Motivation

I need some.
1 severely broken wrist + 6 months rehab + 1 new job + 1 60 foot oak tree dropping on 1 house + Krewet #2 due soon = very little 2008 ride time
Seriously, I think I rode a mountain bike (races included) less than 12 times in 2008. And that means I'm ready to ride.
So, I've signed up for this: Syllamo's Revenge
I've been to Mountain View, AR to ride the Syllamo trails a few times now. Erin and I first ventured down in 2004 and I've been back twice since with the DRJ. I've ridden many, many miles of trails in many different states and can't speak highly enough of this trail system. Built by and for mountain bikers, Syllamo has 50+ miles of prime singletrack. The only thing it needs is riders. When Erin and I first checked it out in '04, only Phase 1 was completed. Still, it was a beautiful September weekend and after riding over 30 miles of trail we saw only 2 other riders. And this was weeks after it was covered in Outside magazine. Maybe it's because it's Arkansas? Maybe it's because it's in a dry county? Whatever the case, we didn't see many more riders than that on the DRJ trips.
It should be a different experience to line up with 350 riders in May. This race sold out in less than 48 hours and I've already noted plenty of STL's finest on the list of registrants, which means I have some work to do. Not that I'm in a rush. 29 days into '09 and I still have 0 days on the bike.

A few pics from our 2004 trip:

Erin at warp speed:



One of the first production singlespeeds and the bike that got me hooked on the whole SS thing- my 1998 Bianchi BOSS (Bitchin' Orange Single Speed). When you look at this pic, do you notice the bike or the bonus view of the White River?



Riding singlespeed:



A few pics from the '06 DRJ trip:

You have to love the brown and yellow National Forest sign featuring the words "Mtn. Bike Trail":



Yes, Arkansas has snakes:



Arkansas also has smallmouth bass. We stayed near a tiny creek and I bought a cheapo ultralight and some of my favorite Beetle Spins at Wally World. The end result was at least a dozen smallies, a bunch of panfish, and one rainbow trout, which was totally unexpected. Nothing huge, but still good fun considering it was a feeder creek:



At Wally World in a dry county in Arkansas: