Jokes on me

On Friday, Heywood, Big Cat, Lil Cat, and the Chef decided to drive up the boulevard and ride some miles near the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The trail of choice was “Hole in the Ground” which starts near the summit of Donner Pass. Only question was is this trail physically possible this early on in the year. Usually the answer would be a hell no! But, with the lack of snowfall this year in the California mountains, could be feasible.

So Saturday, while Heywood Jablome was at the bike shop building up a kid’s bike and fine tuning his own steed, he started to ask some people at the shop if they had any input on the situation. "I don't know, maybe," was the consensus until one meek voice spoke up. "Yes, you can do it. I just did it last week. Almost no snow to speak of. You should try it." What the heck Wood thought, that’s a good suggestion. We will attempt it.

Two hours later, the four men were wedged into Wood’s commuter vehicle and headed up the hill to conquer this trail. After driving for one hour we arrived at our destination in high spirits and energized to hit the trail. Things started off well until mile three when the boys encountered our first patch of snow. No big deal. Just a little snow. It was a short hike-a-bike until the next patch of snow. Then the next. Then the next. You get the point. Walk 50 feet, ride 50 feet. This is three miles into the ride and there was still 20 miles left. What the hell. Was that guy at the bike shopping setting us up? That SOB pulled a fast one on the boys from God's country and is probably sitting around some campfire with his friends and family laughing about it right now. Crap.

The only option was to retreat back to the safety of Heywood's gas guzzling SUV and head to another trail. After a quick brainstorm, another trail was chosen and off we were. The new trail was nice, technical and a joy to be on. The elevation killed both the Cat Brothers and Wood but did not seem to affect the Chef. Got in only about 15 miles that day but what an adventure it was.

After the nice ride, we encountered a

Japanese tourist at the trailhead. This guy had a lens on his camera that was as long as my head tube. His family probably invented the camera as we know it. Couldn’t imagine another person more fit to take a picture of us after our ride. Looks like the boys are taking it in the ass once again.