Mountain Biking

With the wind blowing about a million miles an hour on Monday, and after two long days in the saddle two days prior, I was a bit out of sorts for a road ride in more wind on the last "day-off" before it was "back to the factory". After we finished cleaning up the house, and then being treated to breakfast "out" though, I wanted to ride. Mike left for Camden on his cross-bike and I decided to follow suit and meet him there with my sorely unused, but very cool mountain bike!

Camden is perfect for windy days as it is falls and rises around the Redwood river, with a plethora of cross country ski/hiking trails, sheltered from the wind by trees and river grades. When I finally got there, Mike was practicing his mounts and dismounts on the cross bike. He makes it look so easy and smooth; he hops off the bike, jumps over a barrier and hops back on. Even if I practiced and practiced, I would never be able to produce those kind of moves on a bike. It always looks so comical when I even try.

Mike said, "hey, want me to show you some good trails?" Well to be honest, I didn't. I just wanted to roll around a bit AND roll around on the easy stuff. "Come on, I'll take you on the (expert) mountainbike course we raced on last week!" He was so enthusiastic, that I agreed to try.

And like the very cool dude that he is, he waited for me at every fork in the trail to be sure I went the right way. I was avoiding using my granny gears and when it got steep and I was struggling, he'd say, "Why not use your easy gears? Cody used them in the race even on the steep parts" Whew! What a relief. I thought I was supposed to try and power over the stuff, but he said if you got em', use em'.

To be honest, getting up the hills isn't the part I don't like. I'm a chicken about going down though. "You're never gonna get good if you don't practice" I don't think I will ever "get good." There were a bunch of beat up wooden bridges and stair steps on one steep descent which sorta freaked me out. But for the first time ever on a mountain bike, I didn't walk my bike. I rode the entire course, up the rocky and rutted climbs and down them, attached to my two wheels and I stayed upright! And it was fun.

So there you go! We ended the long weekend with a fresh caught fish feast with Minnesota Mom and Dad. We ate indoors this time though and stayed out of the wind...