Monday, December 1, 2008

WAEL @ Ray's!




Ok, so I have to admit, working at a place like Wilderness Adventure, comes with a lot of cool perks. Usually when you think about perks that you get from a job you think of things like, your own cubical , paid holidays, and a stapler, and maybe if you are lucky you will get your name on a mug for Christmas or a sweet tie with the company logo on it. Well here at W.A. we have a different set of perks. Perks that I feel are worth far more than a desk with your name on it or even your own company computer. What perks am I talking about you ask? I am talking about perks like, lifelong friendships, new experiences, getting up in the morning and wanting to go to work, the support of your peers to be whatever you want to be, the memories you create, and the people you meet. There is nothing like it…..
I was writing the above paragraph for another blog I was going to do for the website. Now fast forward 2 days to Wednesday morning…….
What is worse that getting up at 5:00am on a weekday to drive to Ohio? The answer is waking up at 4:00am on a weekday to drive to Ohio. Yes, us WAEL staff are at it again. Another trip, more memories, more new people and awesome experiences. This time we are headed to Cleveland Ohio , to Rays Indoor Mountain bike park! Yes you are reading that right, an indoor park! Only in flat, corn filled, Ohio will you find a place like this. 115,000sq ft of ladders, jumps, logs, rocks, and a half mile XC loop! All jammed and crammed into a huge old warehouse that looks all but abandoned. Steve and I were lucky enough to meet up with Jake, Janine, Sarah and Chris for a few days of riding, and good times. So Steve and I get into Columbus at around 1:00 and meet up with Jake, Janine, and Sarah. We had just enough time to cram 5 people 4 bikes and clothes into Jake’s jeep and get on the road. 2 hours later we are at Rays. Rays is open from 5:00pm to 10:00pm every weeknight. We went on a Wednesday and Thursday night. The first night we got there just after 5:00, we took enough time to change, get our bikes together and throw a helmet on. Everywhere you look at Rays there is something fun to ride on , or jump off of. Or if you want you can watch other riders hit the stunts while you build up your courage. It did not take long and the building was full with all sorts of people. There was a wide variety of riders. BMX, XC Jake was on his All Mountain rig, and even a down hill bike made it in, “Cough” Steve “Cough” . It was awesome to be in a place where all you needed to fit in was a love for bikes. There were some older XC guys riding the same stuff as the BMX kids. I saw people that were Pro quality riders, beginners, first timers. Families, and senior citizens! There was even a 8-10 year old kid throwing 1 foot Can’s off a small jump on the pump track. I wanted to talk to the little dude and give him some info on our Youth Adventure Camps, But his mom called him out of the park because he needed to go home and do his homework.
Ray’s is divided into 7 main areas with other trails and stunts shooting off. Jake and I spent a lot of time in the GT Sport section, and the Mongoose expert section. The GT Sport section had lots of cool stuff laid out all over the place. There were ladders that challenged even the most skilled riders, rythym jumps, and a large platform that the BMX guys liked to pulling tricks on platforms and the staging area’s. The Mongoose section was filled with Ladders, skinny’s, and tons of cool stunts. There were teeters, double teeters, and even an elevator! The skinny’s and ladders in this section were even harder than the GT section. You had plenty of room to try new things and hone those skills. To the far left side of the GT section there was the Gary Fisher, pump track. Talk about a workout, and a heck of a lot of fun. It was a perfect place to work on your trail flow, and work on getting every ounce of pump out of each corner. there was even a beginner room for people new to biking, to work on their skills without the worry of being in the way or making a fool of yourself in front of the pros. Scattered around the park there are a number of lounge areas. I am not talking just some chairs to rest on. The SRAM lounge has 3 full gas fireplaces, wireless internet, food, comfy chairs and music playing around the clock. The lounge is a great place to rest, eat some pizza and get your energy up for another round. Just off the Lounge is the entrance to the XC loop. You would think that a Indoor Mountain bike park, would be kind of limited to the type of riding you can allow in such a small space. Well Ray has thought of everything, and devised a way to fit a half mile XC loop into a warehouse that is already busting at the seams. How did he do that? He built it into the rafters!!! That’s right you heard me! You have climbs, decents and a small but very fun ride in the rafters, where you can look down on the park and your fellow bikers shredding it up in the other various area’s Ray's has to offer. If all of that was not enough, Ray did one more thing to solidify this as one of the best Bike parks in my mind. He put in a foam pitt! Heck yeah! Now you can try all those tricks you are scared to pull on your local trails or jumps. That’s right, now you can work on turn down’s, or the elusive 360. Or if you are looking to challenge yourself, you can try to polish up that backflip, 360, turndown, flair, that you can’t seem to pin.
I guess what I am trying to say is that Ray’s is amazing. The icing on the cake is the people. I can’t say enough about the people of Cleveland. Everyone we met was down to earth and friendly. We became friends with Bob, “the guy behind the counter at Ray’s” he hooked us up with some free stickers and gave everyone in our group a free Ray’s water bottle. What a great trip! This brings me back to the point in my first paragraph. A perk can be something as simple as a good time with good friends you work with. I feel lucky to have worked with all of them. It’s a perk I would not trade for anything. Not even a sweet W.A.E.L. tie.

P.S. if you are in the area hit up Melt. It is a awesome place specializing in the art of making the best dang grilled cheese sandwiches on earth! You will not leave hungry!


As always, Ride or Die……and have some fun in between.

Dano

P.P.S. we will be uploading a video to the site soon, but it is not finished yet. so these screen shots of me and Jake in the foam pitt will have to do till it is done. Thanks!