And I say hey yeah yeah yeah yeah hey yeah yeah I said hey what's going on?

I wouldn't say I'm getting soft in my old age, but I'm leaning that direction when it's convenient sometimes.  I headed out early to avoid the incoming twenty mile an hour winds for an in-town ramble on Saturday, and as I was putting my shit together that night for a mountain ride on Sunday, I was already thinking about bailing.  It was going to be 9° in Linville the next morning.  I've learned (the hard way) to look at temps in Linville and not Morganton in order to be prepared for the worst case scenario as opposed to the best (which it rarely is).

So even Sunday morning when the government made me get up an hour too early, I was still texting my doubts to Turd.  As far as I knew, he was the only committed party.  Mebbe Stephen... I mean, I didn't know the "plan" further than meeting in a parking lot just outside Charlotte and that's it.

I said I'd do a thing tho, so I got in the car and headed out towards WNC  Met up with Stephen... then Turd... then Matt B shows up with the most expensive e-bike I've ever fingered.

Rolled to Wilson Creek and...

Whoda thought it would be cold?

Anyhoo, Derek shows up and were waiting for Toons (who I don't know) who's bringing his friend Chelsea (who I also don't know)... and they're late so we sun ourselves and try to come up with a ride plan... that starts with a shuttle?

Drive up to Raspberry and into the snow.  One of my least favorite things to do... dive right into Raspberry out of the car in the freezing cold and start descending the gnar gnar (covered in a light dusting of white shit I moved to North Carolina to avoid) like I can remember how to ride a bike with frozen hands and watery eyes.

Snow didn't last long tho...

Toon, whom I just met.

Chelsea, whom was coming off not riding for months, loads of mountain climbing in strange places, an injury, and despite her down time and lack of local knowledge, I still needed to let her come around me later in the day coming down Beehive when the hard tail rider (me) had to start paying attention to "rear tire management."

Derek, whom somehow I used to know as the New Zealander banker guy, but now know as mountain man shredder man with a hot tub man.

Matt, whom was on an e-bike and somehow didn't manage to impact the quality of my life experience or the trails in any negative way?  Do you believe in miracles?

Turd, whom I go ahead and "trust" with my valuable weekend times because he rarely disappoints.

Stephen, whom became the potential imaginary foil of my Pisgah 55.5k race last year.

You can plan a Wilson CREEK ride without creek crossings but the operative word here is "plan." 

I don't do this precarious crossing anymore, as you have to American Ninja from one leaning mini-fridge boulder to another at the far end.  I've seen it go wrong, and I've almost got soaked once myself.

So I head downstream with my socks tucked in my vest and my shoes in my hand and my feet temporarily frozen.

Hole.

So the "plan" being more of a wing it and see approach had us at a decision point where time didn't allow for what we intended so we hiked/rode up(?) Headley, turned around, and came back down (yeth, as bad as it sounds).

Being that Turd and I were looking for some miles and climbing and a shuttle was involved and my cooler was in Derek's truck at the bottom and my vest and other discarded clothing were also in his truck from when we passed it to do Headley and my long sleeve jersey and Turd's jacket were tucked away behind a tree up at the start of Greentown and one car and one truck were up at the top of Raspberry with my messenger bag and car keys and there was only room for so many people and bikes in Derek's truck and there was mention of high five beers somewhere...

And people ask me why I prefer to never shuttle and/or get in the car to ride somewhere after we already started riding somewhere else...

Turd and I just rode all the way back up to the start of Greentown so we could get five semi-pointless miles of gravel and pavement and add 1,600 feet of climbing because... fitness?

If you know the area and look at that route, your head hurts now.  Welcome.

One weekend I'm doing back-to-back rides in Pisgah with no sleeves and bare knees, and the next I'm starting the ride with three pairs of gloves.  Trbl.

lol.