It's BASH Season!!

And the BASH will consume me and hubby's non-work life for the next 10 days.

It’s that glorious time of the year again – the annual trek to Camp Muckleratz near Halifax/Lykens/Elizabethville, PA for 4 days of mountain biking heaven in Weiser State Forest with 200 or so of our like-minded friends. This year is special. It’s the 10th year since RCST is putting this thing on. This will be my 7th straight year (I think -- I can't recall exactly! It might be my 8th) and I’ve watched it grow from 2 days and 50 folks that first year I attended, to this year’s record near 200 for almost 4 days. There are a handful of folks that share in the many, many years of fun. Keith Whitcomb, of course, is the brain child of the event and has been there for all 10. Don Andrews was there for 9 of them – we haven’t heard a peep from him this year yet (but likely will the night before). I believe Jane and Dave Grant have been there for at least 9 of them if not all 10. Birdman (Robin Reinhart) may be one of the few that have been there for near all of them too. Others share my 7-year record or close to it. My hubby Ricky is a six year veteran. I believe Donna and Brett Weiser are also 6 years. Steve Tuck might be 8 or 9 years along with Dean the Bikeman (Dean Hower). And other frequent riders are Rick Begley, Emory Ehrenfeld, Rick Michael, Joe Daversa, Teresa Spitler! and I'm sorry if I didn't mention you but I know there are more. Why the excitement??? Keith said it best; "it's like a family reunion man..." Not to mention it’s private property so we can DRINK! Hubby and I are the oddballs of the mountain bike community and don’t drink – but we enjoy watching everyone else make fools of themselves. And the Camp and atmosphere is VERY laid back and relaxing. No special rules, no guidelines, no cell phone reception (true!) and you can simply de-stress for a couple days and drink, and ride, and drink, and ride. We also purposely kept it small all these years but that may be tough to continue to do as long as the popularity of the BASH grows. My perspective has been from the registration table and helping to organize the event for the past 6 years. Our job is to make sure everyone else has a good time – and we do our darndest to make that happen. So here’s to another great year. RIDE!!!