The Law of Diminishing Return

Things started out well enough I had a plan, stay on the hwy. and off the gravel. In the winter when the frost gets into the gravel roads and its been wet and then it warms above freezing the roads turn to goo. The freeze / thaw breaks up the surface, I’ve learned this lesson over and over again.

I was heading south on Stockport Rd. enjoying a 22 mph head wind minding my own business when I was passed by John Deere tractor. This wasn’t your baby Deere this was the double wide double good rig with duels on the back. OK! the rooster crows I was on his wheel like a fly on a manure spreader. I couldn’t believe my good luck a free tow and then a blast home with a tail wind what could be better? We headed down the long hill into the Cedar creek valley then across the Stockport bridge doing about 15. Right when we get on the other side of the bridge heading up the long hill out of the valley Mr. Jo six pack sitting high in his glass cab gives her the gas. I’m thinking WTF! who does this JD diesel jock think he’s playing with some 3 year old riding his tricycle for the first time? I jam her in the big ring and stay tight on his wheel, well actually it was his 3point hitch but you get the idea. A half a mile over the top of the hill I decide the tractor farmer has had enough so I pull over onto the side of the road and try to re-swallow my lungs…showed him. I turn around and head back, might as well check out the tailwind. I don’t know what happened, I think it was maybe a combination of the euphoria of "mission accomplished" and the fact that I had been breathing diesel fumes for the last 4 miles but I allowed myself to be tempted. Cursed are the weak that stray from the path. But there she was heading west just on the other side of the Stockport bridge the allure of gravel, no cars, beautiful sunset, fresh air, all right. The approach didn’t look to bad maybe a little wet and sticky but nothing a true biker couldn’t handle. ¾ of a mile in I drop down into a draw and it’s more then a little wet and sticky, there’s about a ½" of goo on the road but this is a draw it can’t get any worse, go for it I tell myself no turning back now.

Winter gravel road riding, the law of diminishing return states:

" At exactly the half way point of the ride, road conditions will diminish to the point of no return"

I turn north at the next gravel intersection to head back up to Glasgow Rd. and be done with the gravel experience. I’m very familiar with this road I’ve ridden it many times, there’s a fairly long climb up to a plateau then it drops back down into a valley with a bridge over a creek then a climb back out of the valley and a short run up to Glasgow and the pavement. So far things have not been to bad I’ve been in the goo but I’ve seen worse. The long climb up was wet and soft with some areas of ½" thick goo, I move back and forth across the road trying to avoid the worst of it. At the top of the hill at about exactly (oxymoron alert) the halfway point on the gravel road run the law of diminishing return kicks in. I’m now riding in a 1-1/2" thick soup of clay, sand and small rocks. I know I’m having a peak experience because so much of this stuff is being thrown up onto my chain it starts skipping on the cogs.

Ahhh the great outdoors just me, my bike and a two wheeled mud wrestling contest. Lesson learned, yeah right.
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