The weather doesn’t get much nicer than this in Humboldt County in February, still I was surprised by the number of people who showed up. It was surprising because of the nature of the ride we scheduled. Not a lot of people, save for mountain bikers who refuse to shuttle to Red Gate, ride up Fickle Hill Road and there’s a reason for that; it’s a really challenging climb.

We had 40 riders on the roster and there were additional riders who weren’t. I do believe this may be a record for the Butler Valley ride, and maybe for all Banana Slug Rides. There was a handful of those who did not finish, and one who did not start. Michael “shoooot” Chapman left his riding shoes at home. He said something about going and getting his shoes and riding the TUC route in an act of contrition.

At the end of the day, all riders were accounted for, and we didn’t hear a single complaint. In fact, all riders seemed to enjoy the ride and most of them expressed their gratitude to RCMBA for hosting these events.