Marks -vs- Food

The Mark boys took on a Man -vs- Food challenge today.

At Chick & Ruth's Delly in Annapolis, MD we took on a 6 pound milkshake.

In the epic struggle of Mark's -vs- Food - today the Mark boys prevailed!

Panda Cone Party

We were fortunate enough to host the 2011 World Championships of Cone in our basement this year. After drinking their pre-competition Mt. Dew (thanks to my wife) the 2nd and 3rd grade boys were ready to roll.

Can't is the Cancer of Happen

A wise man recently said: "Can't is the Cancer of Happen" and there were alot of reasons that this trip shouldn't have happened.  It's a two hour drive and I had to be home by five would be one of them.  The major storm dropping 2 inches of rain on Altoona would be another.

Tony showed up for the party only after reading the directions

All week the isobars and radar didn't look good for Sunday so we moved our regular Sunday ride to Saturday.  An early 7:30am departure from Frederick in misty rain had the others a bit concerned.  Todd started a "For the sake of discussion..........." conversation in Starbucks complete with horrible-looking radar images on Tonys i-phone.  The weak of heart, less optimistic, or those who hadn't heard a BStimate before might have been swayed by their semi-convincing argument.  To his credit, DKeg, took the bull by the horns and got us rolling as we narrowly averted a wet, slippery, and misty ride in the Shed.  Dkeg has seen both the rainbows and the unicorns on several occasions.

Rattling Creek is an easy two-hour drive from Frederick and features 23 miles of the best singletrack in PA with very little climbing and just enough rocky stuff to keep you on your toes. For the most part it is fast, rolling, picture-perfect singletrack in a remote location with beautiful mountain creeks and an overall wilderness feel.

Shawn banging 7gram rocks

Shawn joined us on the road and we all hit the parking lot simultaneously.  There was a light mist and a few patches of snow remaining on the ground.  While it didn't look ideal, it wasn't raining, wasn't freezing, and we were going to ride regardless.  It was great to have Shawn alone, being semi-local, he knows the trails better than I do, which took a little pressure of me and meant we really didn't need to worry about maps.

Frank isn't Bi-Polar, he's Bi-Winning

He rolled us out Doc Smith, which is so good in this direction; and then up the gradual Fawn Kill trail to Shale Run, Grimm, Lukes, and then the super-fun Wolf Pond.  By this time, the mist was clearing, the temperatures were rising and we were able to hand out at the hang-glider launch and eat the proscuitto sandwich I had brought along.

I've got one speed - GO!

As we crossed the road to begin Rocks Ridge, the sun was actually trying to peek out.  Rocks Ridge was riding really well and we were able to session both lines at the little rock out-cropping.

We bombed the Matter Trail and then linked up to Rattling Creek Trail via Dry Run.  Rattling Creek trail always pleases.  This early in the season I was a little too tired to hammer it the way I like, but it is so well laid out and beautiful it is hard to appreciate how much time, effort, and skill went into designing it.

Todd's stripes are a reflection of his tiger blood.

The switchbacks at the end are textbook perfect and little stream crystal clear with trout fry swimming in the sandy patches between boulders.

We jumped on Hopback and rode it back to the lot.  Now it was warm, a little windy, with the sun trying to break through the cloud cover.  We were all a little spent and with my yet undisclosed timeline we opted to skip the loop (another three miles of trail) and head to Al's of Hamden for pizza and beer.

Larry's Map

Als is amazing.  I had a tasty mini-stromboli, but it's really the beer selection that is so impressive.  They had three hand pumps going, maybe forty other beers on draft, and then a hundred or so more available by the bottle or can. 

Frank and David dropped my off at the Black Hog for my brother-in-laws birthday dinner, where I found the whole family outside waiting for a table - perfect timing, perfect day.

-Thanks for all the photos DKeg.  You can link to more of his great photos here