insert fart noise here

After all that, we drove over to the El Rio tacqueria for the best burrito I have ever had. Ever. What made it so yummy? Papas fritas y hambre, mis amigos. Little cubes of fried potato in the veggie burrito. I do not recommend their onion rings, however. While there, waiting for 20 minutes for them to make 12 burritos, we whiled away the time talking to the "cooler" for the local saloon. (He appreciated my intimate knowledge of Road House.) He claimed to be able to tell all kinds of things about people as soon as they walked in the door, and that it is actually about being nice...until it is time to not be nice. He said that most of the out of towners coming through were from Bakersfield trying to leave the heat. (They bring all their stupidity with them though, which explains the D batteries and the mystery foam, Lord Hayden.) For those that are not familiar with Bakersfield, it is the lamest place in California. Hands down.

When we got back, lots of people ate burritos. Then I went to bed; partied out.

Woke up relatively late, but refreshed. Coffee. Blueberry pancakes. Waiting. Chamois time, all kitted up. More coffee. Safety break. Waiting. A dozen or so people is a long time getting going- that surprises none of us. The morning turned into the early afternoon due to some very ill-considered decisions on the part of 2 and the resultant involvement of many. There was a horse trailer. There was a narrow and technical rock strewn road. There was a lack of skill. There was poor planning. There was a lot of back and fill, directing, ill-conceived attempts to dig out rocks which may have been boulders, human dynamics, losses of patience, and so forth. Waiting well is an important component of a successful field trip. It helps to have a well stocked cooler and some shade. I had long since changed back into my sneakers for comfort.



Fiasco complete, we piled into various vehicles to rendezvous at a different spot to accommodate everone's differing plans for leaving after the ride. I picked up some beers for the ride. We all met up and got into the shuttle cars.

To the top!

The day's trail- Just Outstanding. And it truly is outstanding.



F____ rode rigid and single, all weekend long. Hard.



The Manzanita Tunnel.

Right about this section I crashed. My foot came off the downslope pedal and I went over the edge and down into a thorny tree. I came to rest in said tree-head downhill , bike in the trail. I had torn my fancy boy white perforated! leather gloves, and there my palm. My first thought was how having wrecked hands would keep me from working, and that's no good. It ended up not being bad, just bleedy. I was able to right myself and remove my bike before F____ crashed into it.

My foot had come off the pedal on account of I forgot to grab my cycling shoes when we swapped vehicles. I found this out when I was getting ready to ride at the top of the mountain. What are you gonna do? Time pedals and sneakers are not a great combination, but that's what I brung.










Lots and lots of downhill. Lots. I recommend it.



Reload.


We sent our mountain bikes to C______, to be picked up by J____ on his way back later in the month, as we'd picked up an extra passenger for the return.



Going home.


In closing the Kernville Weekend 2009, I'd like to point out that canned beer snobbery is laughable. I can see your point about microbrews, but if you chose a can of ________ over a Hamm's you are kidding yourself. And, it would be a whole lot of fun to tour over CA 155 earlier in the spring, as it is a twisty windy road with little traffic.