The weather has been fickle out and lot of pouring 38 degree rain. I've had
several days where I thought I could squeak a ride in before the clouds
opened, but the weather gods wait until everything was loaded and then the
flood gates would open. This makes for a great ski base up in the mountains
but sucks for riding. Finally a reprieve... cold crisp, a bit a low sun and
NO RAIN. The sun is out, low and filtered; the fog has burned off, I collect
my friend who has the disease as bad as I do and off we go.
We are fortunate around here in that things dry out pretty darn well after
the rains. The sandy soils are firm, the loose gravels stabilized, and the
dirt is tacky, not goopy. Surprisingly, everything is green! The rain has
brought out new undergrowth and it almost feels more like early spring that
late fall. It's refreshing out. Occasionally you get these whiffs of
conifer perfume that are very holiday like.
My goal on this ride was to actually ride the new trail I helped build -
hadn't had a bike on it yet. My friend had seen it after the first work
day, and she couldn't believe the different 80 hours of hard work makes.
The sun is out, and the larch trees still are all aglow like
http://www.fttrc.org/photos/rs/devils/IMG_3141sm.jpg
The upper rock section is fun - not so smooth that you don't have to pick a
line or use a little body english with the rocks that populate the trail.
Then, into the twisty section, around the switchback, and a fast runout on
to the mainline. If we hadn't run out of time I would have ridden back up
just to try it both ways. But it was pumpkin hour for my buddy, so we had to
make a mad dash back to the trail head.
penny