with the death of our snow friend (there was a lump of ice in the yard for almost a week) and Snake Creek 2.0 this weekend, i needed to get out and ride! i tooled around town a bit but decided that wasn't enough to make me feel on top of my game.... so i decided to get some night laps in at Conyers. unfortunately it was still ridiculously cold Thursday night. between the windy 20deg temperatures and the slippery freeze though conditions, i only stayed for a single lap. i was happy to warm up with a beer and comedy night. 
i wasn't satisfied with the riding i had been doing, so i was really excited about the weekend and the prospect of an epic day with the crew. we headed up to the Pinhoti (Snake Creek Gap) Sunday morning with the plan to ride the full 34 miles of trail. we brought our own SAG support and shuttle. we dropped a car off at the conference center and then dropped off our SAG supplies at the half way mark and then found the beginning of the trail. we didn't get started until around noon... the first half of the Pinhoti is really fun with some big climbs at the beginning and big jumps at the end. the SAG stop in the middle was perfect with Aaron supplying the best PB&J and cookies i may have ever had. while making sandwiches we watched a few people get started from this parking lot. there was a couple that had ridden the trail before and clearly knew what they were doing. then there was a young guy who looked eager, but maybe not very experienced... we finish up and get started about 15 or 20 minutes later.
i rode fairly hard and was having a really good time. i figured that we would meet up at the top of the gravel road at mile 25. i came out of the single track to see the couple approaching the gravel road. i passed them and they decided to pick it up... i could hear them on my wheel as we pushed each other. this climb seemed longer than i had remembered and i think we were waiting for someone else to crack. no one cracked, but we did stop at the top to chat and i waited for the rest of my crew. the couple took off again and told me they were turning back in 10 minutes so they could get back to their car. that made me think... where was that eager kid that headed out of the parking lot without a water bottle or a hydration pack. as i waited i started to realize that the temperatures were dropping and i was wet from a recent creek crossing. i put on some leg warmers and was ready to go.
we all headed back into the single track for the last and most difficult nine miles. i started to get colder and decided to push hard... i hoped that that would warm me up, get me out of the woods before dark and maybe into some dry socks. after a couple more miles i finally come across the eager beaver. he was standing next to the trail looking a little out of it. i sacrificed some sweet downhill and stopped to make sure he was ok. he was wondering how much farther till he was back at his car. he didn't know that the trail was a straight line and not a loop... he did not bring any water or food and was spent. i gave him my CliffBar and offered to get him back to his car if he continued with the last ~7 miles. he decided to head back the 10 miles back to his car. there was only about an hour of daylight left so i knew he was going to struggle in the dark and cold for a while.
i continue on and get tired and sloppy and have a couple good falls on the rocks. i'm happy to to finally see the cell tower which lets me know that i'm out of the woods. i fly down the gravel road to the highway and then realize that i have to dip back into the woods for a quick 100 foot section of single track that nearly spits me out and onto the highway. at the end of this short section there is a nice lip and i'm so excited that i decide to pull up hard and try to fly to the pavement. i didn't even get close and land hard in loose gravel... my front wheel turns and i superman over the bars. i'm bruised, but happy because i'm done for the day.
we all meet up at the car and go to pick up our SAG supplies and then back to the other car. Unfortunately the kid's car is still in the dark lot at ~9PM. we leave a gallon of water for him and hope that he's either almost done hiking or camping with a guy we saw on the trail. either option sounds pretty awful.
now i'm satisfied - for a day at least. unfortunately i feel like i've wasted whatever edge i may have had on Sunday night by not getting out today. i'll have to do something about that before Saturday. also, i had a ranger visit the trailhead to make sure the kid's car was gone. it was and i'm sure he has a good story to tell.
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