13 September 2010 - 8:01Burke Weekend Departeth

A fun weekend for sure, albeit a little more quiet than some years. I was one of the last to arrive at the Burke House this year, school, work and other such things got in the way of being there for an early arrival which meant that I missed the “Big Friday Ride” and the “Big Friday Night Downhill”. Not to worry. I did get there in plenty of time for dinner though, so all was good.

Normally, there is a big Saturday ride, and these rides have been getting bigger and bigger every year. And what usually ends up happening, is that it takes much longer to accomplish the ride, what with all the stopping and starting and gabbing. It’s not usually a bug deal, but there were 8 kids that needed to be attended to as well. Unfortunately,  it is frowned upon to just lock them in the house while you are gone, as one might lock up a dog. Thankfully, KP had arranged for a sitter though, which gave us a 3 hour window. Wanting to go for a substantial ride, JayPro, KP, Mandy and I headed out for a couples ride.

The route: Burnham Down>White School>Coronary>Tap and Die>West Branch>Back Door>Webbs>Kitchell.

There are a couple of other trails in there too, but you get the idea. Burnham Down is such a fun trail, definitely one of my favorites. It features a ton of bridge work, and every time I ride it I lament the fact that my helmet cam is such junk. I need to fix that…

On top of Darling Hill, I was recognized by  Tony from Jersey, a reader of this fine blog. It’s a little weird getting noticed by people I don’t know, but I’m getting used to it. I received some serious ribbing from my riding partners for the rest of the day. Next time you are up Tony, let me know, let’s ride bikes!

Jay and I were riding right at the limit on Tap and Die. The RIP just gobbles up the singletrack and begs for more. Such a fun bike, and the right choice for the weekend. I don’t think I could have ridden the bike any faster.

Trail conditions and weather were picture perfect. With temps in the low 70s, there was no overheating, and the rain from earlier the previous day had made all the sandy spots nice and grippy.

We had covered a lot of ground, but time was running out. and we needed to get back so we could relieve the babysitter. Jay and KP took the kids back up to the house from the playground where we all met up, and Mandy and I rode back up. It ended up taking a little longer than expected, and we were further delayed by this little fella.

Actually, he was not so little.

When we finally did get back to the Burke House, it was refreshment time.

Victory!

It was our turn to cook the big Saturday night feast. I was very excited about the menu, some delicious carne asada, or, as we now call it, the Meat Tarp. Everyone brought a side, there was a ton of food, which was great because we were all starving from our rides.

The food was excellent, and Shaun provided the booziest margaritas I’ve had in recent memory. I had 3, then had to go lay down. I heard there was some extreme shenanigans that went on after I went to bed, which I am sad to have missed. Needless to say, everyone woke up on Sunday, very banged up.

It’s always a little bit sad when we leave the Burke House. This time it really felt like it was the end of summer. I’m not ready for it to end.