'17 West and Also Other Virginia Mancation: Part Two

We get to Fayetteville way too early for our scheduled 6:00PM ride with Andy and Jon.  Bill Nye and I head over to a sammich shop right across the street.  It's the kinda place where people take pictures of their sammich next to some house fries and a beer and post it on Instagram.

I see that actually happen.  I bet that guy's followers were very jealous of his culinary experience.

Anyways, we get a couple beers in and Jon Danger spots our car and texts me.

"You guys gonna hide over there all day?"

We finish our beers and mosie over.

Boyes is there as well as Andy and Jon.  They're all wearing shop aprons.  It looks like they're having a rib cook off.  Bill Nye and I putz around the shop and poke and prod things until it's closing time.  Head over to Jon's place, get changed, go back towards town for a local "flavor" ride.

Trails that are trails, trails that aren't trails, and trails that might be trails but mebbe aren't supposed to be ridden.  Nothing that could be STRAVA'ed or shared on the internet.

photo cred: Andy
The Fayetteville Tunnel of Love and Also Giant Dildo Machine

We end up in a place that I can't say where it was, bombing down a trail I can't mention, and the sun is slowly disappearing.  Especially in the deep, dank woods we're in.  It's getting way dark.

I expected as much.

Those guys.  I figured this was going to eventually be about pushing our comfort levels.  The last descent was more like reading Braille than reading trail.

By the time we get back out on a road, it's dark dark.  Night time.  We climb back into Fayetteville, get changed into "going to town clothes," and head to Pies and Pints.  Beers and a sammich that makes my other Instagrammable sammich look like dog pooh, and back to Jon's to get ready for the next day.

We're planning for a big ride that's a long drive away.  North Fork Mountain.  A ride I've wanted to do for years but felt like it might never happen after having talked to Birdman about it back in June.

"It's a long car shuttle, unless you wanna finish a hard 24 mile ride with 25 more miles of mostly climbing on pavement."

But it's gonna happen.  Boyes suggests a 6:00AM departure.  We negotiate him back to 7:00AM.

Mebbe that was dumb.

Bill Nye and I end the evening sipping beer and watching Jon Danger shuffle around his house, grabbing various items and arranging them neatly in piles.

This is the most organized this adventure will get.

Enter the downfall.