Today was the last day of the Festival. Sorry to see it ending. But, before that, I had another trail to ride this morning.
Taking Bill's recommendation, I headed up to the Wilson Lake trail head. Weather was very cloudy with a threat of rain. When I reached the trail head, I checked in by signing the roster and headed up the Patsy Lake Trail.
At first, I was riding a bit "tentative". Soon enough, I got the rhythm of the trail. The trails is a relative new trail - from when I could see. As a contour trail, the climbs and descents are short. The photo here is of the Patsy Lake Trail.
I was feeling pretty good riding this trail. Most of the trail is singletrack. I gained my confidence and start riding better and faster. At the first control point, I consulted my map. Decided to ride a section of the trail against the normal flow. This would get me to the punch (to verify my tally card).
Back to the control point, I was faced with - "which way to head back to the car". I opted to riding with normal traffic flow. This part of the trail was overgrown doubletrack.
Some doubletrack spots, I few down hills. The computer showed I maxed out at 14.6 mph! Didn't know I could "fly" through the woods!. A great ride - Thanks for the recommendation, Bill.
After a stop at the hotel to pick up my raffle tickets (it started raining on the way to the motel), I was off the the closing cook-out. Here, we turned in our ride and special events tally cards.
Every participant had been given one ticket at registration. Now, those tickets were exchange to your choice of grab-bag items. I selected a t-shirt.
The weather was cool, overcast, and occasional shower during the cook-out.
From tally cards, everyone receive some number (I got 13) tickets for the "general" raffle. There were things from sports watches, to a bike repair stand, cassette set, trainer, and more. I did not win anything there.
The main raffle featured a Trek Fuel EX8 full suspension bike. I did not win any of the 5 big prizes, either.
In the next week, I will put together my thoughts about the Black Hills Fat Tire Festival and the CAMBA Festival of the Trails. For now, I am planning to skip BHFTF next year in favor of the CAMBA function.
The last photo here is one of the participants riding the tall teeter-totter on the Test de Trails course.
No comments:
Post a Comment