mud was the...

lesson for the day. randy and i headed out this morning to westbranch state park. we didn't think that it would be as bad as it was. were we wrong. had to get one loop in. no turning back.

from the entrance to the trail, we had mud everywhere. mud. wet. puddles. snow. slop. slush. great riding in northeast ohio. at the end of january. i'd rather have this, than wooden planks. the smoothie took it well.

it became a delicate balance between when to pedal. how to pedal. get into the pedal. gear. slipping. and a sliding. at our first 'gu' break; we were able to check the damage...

randy shows us just how muddy it is...



a self portrait...



what was ahead of us...



as the trail continued; we kept hearing gun shots, and dogs barking. hunters. wonderful. we stayed away from where we believed that they were. the last thing i want to do is piss off a hunter for 'scaring' away the 'game.' onwards then...

after a long and muddy climb, that ended with a down tree in my walking way...we figured that the field that leads us out would be slop and mud. so on to the rocks...



randy hitting the rocks, after i stalled...



i did surprisingly well. all things considering. i did better today, then on nice dry days. what's up with that? time for the logs...



doing good...be zen...



for the first time ever i rode the logs the whole way without falling off. go figure. i did better with snow, slush, and ice.



randy's turn...



forward on...



we had a good day. i had some antics in the parking lot. wheelies. bunny hopping over snow packs. good times. to all riders...enjoy the weather. feel the weather. get out there. don't spend your time indoors. remember why you got on your bike in the first place. nature. the logs. the trail itself. conditions will not always be perfect. so what. is life? (for me yes, but that's another blog.) riding crappy conditions makes you a better rider. i'm damn sure i won't fall off the logs come summer. if you are able to ride well enough in the crap, image if you are able to transfer those skills to the 'ideal' conditions. advance. go further with your skills. become more than what you are...i bow to your buddhahood. peace.