Ride: Diverged 2.0

What a ride!  Amazing turnout for both days; I estimate about 90 riders in total – even with the rain.  The group I Super Domestiqued had 20 people!  Everyone had the right sense of adventure about Diverged:  fun, fun, and fun.

This is the perfect image for the day: incongruity. Tandem on singletrack; all smiles; four hours into the ride.

Here’s a quote from Austin S. – he describes the ride better than I could:

I found the ride was reminiscent of childhood adventures.  As such, it revealed new sights around every turn […]

 

When it seemed like I was utterly lost, I’d focus my eyes through the trees to some road and realize I recognize it.  The backside of a church, a high school, a hardware store, all the daily sights are seen from different eyes.  It does take on an out of body Keanu Reeves ‘whaoh’ sort of experience at times.

I think if I rode this another dozen times, I’d still get lost.   I’m sure the course in April is a completely different experience from the course under the dense vegetation of summer– if it is passable at all.

Signs of spring: green shoots everywhere along the route.

Open field and big sky. Perfect ride with Pamela.

Wondering what we got ourselves into, and if there’s a way back. Our tenacity was rewarded with many paths less traveled.

There are no signposts up ahead on the Diverged ride. Trust in the route or be lost forever.

Rapha, mud, and grass all converge on Diverged.

Thanks to all the people that rode with us.

Thanks to Honey Bikes for sponsoring the ride.

Special thanks to Ride Studio Cafe for putting up with our muddy tracks throughout the Studio!  Ride Studio also did the important work of getting the word out about the ride, they organized all the ride leaders, pulled together all the amazing food offerings – along with hours of baking biscuits – and managing all the hungry riders.

Look up ‘mind-blowing’ in the dictionary; you’ll find a photo of the Ride Studio Cafe staff.