Mohican During the Week

To celebrate Ryan's spring break I took the afternoon off work and we headed to Mohican for a lap.  The weather was very agreeable, around 50 and sunny.  I expected good trail conditions based on recent weather.

We were greeted by a new kiosk sign with map

in the main MTB parking lot.  It looks nice.

Let's just say my Paragon has been neglected of late, mostly due to the Karate Monkey getting all the attention.  I dropped my chain twice in the first several miles before using a chunk of wood to smack my inner chain guide into proper position.  Ryan said, "Wow, I'm suprised to see you beating on your bike."  At least it worked, no more chain drops.

Maybe a couple miles later I realized I'd ridden the first three or four miles with my fork locked out.  Nice.  All I can say is my previous Mohican ride was on the rigid Monkey and, by comparison, my locked out fork felt plusher as it does have some compliance when locked.

Headin' up.

We enjoyed pretty much perfect trail conditions with only the occasional grease spot.  Ryan put his new front tire to good use and was ripping up the trail.  All was good until we reached the covered bridge and expected to do some climbing.  "Trail Closed."  The sign said something about forest clearing for a gas pipeline installation.  So we resigned ourselves to the road which was also a good climb, but less entertaining.

Thankful it's just temporary.

We stopped for some food at the second trailhead.  I had made some rice cakes with egg and bacon in them, so we gave them a try.  Pretty good, I'd make them again.

Victim, i mean recipient, of my cooking.

The next couple miles were okay but somewhere around mile 22 I stood to pedal up a rise and was shut down with cramps in both my quads.  Perfect, first the bike then me.  I was reduced to spinning cadence for the remainder of the trail, but still enjoyed the ride.

The last incident of the day was a mud splash Ryan took to the eye in the last quarter mile of trail.  One removed and subsequently lost contact later, we were on our way back home satisfied with our spring break ride.  It didn't feel like Tuesday on the drive home... I wonder if tomorrow will feel like Monday at work?  Whoo-hoo, short week!