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Back to it (pict heavy passion post)

2K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  rockcrusher 
#1 ·
I lost it. I lost it hard. 2 kids, lose of a economic downturn building construction based job, becoming a stay-at-home dad, nights of no sleep, sick kids, wife working full time. It all conspired to keep me off my bike.

Oh i tried but every time I planned something something fell through and i missed the ride.

I finally got it coordinated this Saturday, a group ride with new people, a trail I have never ridden and a beautiful pre-desert summer day.

We gathered in the parking lot of a local cafe, infiltrating the ranks of the spandex clad, carbon wonder bikes crew, primping and preening for their ride up Mt. Lemmon road. We decided on route, we loaded into cars, we headed up.
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Up up we went, we dropped cars at the end and headed to the start. High up, cold and breezy. We suited up.
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the view is huge:
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We dropped in, some made it:
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some not as cleanly:
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Green Mountain is fun:
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It makes you pay for your play however and we paid dearly with a lot of climbing, a lot of hiking and a lot of "What the heck is the elevation here?":
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There are some cool things on this trail:
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Some of us rolled on hardtails, some with no gears, some with no suspension, some with big wheels and some with small wheels but all of us rolled together:
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There was little in the way of things that weren't prickly in the local flora, however even those that were were not without their beauty:
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The downs were fantastic:
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The landscape hasn't really recovered fully from the big fires:
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Didn't stop us however, we still rode there and enjoyed it!:
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I hope that I can get together with a group of people I have never before ridden with, explore a trail I have never experienced and have this good of a time many more times in my cycling life.

Just because you lost it doesn't mean it was lost, it was just waiting for you to remember where it was, retrieve it, clean it up and put it back where it belonged!
 
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#8 ·
thanks for the kudos. I just got a new camera (Canon T1i) a DSLR which is my first in the Digital Era, previously I had used a Canon Digital Elph but it was approaching 10 years old so it was getting long in the tooth and 3.2 megapixel and 3x zoom weren't cutting it any more.

Over the years I have developed a passion for riding and shooting. Not like a professional but i just like to grab a shot here and there, I shoot a few, try for good composition and then hurry up and catch the back of the group. On our next stop I take off again and get ahead, find a good spot and take some pictures, then repeat. So I kinda yo yo all over the place when riding but I get to ride with everyone in the group this way so that is a definite perk.

I was concerned with the size of the DSLR and lens but my older CamelBack HAWG with the external helmet pocket was perfect for holding a camera case and it was really easy access to the camera when I wanted to shoot. It kept the camera weight low and as protected as it would have been inside the bag. Is it like a Clic bag, kinda, maybe less accessible and not as padded but I have it and it works so for now I am not going to spend the money on another bag.

Hopefully I can get back to posting more in passion again like I used to! Fingers crossed here.
 
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