An account of the 6th annual Rattling Creek Singletrackers Mt Bike Bash. 

Years have passed since we had a decent write up posted on this site, so in the interest of at least remembrance, i submit my account of the 6th annual Rattling Creek Singletrackers Mt Bike Bash.

most of the time an event truly begins with the series of events leading p to it. see my Laurel Highlands Festival review if you want to know what i mean. this was to be no different.

with gas prices dropping again, i began to think of heading to E-ville with my faithful old dodge. which in turn set off a difference of opinion between michele and i. i settled the loser of that match and loaded my things into the hyundai and headed out the door.

along the drive, i remembered the things i had forgotten, as only the drive somewhere can remind you of. this year it was a bar of soap, a replacement hammock (mine dry rotted from being put away wet after last year) and my tarp. sans hammock, i resigned myself to the bunkhouse despite the good weather.

a few people had camps up thursday evening and after helping Rick (bad, bad, ricky brown) with some of the banners and the showers i set out looking for people to night ride. in the end, everyone but keith (whitcomb) and Dale (shompers) had already begun drinking, and dale had to take care of his dogs.

i threw a set of lights on keith's bars as he put new cables on his "fireroad flyer" all the while chatting about this that or the next thing. after he was ready we began the grueling climb up deep hollow. we hung out at the hang glider launch and checked out the lights of fisherville and enders. then we went across the ridgetop and came back down iron mine. it was a pretty lame ride, but i needed to face that climb at some point, and it actually felt pretty good. perhaps i'm a masochist.

i had some BBQ pork and went to bed a while later, wondering who would show up in the morning.

friday dawned at some obscene hour, likely around 6 or 7 AM. then ricky brown woke me up at the equally obscene hour of 8:30 and told me to true someone's wheel so they could ride. i was half asleep, and spent 2 couses making the wheel WORSE, but eventually i got it straightened out and earned myself a beer from Dave, whose name i promptly forgot while trying to get back to sleep.

later that day, somewhere around 11 when i should have still been sleeping, a group of us went for a ride. i don't recall exactly what we did, but it was good stuff with Rock's Ridge and Wolf Pond Trail both included. i leaned against a little tree at one point and realized too late that it was only about an inch in diameter, so it bowed and i fell over.

i don't recall who exactly rode with us, but i know that young Austin (Carter?) rode far better than the average mt biker, despite a somewhat overzealous father and being only 12 years old. whenever Andy gets back, he might have his fame robbed, unless he managed to win the Junior Nationals this weekend. a new staple to the bash, Brian (Strausser) displayed some impressive skills on a very intimidating bridge along preserve line trail. brian and i kept each other laughing throughout the weekend with our versions of the dating game and stories of forest spirits after illicit substances. we returned to camp later so keith could go get the beer from troegs and we met some more familiar faces, among them Dean (the Bikeman Hower) and Jill (Wiest). my congratulations rick and jill on your 10th anniversary.

we lazed around the bunkhouse after showering and then more people started showing up after the work week closed out. sadly, the rain showed up with them. not to be undone, dale and jill dreamt up this spectacular 15 mile night ride, that i simply couldn't believe. i had BBQ pork in the oven, when the rain stopped and Christina (MOM) and jill (GRANDMA) gave me no choice but to go. i passed out some lights and batteries, along with my usual amount of complaints and whinings, but ultimately got on my bike and out into the wetness.

the rain had mostly stopped, and only wind blown trees deposited any water on us, but the trails and the air were damp as could be. mom had shifting problems (she has an amish mechanic) and i took care of them while others proceeded up the montrously unpleasant climb that is deep hollow. after fixing up mom's derailleur, we started for the top, only so i could find that someone had beaten me there. Dave (not the same dave, there were several there.) and i chatted a bit while others caught up since we remembered each other from last year and an incident where his battery charger died.

after everyone reached the top, we headed for the goody kind of goodness that only whitty can come up with: Rattling Creek Trail. this trail rules in the daylight and nightime is no different, i was stoked to hit it under the lights, but my enthusiasm had been damened by the rains. the woe is me party was cancelled though, as we had an absolutely fabulous time descending the 4 miles of serpentine bliss. i dont't recall all the riders on this one, but Emily, Eric and John all seemed to enjoy their first night ride, even with the climb up White Oak Road on the way back to camp.

showers and stories took up the rest of the evening as the DJ packed up and more people showed up. for some reason, Howie was passed out when we got back, but Kevin was around socializing. with bedtime nearing, i downed some BBQ pork and dew then hunted down the Ancient One. we shared our disapointment that his children were not in attendance. nor did the RCST Bash see the return of our favorite Mt Biking teenage pop star, Debbie Gibson. believe me Fatboy, even the rumor of you showing up had the whole place buzzing.

before bed, i washed my riding clothes as i had used all 3 sets by now, and hung them from the cieling fan to dry. i'm thinking ricky brown took exception to this as they weren't there come morning. i woke up even before 8:30 saturday due to those damned normal people who get up before noon. i heard the distinct voice of some guide book author or other, don't know who that would have been. there was also some crazy singlespeeder with these weird googles on, i'm baffled, but thinking Emory (Ehrenfield) will have a pair before long. we all went our seperate ways depending on our chosen rides after breakfast. i'm highly praising the additon of the mixed berry bagles, they went quickly.

at the top of the mountain, whitty and i took charge of some 19 riders with the assistance of Steve (Fryer Tuck) and Eric (Bolig). john quickly found that his rear wheel had absolutely zero tension in any spokes, so turned around to head back to camp and have that fixed and meet back up with us a few miles down the trail. a little further and we ran into mechanicals, fellow riders and angry bees before splitting our group in 2 after Fawn Kill Trail.

from that point on, bolig and i sheparded our 8 lambs (sorry it's ricky's fault for the water bottle.) through the forest. the riders were: Emily, Eric, Brian, Jeff, Ryan, the Ancient One, Bolig and myself. the ancient one led his geriatric brethren jeff off on the old man and the mountain tangent skipping all the rocks, still somewhat slick from the humidity. the others of us enjoyed Wolf Pond Trail and Rock's Ridge to the fullest, though emily officially announced that the latter is her "least favorite trail". no one knew the words to little bunny foo-foo, so we contented ourselves with whistling the pink panther for motivation.

after our diversion, we caught back up with the old farts and picked up some new riders, including john, with a freshly repaired rear wheel thanks to Lee. we sat for a bit and discussed routes and the ride in general then headed down Matter Trail 12 strong in search of fun and excitement. not to be disapointed, we ran rampant down Matter Trail, Preserve Line Trail, Dry Run Trail and Schreffler Road on our way to Rattling Creek Trail where we ran into yet another group of riders. after exchanging some pleasantries and determining our friends' lunatic leader (some guy that thinks he's a bear or something) we headed for Doc Smith's and ride's end. our tandem couple (whose names i regrettably do not recall) showed us all that 2 riders are indeed better then one. the two groups toyed with each other, playing leap frog now and again on the way down. both groups had a blast, with only minor hang ups like Damien (sp?) and his cleat issue. we fixed him up good and all headed for the trail's namesake, Rattling Creek.

there marked the end of our ride, as only 3 of us had the inlcination to add the optional 6 miles to the 18 under our belt. one of us had no water, another no ride, and well, me i'm just lazy. after some hijinks with brian and i ending up in the back of bolig's truck sitting on the bike rack, we all made our way back to camp for dinner and a movie, or dinner and Jay (DeJesus) as it were.

Cannondale was on hand with some demos and riders had taken some out on the trails, but Jay grabbed one and enthralled the crowds keeping their minds off of the food cooking nearby with a display of talent involving some picnic tables and panicky spectators. Brian joined him a bit until ripping off the derailleur on his new bike. now austin has new idols, and was trying a lot of tricks all evening.

the classics came out of the woodwork by this time, and Rick (Begley), Birdman, King Dave (Grant), Jane (Grant), and Trainwreck along with a good many others protested the lack of food.

Jarrod of Black Creek Bike Shop in Elizabethville astounded us with a corn roast that proved the best part of dinner, despite the always great chicken. the Troegs was tapped and people began working themselves up for the band to start playing. keith took advantage of some technical difficulties to start giving away the sponsor donated swag. lights, socks, jerseys, tubes, messenger bags, cyclocomputers, gift certificates to shops, etc. i don't think anyone went away without winning something as by the end, ricky was throwing things into the crowd. the band kicked off and so did a long night consisting of screaming, smoking, drinking, puking, BS-ing and finally naked rides through the camp (and the band's performing area). the band was wiskerbiscuit, and they let it all hang out for us, despite a lot of people turning in early. somewhere betweeen 1 and 3 AM it all came to a halt and resumed in the morning. in the midst of all this turmoil, the huffy toss was totally neglected and brian remains the champions by default.

sunday was a much better day for riding, as the sun was out early and the day was shaping up fabulously by the time i got up at 10 or so. howie kevin and i opted for another ride instead of the King and Queen of Rock's Ridge Contest. i had hoped to run into griz out on the trail again, as i heard he had a ride planned for the morning, but we met veryfew people on the trail, 4 in 22 miles to be exact. Griz - i'll catch you next month, buddy.

finishing up with a troublesome knee, we stopped in to see the Reigning King at the trailhead and hear of his woes as he was dethroned. then we set off to finish the ride with RCST's crowning achievement, Rock's Ridge. in 7 years, that trail never ceases to make a special kind of impact on me when i ride it. i hammered it hard and made it almost all the way through before catching a toe on the rocks and going down. it must mean i'll have to come back next year.

coming down off the mountain we came across 4 equestrians, who had great timing to be hitting the trails as the event wound down. they were verypolite and smiled gleefully at us, but their horses thought less of us and farted rancidly as we passed. we got back into camp and mistook the remnats of friday night's chili cook off for lingering horse love.

we packed up and headed out, with a very full explorer and very tired riders. not many people were left when we rolled back in, i doubt that we had much company in hitting the trials for another 20 mile ride on sunday. we hit sheetz and i fell asleep on the way home. always a good sign.

in summation, i heard numerous comments of praise and not a single complaint throughout the weekend, though i probably made more than a few myself. i spoke with people from all over this state and others, Maryland being the most prominent. so long as RCST keeps hosting the event, these people intend to keep coming and enjoying the trails and riders again. i look forward to seeing them all next year. and the year after...