Anniversary of Sorts

Last year Memorial Day Weekend was going great, when on my third ride of the weekend, on the last "feature" of the ride, I fell off a log and hurt right thumb.  At first I thought I could just "walk it off" but when I still couldn't pick up  glass of water the next day I realized I should get it check out.  That sucked.

As I pulled into Sessions Woods on Friday afternoon, I was reminded that this is where things started last year.  A sense of deja vu came over me.
Hopefully the pattern would be broken.

Things started off great; Nassahegan has some of my favorite singletrack in the state.

cool

 cool

When I got to one of my favoritest twistiest tightest sections of singletrack in the world, this is what I found:

NOT COOL!

Every 30 meters or so the trail was disrupted by random "tree work".  To my untrained eye it almost seemed like a vindictive act of retribution by the MDC over the Parking Wars.

Fortunately only about a mile of trail was destroyed...but it was the best mile.

I was soon pacified:

The mile of hike a bike sort of took the wind out of my sails so I skipped the Trout Hatchery loop and called it a day.

Saturday I got in a Kitchen Sink loop from home.  About an hour in I realized I wasn't riding at the intensity I wanted to.  I dropped the hammer...then dropped my chain.  Rather unusual for me. 
On closer inspection I noticed this:

3 Quick links?  How'd that happen? Time for a new chain you cheap fook.

Sunday I wanted to ramp things up a bit.  I don't know if I did or not, but I sure had a lot of fun.  Rode the ol' Sidewinder.   Hot and humid; love it.

Maybe it was the fun factor, but I still didn't feel like I got the intensity  I was craving.  As I was getting ready to ride before the parade, the clouds burst, and the sky was filled with thunder and lightning.  When things cleared would I be too concerned with not getting hurt to ride the res hard?

Hmm...perfect day for a bike with fenders (hey! I've got one of those!). 

Took the Fun Machine out for a quick Hatchet Hill loop.  The mild rollers of the loop and the fixed gear made keeping the level right where I wanted it.  Got home and my legs had that pleasant buzz of exertion.  Perfect.

The cherry on top of a great long weekend...
100% intact and uninjured.