Some time in the middle of last week... I was talking to a close friend and mountain bike riding partner of mine and we were trying to figure out when we could get together for a ride. While we were talking, we both mentioned how much we would like to try some new trails just for something different. She mentioned there was a race on Sunday, 10/16, in Rutland MA and we should do it. My response was that I already had a road race on Sunday so I couldn't make it and she said what about Saturday? The trail was already marked and they were allowing folks to preride the race course. To this I responded "Let me check with my wife." Once I did that, I responded "I'm in... where the hell is Rutland??"
Saturday 10/15 7:00am... I got picked up by my friend bright and early. We made the hour and a half - 2 hour trek to Rutland and came to what was actually a boy scout camp??? Odd but whatever. It was probably about 50 degrees out and windy as hell. Chilly to say the least and we parked right next to a pond so it was wide open and beezey. After talking to a few folks to try to figure out where the start of the race was we got dressed for the ride and took off. Probably just a mile and a half into the ride, we came to a stream to cross. Around where we usually ride, if there is a stream like this, probably 20 feet across and 1.5 feet deep, there is usually a bridge across it but not here. My friend went across first. Pedal pedal pedal. She made it fairly easily across. As I stood on the other side, trying to pick the line I wanted to take to get across, a couple other riders came along and blasted through the water. I followed them and really had no problem getting across. Of course now the rest of the ride would be with cold, wet feet and this would not be the last body of water we had to cross.
The rest of the ride was a lot of fun. I wish the place was closer to here since I found the ride extremely fun and pretty challenging. A couple extended rock gardens and a lot of fun single track. Steep uphills(this is where I would click the "dislike" button if I had one) and some really fun downhills. We met another rider named Tom. A very talented rider, former downhill racer and trials rider. He rode with us for about 80% of the ride and was fun to have along.
We got done the 9.5 mile loop after about an hour and 45 minutes of actual riding. The ride was a real workout and so much fun! I felt tired but refreshed after being outside for so long. This is the part wher i get into the weekend warrior thing. I wish I could do this sort of thing way more ofeen than my schedule allows but for now it will have to do. My friend took some video on her phone of me crossing the stream and attempting to ride across a lengthy stretch of rocks but the file was too big to send. Once I get that I'll attach it so you can check it out crack jokes at my expense! Luckily there is no video of me struggling up the climbs!
That's all for now but I did run a 10k the next day (10/16) that I will post about shortly. Please bear with me as I try to get the hang of this blogging thing and feel free to leave comments about how I can improve the site and the entries. Thanks for reading!
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