Sticks, Stones and Daylight Savings

The hardest morning of the year to wake. I was prepped to ride the Eddieville 6 hour team event. The rest of the squad had conflicts. One man down from the plague. Two others had no interest. Iron man was the only other option. The thought of 6 hours of blasting through high speed desert chop made the skin on my hands cringe where blisters were destined to form. So I decided to pass.

Decision 2008 Diamond Mill. A ride that started as a last ditch backup plan. Our trio headed out of the parking area (Darwinism’s playground) to explore trails that had recently shed inches and feet of snow. Our reward for losing an hour of sleep was clear skies
and single track with decent grip. Conditions were so nice that I stopped to remove my jacket on a downhill that looked like a waterfall of loose rock and baseball bat size branches. One moment after resuming my decent I heard/felt a knock on my frame. A stick spun off my right foot. The next moment I could taste sweet sizzling steam boiling off my headpipe. Precious Prestone poured the color of Predator blood. My hopes of having a great ride vanished with the contents of my right radiator.

After verbally venting my frustration I coasted the rest of the wayback to the main road and was towed behind Aaron’s orange thumper. Riding pal Shawn “The Entertainer” privided human amusment with twospills, including one visor cracking Pete Rose slide over the bars and onto a rock patch.

On the road and in cell service range my first call was to the dealer to price a new radiator. $317 and at least five days out. Steep considering I have every bolt on protector for that area. The radiator was torn at the downtube where the hose connects from the water pump. I called a radiator repair shop that next Monday. Less than a mile away from home and repaired for less than $50 I was a happy rider. Three hard rides later and it still retains water like a pregnant woman’s feet.

3/27/08

Ben Baucum