Wednesday nights at the Round House Sports Center people gather to be portaged to a local destination for mountain bike goodness.

Even though I should be resting after the Butte 100 I decided to ride down and partake in the Wednesday night ride. Even though I re-rode some of the Butte 100 course the day after the race. Even though when I rode over my legs felt weak.

We did the Olsen Creek to Grassy Mountain Loop. I quickly discovered a similarity to the Missoula Thursday Night Rides in that we stopped often to chat and there was opportunity to go slow and enjoy the ride. Then on the most wicked decent in Bozeman we opened up for some Disney like roller coaster downhill. On the way back to the parked vehicle I discovered my mistake. My legs … lead.  Oh well, I will rest the next day. Right?

Wrong! Even though I know Ray’s Three Sandwich Rides to be total adventure, all night, death rides I went back to the Round House Shop to board the Mule Bus destination South Cottonwood.

The description of our ride, er adventure, from Erik went something like, “We go up to the second creek crossing and then hike our bikes up about 700 feet to a traverse that leads to the trail up the ridge then we follow the ridge. Oh yea, there might be no trail I don’t know. But …”.

I knew there was going to be trouble and the fact that I didn’t bring my headlamp prompted me to suggest I would leave the group and ride back home at 8 … ish. The climb was more like 2,000 vertical feet and I finally hit my limit of what energy I had left after last weekend. Two times I had vertigo episodes, one time almost veering off a cliff. Suddenly on the ridge I heard a familiar sound. The sound of derailleur being snapped off. It was Dave’s new bike.  Total bummer. But for me a chance. A out.

I rode down the Hyalite creek side and back home with him.  Bad for him, good for me. A way to graciously bail on the ride. I wonder if I can stay off the bike today?