same amount of time to react so he is slamming on the brakes then trying to take off from almost a dead stop. The result is really tired legs and lungs. Towards the end of the ride Todd took a bit of a tumble, we had a laugh and carried on. We hit Crack Head Bob and Todd was off the front and Matt was a little off the back. We regrouped and convinced Matt to take 5 bridges back instead of the double track, we even said we would go easy. No such luck, apperently Todd was feeling good and took off. Matt had recovered a bit and we all just Hammered. Todd took us on a new trail that was really cool. After that we were going down hill and Todd tried to pass Matt on the inside and got tangled up and went down again. Now I have been riding with Todd for years and i think I have seen him fall only one other time, and tonight it was twice. After that Matt was leading and I guess was no longer a victim of the slinky effect because he took off.
When it was all said and done we rode for 2 1/2 hours at a blistering pace. Man it was an awesome ride. I can't wait for another dose of Fair Hill saturday and French Creek on Sunday. It should be a good weekend.
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