Having not been able to do a New Year’s Day ride, Ryan and I set our sights on a second-day-of-the-year ride. We debated the pros/cons of a road ride versus an off road ride. It was warm enough on Saturday to melt all the snow and it was cold enough last night to refreeze the ground. Today’s forecast called for sunny but windy conditions.
We decided to avoid the wind on the open roads and head to the woods. The Knob or Mohican? We figured the drainage at Mohican better handled yesterday’s thaw so we drove south.
There were several cars in the mountain bike parking lot but only one with a bike rack. We bundled up with multiple layers, heavy gloves and over boots. Gotta love the warming effect of the first uphill mile. We crunched along on frozen ground for 8 miles before turning around. I’m still amused by how the trail feels different in the opposite direction. It’s more than just downhills becoming uphills and vice-versa. There is some good flow to be found in the first couple miles after the turnaround.
At mile marker 4 we chose the short loop return to the start. The section along the campground is good fun and we had not ridden this section last time. I always like the last 500 yards of the trail. It’s slightly downhill with some rocks to drop over and then you come blasting out in the grass alongside the parking lot.
I stayed pretty toasty despite the sub freezing temperatures. The bite valve on my Hydrapak was constantly freezing up. Fortunately I could chew the bite valve and suck to get my Gatoraide flowing again. Ryan enjoyed a slushy bottle of sports drink.
It was invigorating to get outside on a ride, a good start to the year for cycling!
No comments:
Post a Comment