A little ridin' fun

On Saturday, I went for a fun ride. Most of the trail in my neck of the woods is concrete, but there are a few stretches that are dirt road and/or single track. On this particular ride, I had about a mile or so of dirt road. It was out a bit in the country, and I thought of where I grew up. It was a relaxing ride. While driving south I saw two pheasants running within 20 feet of the trail, 10-15 cottontails hopping around, a bunch of prairie dogs, and water fowl whose name escapes me at the moment.

I had left about 6:30 am, and made it about 8 or 9 miles. It was getting close to the time when I needed to turn around when I saw my single track. I wish I could have had my camera there with me. The trail led off the path, had a little dip, and then climbed up and over a small hill. Time to go off the beaten path...As I headed down the little slope, cherry creek stood in the way of me and my single track. I was listening to U2's "In The Name Of Love." I geared down and started to plow through the sand and the six inches of water. However, the sand bogged me down and before I could clip out, I tipped over and shorted out all the elecronics I had with me. That was the last song my Ipod played. Sigh.

As that scenario played out in my head, I decided that I wasn't a professional biker, and I really valued my Ipod. I hit my brakes before my tires touched the water. The single track was still beckoning to me, so I pulled off my socks and shoes, and forged across. The water was a little chilly, and I think that scenario would have come true had I really tried to bike across Cherry Creek.

On the other side of the trail, I put my socks and shoes on, and headed toward that hill with the single track winding its way up the side of its face. There was a small bowl about 10 feet down, and then 10 feet back up again. It was a little steep, I lost momentup, coaasted backwards, and tipped over. Stupid clips....I am still learning how to clip out quickly.

I brushed myself off, and headed toward that enticing single track. Again, I am not too good at technical, and had to walk my way of the hill. After those couple of hiccups, I had a good ride up and down a few hills. Coming back, I came to the top of my hill again, and decided it would be fun to ride down. My best guess is that this hill had about a 30-45 degree slope and a length of about 100 feet. About 1/2 way down as I was fishtailing and trying to stay upright, I decided this was a very bad idea. And then suddenly I was down the hill.

Good ride. I need to get a camera. And take it a little slower... =)