Ride # 1

Yep that's right, ride # 1 of the new year. It was a pretty sweet little ride through some trails that I didn't know existed within like 10 minutes of my place. I just wanted to go and ride and not worry about where, how long, or how many miles. Just go ride like I used to do when this area was new to me. Just get out there and pedal and see where this or that trail took me. It wasn't the SCST or the Fully Loop or Sylvan Meadows...it was just Some Trail in Those Hills Behind my House! If I wanted to right I went right and boy did I find some seriously tough trails. I did nearly a 20 minute hike-a-bike through some nasty rutted trails that had seen far too many 'throttle twisters' but that's alright it was a lung burner. The hardest part was to probably break the cycle of pushing the bike at every steep uphill. But as the song says 'what goes up must come down' and so I did and boy was it fun. Steep and technical so that it took more body English and bike finesse to get over, around and through the rocks, grabbing brush and sharp little S-turns. All in all it was an awesome time.

So why label it ride #1???? Well I had the goal of getting 52 rides in last year but really only started counting about July or so. Well this year I'd like to get 104 rides in. Mileage doesn't really count (although this evening in the shower I figured around 500 miles last year give or take a hundred) so just shootin' for the # of rides. So #1 down and only 103 to go.

On another Dirt Nerd front I think I will be entering my first XC race a week from this Saturday. It'll be race #1 of the Southridge Winter Series and while I don't expect to podium or do overly well it'll be my first race in nearly 12 years of riding. I'm stoked to be honest! All I have to do now is get the time off of work. I'll post the results and I think this might help me set some longer term goals for after the summer. (and yes the race will count as a ride towards my 103!) ;-)

Keep on spinnin' boys and girls.