A Rough Training Ride

My ride started out in the middle run parking lot since the church lot was full of people. When I was getting my gear together, a father and son rode up and asked me a few questions about the trails and mountain biking in general. We ended up riding to the skills trail - I gave them some basic advice on riding and some directions back to their car. They seemed to be having fun, so I continued my ride out to the far side of White Clay. It had been thundering very lightly throughout the morning, but nothing to be concerned about. Things changed when I got to the top of the far hill (the furthest point from the parking lot).

Dark clouds began to roll in, strong winds whistled through the treetops above, and the trail was getting darker and darker. There was no choice but to get back to the truck as fast as I could, so I practiced some high-speed downhill riding through the winding trail. I didn't crash, but I was reminded that its pretty difficult to turn effectively when both wheels are a foot off the ground. After crossing the road to the next section, my chain breaks. What are the odds? It is still about 8 miles from the truck, the thunder is now accompanied by bright flashes of lighting, and the wall of rain is minutes away. Luckily, this wasn't the first time I had to repair a chain, both my chain and Steve's chain broke earlier this year. I jogged my bike with the chain dragging behind to the first flat area with no poison ivy. It actually went pretty quick, I took my time, used a stick to relive the tension from the rear deraileur and was back on the trail in about 5 minutes. I continued to hurry along through the increasing darkness. The chain was dry and squeaking, it could break again at any moment.

It was crazy how quickly it got dark, the wind was swaying the trees so much. I heard branches falling all around me. I heard one starting to fall right above me, after a few frantic pedal strokes, a big branch landed right on the trail behind me. Once I reached the road crossing into middle run, the rain was pouring down pretty good. Of course, there was a ton of traffic and I wanted a nice gap to cross since the cars probably couldn't see me. After the road, the trails seemed darker than ever, its a good thing we ride these trails all the time. This was the final stretch with lightning hitting all around and thunder crashing suddenly and violently. I made it to the parking lot, threw the bike in the back and jumped in the driver's seat. The rain seemed to lighten up for a moment so I went back out to get my sandals from the back. I looked back to the trail and just at that moment, a bright bolt of lightning hit the ground about 30 yards away - right on the trail I just emerged from. Scared and a little shaken up, I jumped right back in the truck and drove off. Surprisingly, a few more bikers rode out from the trail - only moments after the lightning bolt hit. The look of terror on their faces was priceless.