So i finally made it to the shell on time to ride with the SCS guys. in spite of the fact that i was out the night before, and got to bed at around 3:30 am, i woke up bright and early at 7:45 (which i can never do for school) and made my way out to LC-F. It was nice not having to haul ass to get to the spot on time, and actually having time to pee, drink a gatorade, get gas, and shoot the shit.
The SCS ride was pretty big, 20+ bikes, varying skill levels. There are the club racers, and the new guys, and the guys that like to take it slow because they're smart. I felt like i should be in the middle of the pack, but for some reason, took off with the smart guys. They took it real easy up the crest and left about 5 minutes before everyone else so they'd get there at about the same time, and i didn't want to pull DY passes to get ahead so i stopped at the ranger station to get my earplugs in and wait for the rest of the group.
The rest of the group came rumbling by, and i fell into line at the back. Not that i resent the backmarkers because it's fine if they want to ride a certain speed which may be slower than my pace, but after making a few passes i got stuck behind a guy who wasn't checking his mirrors, or wasn't aware that i wanted to get by him. It's hard to not be a dick when someone doesn't recognize your hi-beam requests to get by, so i stayed in that position, resigned to crawling up to newcombs.
The SCS ride starts at the shell, goes to newcomb's for breakfast/refreshments, and then heads out to the tree. This is counter to the way i usually hit the crest, which is generally tree, then nukes via 9 mile. So it was a little weird, and really cold bullshitting up there at nukes, but after an hour or so, a group of us headed out to the tree. Pretty much the fast guys, and me.
After the previous day's ride (Big Bear, in particular) i felt like i lost a little bit of canyon carving innocence. Like i said, the speeds at which i'm riding the canyons are getting to be a little high, and i'm going to have to start doing trackdays to get my fix in a safe and legal manner. Still, the pace set by the "fast guys" was fast enough to challenge me all the way out to the tree. 9 mile i felt ok, but my favorite section of forest was an absolute blur. I've never ridden it that fast, but i mostly kept up with the group and felt OK (like i wasn't outriding myself or the bike) about the ride out to the tree.
At the tree, i let R jump on the daytona and take it for a spin. It was a thrilling sight to see him buzz the tree at a very high rate of speed. The bike sounds beautiful when you're in the saddle, but lord it sounds even better when you're not on the bike. A little quiet, due to the stock exhaust, but still every bit the symphony everyone gushes about when it comes to the 675.
Leaving the tree, the winds picked up and made the ride back down absolutely hair raising. The problem with having a feather light bike is that a gust of wind will totally interfere with the direction you're traveling, so you have to be able to adjust quickly to it. I made it back down in one piece though, and had a great time. I'll be out there this saturday to be sure.
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