Turkey Burner '09

Second year in a row I have made it to the Burner and its the second year in a row I probably should have stayed home warm on my couch with a coffee.

I set off this morning in the rain hoping that the weather was better down south. It was not. Pretty steady rain and temps in the 40's. Not sure if that is better or worse than last years snow/rain mix and temps in the 30's. I think I liked last year better, snow doesn't get you quite as wet.

I think a lot of people agreed with me because the head count was much lower this year than it was last year, its a shame they haven't been getting the nod from the weather lately. I have heard this ride has drawn near 300 riders in the past which would raise a lot of money for a good cause. Not sure if they even hit 40 riders today, every person I knew that was thinking about riding bailed so I was on my own.

But I threw on just about every piece of cold/wet weather gear I owned (why own it if you aren't gonna use it?) and actually felt awesome for the first half of the ride. Just cruising around on some of the fireroads, staying dry. Ended up seeing a few familiar faces and rode with some groups here and there. Then slowly but surely the water started to find the kinks in my armor. In another couple minutes I was soaked to the bone.

Made it to the 'rest stop' and downed some chili on offer from the local Fire Dept and wasn't really feeling doing any singletrack at that point. Wouldn't be long before I started getting cold and FOMBA doesn't really drain that well in spots and I didn't want to ruin any trails. Finished up the lap around the lake for about 12 miles and (more than likely) put a period on this years riding season.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19680894

Word on the street is snow in the forecast soon and I have already seen a tweet from Jay Peak saying it is snowing presently....can't wait.