The 4 Rings

Audis - it's a love-hate relationship with those cars.
Planned on getting up early Friday & rolling to G-town to hit up stuff we missed Thursday night, but once again the AT selector switch acted up, so by the time I got it corrected it was a bit to late to try for a long-ish ride. Got word Friday from MGE that he & PBRMe! were planning on a big Waterton-IC-Ringtail-CT ride starting at 5:30 the next morning. I wasn't happy about the pre-dawn conditions, but I said, 'Yeah, I'm in.' I had to pedal a bit more before SpikeFest next week.
Around 9:30, I got a call from MGE telling me he was out - another frame bit the dust.
So PBRMe! & guacomole peeled outta the lot at 7:10 & headed out. Rolling up through the canyon, we saw that MGE's spirit animal was watching over us from about 100' above. Very hard to see in the pic, but there is a goat standing on the rock surveying his domain.

Guac had just done a week in Texas, so he wasn't in the best shape & turned off for the Roxy loop, while PBR & I headed to the IC trailhead. We were chilling there & we noticed a biker coming up the road, pedaling with a SS cadence.....then we saw that Canyonrat was back on the bike after a big downtime w/back troubles. Good to see ya, rat!
PBRMe! & I headed out Ringtail after Rat telling us that we'd be regretting it while climbing back to 800. About 1/2-way down, I was thinking to myself that it would definitely be worth it, Ringtail was a Bl'ast!

Rolling along a fast, smooth section I was about to let PBR know this when I heard the nightmarish hiss of a rear flat. Sidewall cut, again....but there was nothing to cut it on right there!! Fixed that & continued with the fun-ness of Ringtail.

The climb back out was hot in the open sun, but well worth the enjoyment given by Ringtail.

Cruised back through the powerline & down the final section, which used to be my favorite, until I rode the wooded section of 800 before the powerline. Today, it fell another notch as Ringtail had me smiling from ear-to-ear, thus putting it up in one of  the top spots.

PBRMe! impressed here by rolling straight down the rocky dropoff that most riders skip in favor of the easy cheater line to the left. Bravo!!

33.22 miles & 4,030' of climbing in 5hrs. It was hot & I was tired - good times!


Turn it up!
Here's the 1st set from Tuesday's Melvins show..........enjoy, or not.








You'll enjoy'em if you know what's good.
Happy Amerikka day!