on the last day...

an enjoyable day out...
Originally uploaded by divine_gear

of the year; randy and i were able to get out to westbranch. we pulled up and the sign said that the mtn bike trails were closed. we then pulled around to the parking, and that was closed. checked out the sign that said that deer hunting season was over the day before. so we thought that it would be o.k. to ride. took a tour around the boat parking lot, and a ranger came up, took down the hunting signs, and the 'no riding' signs; and we were off.

the weather was great. not too cold. i would say when we started it was in the upper thirties. it ended in the low forties.

the entrance to the trail was a little muddy; however the 'lake side' of the trail was great. not muddy at all. covered in leaves though, which made turning a little tricky. i was taking the trail pretty hard, like it was dry; but i quickly learned, and slowed down a little. however as i warmed up...i gained back some speed.

this day i did get my quota in for flats. three in total. my first flat was the front; a thorn. new tube, and off. later on...we're going down a hill side, and into and across a stream; which was very slick going over the rock. because of this; i had to push up the other side, and i started hearing the 'spiss', 'spiss', etc...as the wheel turned. yelled out...'another flat.' it comes back 'are you serious?' 'yup.' rear this time. torn again. patch kit this time. as we were repairing the tube, a guy came by with his dog. which it was at this point i made up my mind...when/if we get a dog...i want a trail dog to ride with. anyway...we chatted with the guy, and he was off. so were we.

we took the loop up, and skipped the 'expert' section; however on the way down, on the other side of the loop, we took the 'most difficult' section back. coming through the rocks i noticed that my rear tire was slipping off the rocks. oh well. not enough air, but i'll get through. then i noticed that my front was really slipping. flat. 'are you freaking kidding me?' 'nope.' jammed a bunch of air in there and took off. 'screw it. we're almost done.' and that was the case. took the long out, and headed down towards the fields. saw some hunters, got covered in slop from the fields, and back to the car.

good times. great ride for the last day of the year. the next day (new years day)...snowed like a mother. nice. i may have to shovel my driveway. oh well...

namaste...