Riding on the Hatfield and McCoy Trail

Isaac and I got an invitation to go riding on the Hatfield and McCoy Trail with some guys that we met a the Tyler Mountain Track. Steve and Jacob are a lot of fun to ride with. They ride on the trails a lot and know them quite well. It has been in the upper 40's and low 50's most all week, even though it's been wet, it was plenty warm enough to ride. The trails were pretty muddy and it took Isaac a bit to remember how to ride his 65, the clutch and shifting still are not quite natural for him. A few times he got frustrated about stalling the bike and not being able to get it started again. He was having trouble getting the bike into neutral. Turns out his shifting lever was loose and fell off. We got that fix the best that we could with Steve's trail tools.

Here is a picture of us on a creek crossing trail. It was tough riding. There were new fallen trees on the trail, 3' deep puddles, branches all over the trails. In the end, we had a blast and it cleaned most of the mud off the bikes.
Here is a picture of Isaac and Jacob by there bikes. We rested at this spot on the trail. It is right after two spots that Steve carried the boys bikes over trees that were too big for the 65's to get over. Isaac says that he loves creek riding now.
A few hundred yards up the trail Isaac was following behind Jacob and decided that it looked better to go to the right instead of the left where Jacob and Steve when. I was behind him and got a great view of his front wheel drop over a log and then the whole bike flip up in the air over Isaac. He endo'ed and face planted into the muddy water. I quickly laid my bike down and lifted his off of him. Then pick him up out of the water. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, that's cold!" The water was pretty cold. I got his bike off of the log and on we went.

The boys took some time to climb trees and splash in the water for a bit while we took a break.

Shortly after we got out of the creek crossing trail we headed up a hill and Isaac didn't follow. I looked back and he was having a tough time with his bike. I when back down and his shifting lever had broke off. He was stuck in 2nd gear. That make riding a bit tougher, but it taught him how to feather the clutch when the bike bogged down. I got him started down the trail behind Steve and Jacob and jumped back on my bike... 3 min later I figured out it wouldn't start because the gas was off, again. (When you lay your bike on the ground you need to turn off the gas, or it will drain out.) So, I was on the hunt, on trails that I didn't know, and it was getting dark. I followed tracks in the mud for a long time, and then started feeling like I could get out of there. I ended up beating the others to the truck by about 5 min. They took a short cut because it was easier with Isaac limping his bike. Steve was great with Isaac, very patient, safe and knew the right things to do and say. I didn't worry about them at all.

Isaac figured out where the best place to be after a hard day of riding... In a giant, hot bubble bath. Except he was making a funny face.
We are both very sore, but it was worth it. I can't wait to go riding with those guys again.