OK, I should have been more explicit on the invite that it was going to be an exploratory ride..  So an epically large crew showed up, parking lot was full mostly A-team, with some B-team (B for bail).. But no E-team (the excuse masters - if you didn't ride, then this was YOU!!)..  Team Crash, Brick, Tubeless Todd, Sock Stuffer, Trouble (Ironically #11), PUke, PMD, Hot lips, Drug dealer steve and his 2 friends plus a dog named skip..

    So I guess it was apparent 5 minutes into the ride that this was an initiation derailure busting tour for the 2 new guys - hopefully we didn't scare them away or piss them off..  PMD leading the pack from behind we head toward Guidas on rocky blue double track, some logs, a sign of things to come.  U-turn, back up to bushwack logging road #1, mostly rideable, its a whole new kind of technicality (lots of P-twang!)..  Sick of following anything that even resembles a trail, the crew decides to venture off the trail using the PMD-HotLips guidance system that actually leads us to the trail we are looking for - the hawk trail..  It hasn't been ridden since 1986, but is pretty cool..  Nice ridge, riddled with sticks, needs some maintenance - but it dead ends at logging so we head back, more logging at the old hut, we stumble onto a fire road...  Fire road downhill for a while, then premature left turn on logging road up..  Finally, we reach the blue ridge trail..  Most of US take a right for a quick out and back (since we want to ride all the trail we can get our grubby little hands on), DDS and friends are sick of following us and bail (B-team).  Hope they had a nice ridge ride back anyway, and thanks for the drugs DDS!!!

    So the trail on the ridge was STELLAR..  Nothing short of pure adrenaline..  The out and back had a couple nice down hills and ups..  Back to the ridge we tried some of these nemesis up hills like 5 times each (10 for crash)..  At least he made one them!  Good showing for the rest..  To some down hills - first up - broken elbow..  Camera man should be fired but got one movie and one pic..  Pretty gnarly downhill with real consequences, Brick and SS were both on fire with the down hills and clean it, crash rides it twice, hell I even made it.. Trouble contemplated, TT couldn't see a good landing spot for life star.. Great spectation with ridge views of lactation and striper mines, were PMD studied spanish  (COMO esta las montanas en la biblioteca del esquiamos en la playa..... por-favor)..  Onward to the stream tech rock garden, I swear at trees (not SS sorry man), PMD gets a flat..  So the group splits due to daylight, PMD hot lips and trouble (Trouble with 2 chicks - bastard) go left we follow the ridge.. Crash riding everything on the edge, hope he's an organ donor, uncle dave (mad dog), could use a knee transplant...  Anyway couple more epic downs, brick does a 1/2 endo on the flat trail but rides every other crazy section with no fear..  S-channel downhill SS slammes through, I get "stuck" behind the seat, Brick takes the "straight" line..  Next up mini Lewinsky drop, everyone cleans, I do an endo behind the seat tree grab and wrench my neck..  SS likes the sound effects.. I am riding like sheeeit, but manage to balance on my bike for at least 10 seconds at one point... Hey here comes PMD, HL and trouble - Onward, Its dusk so we decide to take the ridge home, one more gnarly loose rock downhill crash cleans, I do the "balance beam line", SS goes straight, brick does tricks, TT lets go of the brakes, points and shoots, lots of lines for such a narrow hairpin loose rock trail..  Last nasty downhill, even crash STARTED walking until brick takes the alternate, off camber steep loose rock line and pretty much makes it, but looses some style points in the end, crash cleans, the rest pass.. 

    To Rubys for food and drinks - Trouble, brick, TT and puke..  I took a walk to the ATM and saw Barbie in the nail saloon and said hello..  Healthy food for all, slow but perky waitress..  Talks of fall vacation white wine and red women...  Blah Blah Blah  People who haven't made a ride in like 2 years (the list is too long)...

Rating - Nice ride - lots of "behind the seat" riding...  The ridge was 5 bowls of Choco Crispies with olive oil, john bobbit banana slices on top for GC..  The bad section was one bowl of cheerios covered in yellow Doggie Diarrhea..  Put some cadaver scraps on top for "good measure".. LAP IT UP

Nice ride - pm