Small Town Riding

August 02, 2021

Small Town Riding

... and one of the kids kind of lowered his head, just a little, and shook it side to side. He could have said, "oh, you poor guy," but he didn't need to. The sentiment, half serious and half jest, was all wrapped up in the simple gesture. Nor did it matter that I was more than forty years older, at that moment we were just three guys who liked to mountain bike and could be at ease because of it.

Small town, not the John Mellencamp song, mind you, although that is where the thought process for this post originated, but the ideals that we associate with small town living - the sense of community, of bond, in particular.

Friday I rode to work. Knowing that it was going to be too hot to ride up into the hills at one in the afternoon, it seemed the best option. I'd get work, get to ride, and then have the rest of the day free. Long story short, the mrs and I are lunching on the patio of a local restaurant in the Village when out walks the mayor. I know pretty well how her mind works, and I can see the mrs thinking, hmm she (Mayor Stark) looks familiar, but I also know she can't quite figure out why. "You'rrrrre... someone, who are you?" Tamera and Jennifer (is it okay to refer to the mayor by her first name?) spend the next minute or two small-talking. Small town stuff.

Saturday, you already know was an SGRT day, with a stop at Chalan Rest Stop where everyone knows everyone, even if they don't. Small town stuff.

Then came Sunday and a ride along the Heights Trail. A couple kids were up there and, as I transitioned from a wider dirt road section to a narrower single track section I hoped, knowing that they were likely to be going faster than me, they would go the opposite direction. Sure enough, though, as I reached the lowest point on the trail (where there is a strategic junction) I heard wheels rushing up behind. I turned left to climb up while the rushing wheels, apparently (though I didn't know it at the time), took the short cut to the right - a shorter trail that also has far less climb to it. Reaching the top I noticed the two kids already done with their portion of trail and out on the road below. Wordlessly we passed each other one more time. A few minutes later, easing up to the Cucamonga Canyon overlook I stopped for a bit, not long, before the couple of kids also rode up. I thought they might ride on, but instead they stopped too. Well, it would have been awkward not to say something, so I asked if they rode for a local high school mountain bike team. One of the kids was visiting from out of state, but the other said no, they only had cross country still and he was into the enduro side of the sport. A couple more questions about trail preferences leading away from the overlook, brought me around to admitting that the faster downhill stuff was less my thing than was the uphill challenge and, in response I got a slow, pitying, side to side, shake of the head. Small town stuff out on the trail.

Whether big or small, I hope your weekend riding was just as satisfying.