Kingdom Day 4: All The Awesome

Day 4 begins, and we’re now starting to get a routine here. I don’t really know what that means but there’s a space between arrival and departure where the place is still not your own home, but it’s also not unfamiliar anymore. I guess we’re there today.

A quick look outside shows an amazing sky and the weather looks great. Unfortunately, that means a good driving sky for Jeremy plus Alex & Mark who set sail this morning. As the morning sets in, we are now down to 12 of us. Of those 12, the ride this morning is just 8:

Myself and Dominique
Utah
Magic
Ryan
Jim
Plus the 2 newcomers from yesterday, Brian and Jimmy.

Steve & Joy, Karin, and Capers all go solo on the day.

Our plan today is to hit everything, literally all the good trails in the main Darling Hill area today.

Gearing up to hit the trails for the day.

We do the usual up & over and proceed to hit all 3 Ts, Troll Stroll, Tody’s Tour, and Tap & Die. A few of the crew just does 2 but 6 of us decide we gotta get the T out. On the way up the Burrington Bench climb the second time, Jim blows up his cassette and our party of 8 turns into 7.

Tody’s Tour, the first of the 3 Ts we hit today.

At the bottom of the T-collector, where all the happiness shines after a downhill run.

We cruise the bottom run and hit Sidewinder, one last time. No final ride is worth anything unless you hit Sidewinder. A look on Strava tells me I have done this trail 26 times over the years: 2014 (2), 2015 (5), 2016 (5), 2017 (4), 2018 (6), 2019 (4). Having said that, I am not done in 2019 just yet. I should get 1-3 more this year.

Brian comes down Sidewinder for the first time ever.

D’s last run on Sidewinder for the trip.

The weather on the day was great, with the sky wide open above us. The last pass of the open fields & the church before we climb up to the shop are done under a splendid sky. As I sit here just 10 days removed from the trip, it seems so long ago, and I miss these amazing trails already.

A wide open sky covers the day with beautiful weather.

Looking back at the church as we head off to the top of the hill to the shop & food truck

We hit the shop and the food truck is open, which is a welcomed site to all of us. We decide this will be lunch, and D & I both get a burger which is tasty. We all grab some food but Utah gets just some form of rock-hard sugar. We hang out at the table and eat, while Jimmy sits in the pen behind us and drinks a beer.

A quick stop for a well-earned lunch at the food truck yields a delicious cheeseburger.

The view from inside the shop/bar.

After lunch, Jimmy calls it a day and goes home to pack up and leave. The drive up hardly seems worth it to be here just 24 hours, or less actually. Our day is now down to 6 of us. From a high of 23 people, we are the stalwart last half dozen.

We then go and do all the good stuff on the other side one last time. We get a last taste of everything, then cruise home and get one last taste of the river, which is too cold to jump in at this time of year.

A last view of the river that flows through town.

The Strava link on the day can be found here. All the good stuff.

Uptown, Herbs, up & over to Wood N You
Troll Stroll, Tap & Die, Tody’s Tour – all the Ts!
Eager Beaver, West Branch
Hogback, Piggyback, Hogback, Sidewinder
West Bench, Bear Back, West Bench
Up & over to shop – lunch break
Heaven’s Bench, Rim, Ridge, East Branch
Widowmaker, Pines
Riverwood, Leatherwood
Kitchel

With Jimmy’s departure we are now 11 left at the house. We are done relatively early so we have a lot of time to hang out and relax. Dinner is early, chili from Steve & Joy.

The last supper, a bunch of bowls of chili.

And that is a wrap of our last full day on the ground. At this point, we are not sure what tomorrow holds but the weather is not looking great. Tomorrow is indeed another day. We hit the sack early and get a good night of sleep.