St. Joe Reckon

I am not so glad we did a tempo mtb ride on Saturday at the Wood. I thought I would punish Skuck a bit for the ass whoopin I got at Rhett's, even though I am happy with my result of 11th. I pretty much left him gasping for air, feeling fresh as a daisy after a Friday off. I am thinking Rhett's really kicked my ass, btw. There was some talent showd this year and I must have been out of my league. I took second last year but, as you might have guessed, nobody showed up. Regardless, I got a hellova workout and the candle is burning a little brighter now because of it. We got some good training in this week and I continue to get a little stronger. So Saturday I put the hammer down with some bursts and recoveries, thinking Sundays Reckon at St. Joe would be a casual thing. Right.

So, arriving at the St. Joe trail head with the Geezer, Big Bad Mike and Skuk in the Hemi equipped minivan, it came as no suprize that D-wayne was already on the trail doing multiple 8 mile laps. Just as we were going, Andy Gibbs and another guy showed up, we decided to head out together, kind of.

Geezer got lost in the first 15 minutes. Not sure if he did it on purpose seeking motorized sports and all from his background. We chased D-wayne for the entire lap of newly developed trail and singletrack well worn by the high reving motorcycles before us. The commentary was mixed. I liked the course, very Missouri like and a little bit of everything. There were some agravating climbs and false flats that drained my energy and, me thinking Big Bad Mike was a push over was a big mistake. The dude mashes like Mitch and I will say it now that he is going to be a player. Skuk got a little squeamish at first but settled into the rhythm on the second lap just about the time when my pads wore down to the springs and I lost my front break. I was tired anyway.

This trail is going to suck the life out of anyone who has not pre-ridden it. Grumpke has done a good job using a cool park, lots of turns, grinding climbs and tight singletrack.