Page 8 of Geordie

William scratches his chin, considering. “There are a couple of CEOs you've met before. Those guys can always get away for a weekday ride. The third guy's a bartender who joined the club last year. He rides the trail a lot, practically lives here. Always practicing for a racing competition.”

I finish my checks, then go back to the cab of the truck to change my shirt, still talking to William about the general condition of the trail. The other three riders appear in the lot in two expensive cars followed by a beat-up truck bouncing in after them. William gives them a wave to let them know where we are. They each respond with a nod, then get on with the business of getting their bikes ready to ride.

Once we've all done our preliminaries, we ride to the entrance for William to give us a rundown of what to expect. I greet the CEOs from companies I don't recall and meet John the bartender.

William leans on his bike seat, helmet in hand addressing the group. “Since John has the most experience on this trail, he'll take the lead position.”

No one seems to object, especially me. It's been a while since I've been on this trail. I'll bring up the rear because I'll probably be the slowest. But who leads and who follows is flexible, and most the time we trade off that position. ”Alright gentlemen. Let’s have a great ride and John will signal when it’s time for a break.”

“Hey, you guys mind if I film this for my social media?” John says to the group. “I'll do an intro on my phone before we start, then I'll use my action camera to film the ride.”

I shrug while the two CEOs grin, nodding yes. They're corporate types in their forties and in great shape, or they couldn't do this ride. They're probably smiling because they'll be featured in a social media feed posted by a Gen Z racer. I can imagine the bragging that will go on in their offices tomorrow.

We're in the background while John pans his phone to talk to his followers, getting us into the shot. I've already got my helmet on, visor down, so they can't see my face.

John introduces each of us by our first names. When it's my turn, I give a thumbs-up to participate. When he finishes, John zips up his phone into his jacket, then clamps the action camera on his helmet. He adjusts the camera for a few seconds, swings his leg over his bike, then kick-starts it to life.

There was rain last night, which means water might have saturated parts of the trail. But with the thick canopy of trees in some spots, the terrain could still be dry.

John guns his engine, signaling he's ready to go. We all start our machines and follow him onto the path. He's going slower than usual, getting us comfortable before he pushes up the pace.

The ground is uneven, and the wet conditions have put another layer on the experience. I'm standing up, leaning back from my seat, my legs extended to get better control as I maneuver this rough road.

The trail starts out as a double-wide path for about a mile, then goes into a single track. The CEOs are riding side by side and William and I ride together until the path splits and our group veers off to the right riding single file, me in the rear.

John picks up the pace, and I'm working hard to keep up with the group. My heart's hammering as trees whiz by while I try to adjust to the ride. Right now, nothing matters except for what's in front of me, I need all my concentration on the road.

We work through the trees on a path that's fairly dry in this section. It must have been groomed earlier; there are few rocks, tree limbs, or wildlife to worry about.

The engines rev up, signaling an increase in speed. It's manageable, but I'm not able to drive on autopilot, not on this terrain.

William falls back, taking the rear, a sign I'm not lagging. The sun is lower in the sky. We make a turn and I'm temporarily blinded by the sun's rays. I signal William to move past me. He guns his engine, then zips around.

The bike eats up miles and time as we ride deeper into a sparse patch of woods. All my concentration is on staying upright and moving.

The distance widens between me and William. He disappears around a tight turn and it's a few long seconds until I have him in my sights. I swallow hard when I spy William's bike on its side and him dancing away before he gets caught under the machine.

I slow, but by the time I reach him, he's already pulling his bike up and mounting it. I lift my visor and ask, “Are you hurt?”

His dark visor goes up and he gives me a wide grin. “I'm okay,” turning to glance back at the ground. “I don’t see anything, but I must've hit a rock or something.” He turns back to me guiding his bike towards the path. “Let's go, they'll be wondering where we are.”

It takes a wee bit of time before we catch up with the rest of the group. Maybe they slowed for while noticing we were not behind them.

John is way in front, with the two CEOs trying to keep up. I've almost closed the gap with the CEOs, with William at my back. I’m relaxing a bit as the skills I've learned over the past few years kick in.

It’s the simple goals of staying upright and in line with the group through this endless forest that’s pushed all my persistent doubts away. It’s given me something like a reset. I hold on to this feeling as I watch John, in the lead position, working to control his machine as the landscape streams past me.

We come to a large area that's just dirt with no trees. John signals for us to stop and we fan out forming a circle. We've been riding for close to two hours, so the break is welcome.

William switches off his engine and addresses the group. “We’ll stop here for a ten-minute break before we do the back half of the trail.” He looks at John. “Is there anything we should know about in this section coming up?”

John looks off into the distance. “It might be a little muddier in some places, but it's still doable. We're going to be climbing, so I suggest you follow me up the trail and pay close attention. If I see anything, I'll signal.”

The others get off their bikes to stretch. Their conversations turn to them talking about their experiences with the trail so far, while I pull off my helmet and grab a bottled water out of my backpack. I lean back on the seat and take in the mountain we're about to climb.

William comes over to me. “You getting comfortable with the ride?”

I am. It's the break from the winery that I needed. I answer him with, “Yeah, I'm good.”

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