Considering how rough this route was on us last August with some soul zapping heat, we managed to thoroughly enjoy it today. Five of us met up behind New China Buffet and all confronted some demons by rolling out on this route. The last trip was a hot late August day and was not pleasant for everyone.

I tried out some new tires, swapping from Maxxis Minion SS 2.3’s to Schwalbe Rick XC 2.24s to keep up with the out of my league folks I force myself to roll with. Always punch up. They did their job incredibly well, both the tires and the friends that ripped my legs off.

I rode 20psi in my Minions, which have much harder sidewalls. I rolled 20psi on the Ricks today, click here, and the front tire was perfect. The rear might have been, but I have never been on something so soft. I was totally expecting a flat today, but that softness in the rear tire really ate up all the washboard roads, of which there were many.

I’m giving these a thumbs up for ride 1, no longer skeptical about flatting, I intentionally nailed a few rocks and took bad lines on some descents. Next skepticism is how long they last, they feel so soft.

The weather was amazing, starting off mid 60s and ending in high 70s, some overcast in the morning to partly cloudy. There was some wind but not much, except when it was in your face. We had several church stop options for water spigots, and when we pulled into Lifepoint Church, I saw a tent and was kidding that I called in a rest stop. I didn’t, but it was.

They had signs out front for folks to stop for prayer, food and $25 gas vouchers. One of the volunteers had a Catahoula puppy that Merrill fell in love with. They offered us hot dogs and cotton candy, but we were happy to just get some cold water. As they were saying bye, I said Hold up, y’all wanna pray with people, I need y’all to pray we make it through this ride.

I think we had five ladies surround our group, and the one at the front started to pray, and then the four others all began to say their totally independent prayers over us. Listening to the all at the same time was kind of mesmerizing and added to the feeling of blessing. That was a truly awesome out of nowhere kind of stop.

After that we passed by Crossbone MX (per google maps) where a lot of folks were out on the motocross track. We stopped and watched and took some videos. Some of them were getting pretty good air.

It was an awesome day riding bikes with friends in the dirt. Everyone came a little hesitant about the commitment, but we really just enjoyed each other the whole time. I was worried about keeping up on Cravel, which has been pretty slow so far. Rox said she could tell that it was getting faster with the new tires. Now that I have gotten it home and washed it, I noticed that both brake calipers had been against the brakes the whole day. Oh well, bonus training and free speed boost next time.

Here’s some pictures and videos: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9qqhjtjjp9otkwemuqoi4/AGZmj2P-cVQS2RWA5WhpWVQ?rlkey=ksfbwpnyzz3ugzvzdofskcosp&dl=0