Ididaride 08

After much delaying and trepidation, we were ushered from behind the velvet ropes of the waiting list onto the grand stage of the registered riders. Jodi called slightly more than a week before the 50 mile ride was slated to go off and announced that there were slots available from cancellations. We jumped on the chance like mountain bikers on free beer. Oh, if we had only known.
Now, for the uninitiated, the Ididaride is put on by the Suwannee bike association in white springs, FL. It is a fifty mile off-road ride held in January every year along the banks of the tea-colored Suwannee River, star of outdated songs. It's not a race, in that it isn't timed. The only point is to finish. Let me allay the tension and tell you now, we didn't. See, it started raining about 2:00 the morning of the ride and rained continuously until about 10:30. Since the ride started at nine, it was a nasty way to start a ride. Worse than the weather (did I mention it was 50 degrees?) was the trail. the first 5 miles was ridden on forest service roads cut through the north florida scrub, which is palmettos and pine trees. Normally, these roads are dark gray sand. After 2 inches of rain, they are black gumbo mud and water from pedal to bottom bracket deep. Worse than that, the roads are utterly boring. It's like the I-16 of bike trails.
Anyway, to glaze over the heartache, Carrie was done after five miles of gawdawful mud. I was frustrated and bored to tears, and we decided to chuck it in. You know when you're riding a mountain bike and daydreaming of being at WORK, it's time to bail. I was very disappointed in driving all that way and not seeing more than one tenth of the trail, but Carrie was not able to go any further. I was moving too slow to have warmed up, and starting the day with an average speed of 4 miles per hour does not make a good 50 mile ride. My bike was also making heart-wrenching noises. None of which makes me any happier about not riding.
The rest of the weekend was great camping with friends, despite the cold weather. We took Monday off to recover and clean bikes. Carrie's bike recovered nicely, but big red wasn't so lucky. On disassembly, I broke the bolt on the derailleur hanger, found out that most of the bearings in the rear suspension are shot, and found out that the Horst link where the rear shock is mounted is cracked on the weld. I don't think this ride was the direct cause of any of these, except maybe the bearings, but it's a pisser of a way to end a disappointing bike experience.
I'll probably give the ride another shot next year, but if it rains, they can shove it. I heard there was some nice singletrack, but the trails I saw would make me take up road biking. I had a great time overall, as I always do with my biking family, but the Suwannee trails certainly have to redeem themselves next time I ride there.