What started out as an ordinary Saturday mountain bike ride had several surprises before the day was out, and ended up being a unique day indeed.

A cool, brisk Saturday morning brought 3 riders to the top of Reseda to ride the mountain dirt, and none of the 3 was named Joe or George! Rather it was John, Dean, and Robco who tested the tread made damp by Friday's rain; the soil was tacky, puddles were few, the riding was excellent. We headed up towards The Hub, then over to Rogers Road which we rode down as far as the big oak trees. We encountered a few slippery spots of mud, but nothing too bad and no damage to the trail by us. At the oak trees we turned around and headed back.

As we headed back, we were surprised by the appearance of long-lost Mario, who arrived late to the ride start but using his RCY intuition, guessed correctly which way we had ridden.

Thus our group expanded by 33% as Mario joined us for our return towards the Hub. From the Hub we headed back towards our cars at the top of Reseda, happy with the 15 miles we had covered and ready for some rest and food. But another surprise awaited us at the top of Reseda which changed our plans.

Giant Bicycles had set up an area on the pavement at the top of Reseda in order to allow riders to test ride some of their new bikes. They were planning a group ride of about 8-10 miles and the 4 of us, though tired, could not resist the temptation of trying long-travel full-suspension bikes.

About 8 people led by a very friendly and helpful Giant employee (I've forgotten his name) headed up to dirt Mulholland, over to the Hub, and then around the Eagle Rock Loop back to the Hub.

Riding this bike was a unique experience for me. Riding down some of the rocky trail near Eagle Rock, I was able to ride right over rocky obstacles that on my 4 inch travel cross country bike I would have snaked around. It almost made riding too easy on the downhill....like riding in a big plush cadillac. Of course, the uphill was a bit tougher on this bike which probably topped 30 pounds. But nonetheless, it was a great experience and would be a great bike for hucking in free-ride country.

From the Hub we headed back to dirt Mulholland where some elected to end the ride with a return to the top of Reseda but most went with the leader for a final descent down Caballero Canyon. Over the almost 19 years I've been riding Caballero I've never descended this beloved trail faster. The Fox suspension just soaked up the bumps almost as though I was on pavement. Zoom, zoom thru the canyon. And yet, that feeling of invincibility that plush suspension can generate also has its dangerous side when small mistakes are made.

John was speeding through the canyon and was on a flat section near the bottom when he suddenly went hurtling towards the earth. He doesn't even know what he hit or what caused the fall. Fortunately he was able to get up and ride out like a champion. He feels lucky in that his face just grazed the ground....if a rock had been there it could have been catastrophic. The folks from Giant were great, giving him first aid, helping him call his wife Maureen, shuttling his bike back.

John's wife drove him over to the ER at Tarzana Hospital where he received about 7 stitches in his right knee and a couple more in the left. He may even have a souvenir pebble still lodged in his knee--an xray said so, but the doctor could not find it. So John is on an antibiotic and some pain killer and will be off of his bike for at least a few days ;o( . John was very stoic about the whole affair and kept his cool throughout. He figures that with no broken knee caps or severed arteries or tendons he was lucky. Come back soon John!

Thus a day which started out with an ordinary ride down to the Rogers Road oak tree and back ended up with a unique 2nd ride testing Giant long travel bikes and an unwanted crash that dampened an otherwise great day of mountain biking.