Keystone Trail

Today we are off once again and I decided that I would mix things up a bit and take the mountain bike up in the dirt and play around for a couple of hours.

Generally it's a real mind battle for me because between the driving to get to the trailhead both to and from, then the actual mountain biking it takes anywhere from three hours or more to do only 10 to 15 miles. More times than not its more like 8 to 10 miles.

Classic Single Track

No matter it was fun and I found a single track that I really like. The first time down it I did not know what to expect and did not have my front and rear suspension turned on. This made for a fun filled, dental work rattling downhill! It was so much fun that just once was not enough so I turned around and cycled back up the jeep road to get to the single track again. This time though, I made a left hand turn and went up it a little higher so I'd have a bit more of a ride down.

My legs were pooped by the time I made it about 3/4 up the east side of the single track so rather than push things I stopped, took a quick photo while I caught my breath. Next I turned on my suspension this time, front and rear, pointed downhill and went for it.

What a blast I was having, even so much so that I clicked up a few more gears to allow me to catch up with the speed of the tires, get a slow, yet powerful, cadence going and zip down the hill. I felt as though I was flowing with the bike and the trail, one of the first times actually since owning the bike. Generally on that bike I feel a little high up, unsure of the stability and traction, in turn lowering my confidence and making me ride stiff and cautious rather than loose and flowing as I should be and was today.

Anyway I had a lot of fun and for the first time in a while it made me want to stay and ride more. Sure, as mentioned I only hit 11 miles today and put out a ton of effort on my legs and it was worth it. Hopefully doing so will also help me to improve my road bike performance. I am confident that it will.

Food

Once I was back home I was starving as usual so Cicely suggested that we go to the place we normally like to go for breakfast downtown and try their afternoon menu for a change. Don't have to ask me twice, so that is where we are headed as I type this entry. Should be good food just as it is for breakfast, if not I will report on that tomorrow.

That's That

Nothing more for today at this point. The sky is spitting a little rain on us, nothing like the past few days though, just a misting this time and in spotty areas. We need the water big time so it's a matter of take the warm dry days with the cooler wet days. Otherwise we are stuck with the really dry, hot days of summer which also gets old after a month.

Back to work tomorrow, then we have a three or four day weekend upon us again this weekend. Sounds good to me, I like days off, who doesn't!?

Photo: Stopped for a snack. Not sure what the rare plant is in this habitat, nice to know someone does and they are protecting it.