i'm not one...

to give camba props, however i've got to in this case. it is often the case that i curse them as i ride. 'why the fuck did they put that rock there? wait, that's not a rock, that's a boulder.' 'bastards.' 'what do i need north shore shit in northeast ohio.'

however they have done a great job on the new metroparks' trail that i was able to ride the other night. this trail is about ten minutes from my house. so last monday night after teaching, i got home, and grab the bare minimum, grab the i.f., and out the door.

dashed down the hill into the valley, and hit the tow-path. as i got closer to the trail; i started looking around. i knew where the trail head was, but i didn't know where the trail went. question started to fill my mind...'is it over there?' 'it could go that way.' like a little kid on christmas. i get to the trail head, and begin to read the sign, but then like a new video game i rode with the 'who needs to read the instructions?' mind set. what i did grasp was that there were two trails. an easy. an intermediate. fine. i'll be riding them both.

the trail is quick. for both sections, it's about three miles. i did three laps in all. and that was only because i wanted to get home before the sun went down. like i said...'bare minimum'.

quite a few switchbacks. and on the fixie...fun. since i didn't bring a camera, i'll try and go through the ride. it begins with a small uphill. and then a left turn down into the woods. because of the location, they have many signs up warning you of what was coming. which makes sense. because of the 'novice' people in the area.

i hit the first switchback, grabbed the brakes, and skid around the corner. after you make the 'climb' up, and all down the side of the hill, and switchbacks. there were quite a few tricky turns around the hill, so i was able to skid my way around. also with the 'tight' course, i was able to skid on my non-dominate side; which is a great feeling. on the road i find myself skidding with my left foot forward only. but here i was able to do it with my right foot forward.

one corner i came in too fast, and up on a bank, and spilled. nice. on one of the laps i came upon a 'bridge.' they have many of these wooden bridges pressed against the hill side; which i assume is for erosion purposes. i came upon it hard on the bank of the hill. too hard in fact. since i was on the i.f. and the skinny tires, there was the possibility that the tire would get stuck in between the bridge and the hill; which would not be good. so i un-clipped my right foot (hill side leg) and pressed it against the hill side; all the while pedaling with my left. i kept pushing off the hill on the down stroke of my left, until i was pasted the bridge, and had the 'safety' to clip back in. i have to say...i was amazed by myself.

down some more into a built up bank, and on to a bridge (hammer, hammer, hammer) and out of the woods, and onto a gravel road, and a quick loop around the easy track, and out. just a great time. i even had thoughts about joining camba, with the intent of helping on upkeep of this trail. the jury is still out on that. i hit my pedal quite a few times on rocks and things, so on the next off-road fixie, shorter crank arms.

i'll be hitting this trail many times. if fact i'm going to get my wife on it. next time; which will be soon, i'll take my camera to get some pics.

until next time...

namaste...