A Short 25 Miles?

The thing that always amazes me about digging long races and long rides is the fact that a day spent in the mountains riding 25 miles, much of it either straight up a f*cking hill and/or on dirt of various widths can seem short. Freaky.

Annnnyway, DPOW and I headed up to ride some mountain dirt. Once again Don crushed it on his El Mariachi single speed, and I did my best to keep up with him. We started right off with single track, which helped us warm up quick in the chilly 48* mountain air. Most of Lookout Loop was just perfect, then we crossed Jones and climbed single track the whole way back up to Fire Tower. Then RIGHT back down on Cherry. More dirt, more ups, more down, yada, yada, yada- we ended up at the base of Seven Springs on the back side.

We then climbed at 4 to 7 mph the same hill we both bombed down last Saturday at 43+ mph. I guess it was the mountain's way of keeping us humble. Don claimed that he had to get off and walk the last few feet to the top, but my aging ass was way off the back spinning up, so he might just be trying to make me feel good.

We hit a few miles of the Seven Springs 24 course, and then took the forest roads back over towards Route 31. Neither of us were really feeling an epic today, and were both pretty content to call it at 25 miles. We had done some nice climbing, got in some nice single track, and spend a couple and a half hours on our bikes. What else could we ask for? OK, sure skankless strippers, good beer, a Jack and Coke or two for Don and some warmer temps would have been nice, but c'mon, it's the "off season."

Took my camera, but for one of the first times this year, I never took it out. Just pedaled. The ride was fun enough.

Stopped in Pro Bikes after the ride. Jason asked if I had anymore XXC stickers, 'cause they're just about out and completely out of the "fun hurts" stickers. Sweet.

Gotta split. Chill time.

Later.