Unhappy Looking Fat Lady Hiker: Hey! You shouldn't be on these trails; you bikers mess things up. This used to be nice before you all started riding here.
Me: You do realize that the trail you are presently on was conceived, planned, built, and is maintained by a mountain bike organization, right?
ULFLH: Well that doesn't make it right!
Me: (internally: WTF???) Lady, you can criticize me for riding this trail when I see you out here helping to build and maintain things, okay? (pedalpedalpedal)
ULFLH: huffpuffhuffpuff.
Yeah, that set a really nice tone for the rest of my ride yesterday. I was so irritated, a massive case of CRFS developed. Thankfully short lived, groove resumption occured fairly quickly. A nice little trail session got me good and ready to go to work tonight.
Let's cleanse the palette with a little bike porn.
I was taking it easy, after cranking my right ankle a direction nature did not intend it to crank last Sunday. The spousal unit made me take a couple days off from pedaling, which was making me grumpy. Days off? Beautiful weather? No pressing business otherwise? Hamstrung (hah!) by a lame ankle? Screw that! Don't even go there; we're riding, pinky - spoken in my head by the bikes.
The ankle? Yeah, how did that happen. A stupid little stone step up, maybe 18" max. Front wheel up, oops! Hit it a bit off getting the rear wheel hopped up there, now we're going doooooown, Cap'n! Crunch. Pop. Well, it felt like that. Range of motion: sorta. Pain: for sure. Heading home: nope. Finished a several hour slog fest at Case Mtn. outside of Hartford.
I don't know the place, and the folks intending to guide our three hour tour apparantly didn't either, despite their protestations to the contrary. Then there was the running out of water, and the murmerings of not being prepared to be out that long. Yeah, uh guys, that's why I ride with this big freakin' pack. You know, the one with all the water, munchies and spare stuff inside...that allowed me to spend five hours putzing around the woods by bike today without bonking and running out of water...
Soothed by the tasty beverage, driving home was much nicer. Time to plan the next day of ride time.
Yeah, Ninham and I have unfinished business. Some ice, ibuprofen, and sucking down a lot of water had the cankle ready to ride. C'mon man, what are you waiting for? Dooooo it! Things felt pretty good, with the addition of a 661 ankle armor thingy to tha afflicted body part.
Ran into a few other riders in there; odd for early on a weekday. We joined pedal superpowers and showed one another a few side trails neither party had seen. Good stuff. Joe and Harry, coming on down. Joe professed to not having ridden much in quite a while still managed well, and Harry was an old dude on a hardtail 29"er. He skipped some of the more ugly rolls and drops, but otherwise slayed things. Good to see him out there.
We parted ways, and I made sure to go and slay the demon. The one that had been in the back of my mind. Doing this one with a group the last time I'd been here went well, though my landing was not the smoothest. Unsmoove enough that it sketched me off doing it again that day. This day it got dialed. It's like buttah.
Back at the car, I see two cats roll into the lot, one riding on his flat. They'd only been out a short bit, and he was on his second. Having my post ride brew, it seemed cruel to enjoy it while they worked on the tire. They conned and cajoled me into another lap. Ugh. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Labor Day, indeed. Actually managing to stay with them, and up front much of the time shocked me. Of course, by the time we were back and it really was time to head home - I was completely hammered.
I was, no longer, a fun guy.
A nice sleep happened that night.
Other rides in the last week? The local spot got some time. I really like the place. I find new lines and ways to ride stuff all the time, by riding stuff in other directions, switching up loops, riding different bikes there.
Signage for new trail? Oops, no, not legit. And in a spot with plenty of hikers, equestrians, and NIMBY types. Signing your intent to build an illegal trail is just f'ing stupid.
