The Lower 48

2007 at the Croom 50 Osias and I are slicing through some choice Central Florida single track. Most of the team had made the event. HtH, Shaun and "The Chad" had taken off a considerable amount of time ahead of us. That early morning was proving to be interesting. A Lil delay, a Lil rain, a Lil unpredictable mishap. I had forgotten either the bladder for my camel back or I had the bladder and not the pack, but one or the other was going on. And I had to prepare to do something that I had not ever considered doing. I have done numerous long rides, but never an off road ride with just a bottle.
Well as luck would have it I came across a guy I know from around the way and he had a bottle he could spare so I was able to ride with two at least.
In spite of it all, I didn't let it bother me. I just, you know, dealt with it like a pro would. I made a nutrition plan and Hydration plan and figured I would just have to stop to re water at every stop instead of just once. And it worked, but not with out mechanical problems slowing first Osias, then Me, when my wheel went out of true instantaneously after floating a berm a little too fast and a Lil too high.
Back then, I was still riding my cross bike, I hadn't upgraded to the "bitch" as of yet. And you can jump a cross bike, heck you can do anything on a cross bike, you just got to know what your doing. Its no secret that it was a cheap ass wheel set I was Rollin, OEM with the O.G. purchase of the bike. And I had already had it for three years, raced it hard several times, rode it thousands of road miles and done already 100 plus off road miles on the set in the past month, I was pretty sure I could of used a new one.
But Osias is the Man in more ways then one. I am starting to wonder if he is Human. Regardless, He took the wheel, with Trevor Buzz assisting he was able to man handle it back into ride able form. He did the physical work and Trevor twisted the spoke wrench and presto jumbo I was back on the bike.
So...
I'm in front, and Osias is behind on his single speed. His busted ass single speed that every time we do a ride on spend just as much time fixing it as we do riding it.
And I figure, this cross bike, has a 48 big ring, I'm going to slam it in that lower four eight and stand up and hammer and see if super human O can hang.
You can ask O yourself if he was able to hang or not for the length of my ten second effort.
But I was reminded by one important thing and it all came back to me this year at Tsali.
When O told me he had just done the entire course in the big ring; it sparked a rebirth of information I had let become dormant. That is what MTB racing is all about. Its about the BIG RING. Heck that is what bike racing is about, period. Check them time trial bikes, ain't no granny gear. Before I found out he was a doper, I have an image engraved in my mind of Jan Ullrich, doing that time trial at Alpe d' Huez in the big ring up hill.
Every time I'm scoping a race course I'm thinking, "OK, this section or this downhill, I could totally mash the big ring." But my boy O brought it into 2007 and kept it simple. Big Ring the whole course!
Amen brotha!
AMen.
So to my fellow country men and women, team mates, single track warriors and samurai. If you ain't big ringing it, then what are you waiting for?