You missed it. All of you missed it. Well, all except Brady, but I'm doubtful he's reading my blog. What did you miss? A fantastic night to ride. Last night was beautiful. Seventy degrees and clear with good tacky trails and a beautiful sunset to boot. There were some muddy spots, but what fun is mountain biking if you don't get splatter marks. Brady and I were the only ones that came out to ride, and believe me, everybody else missed out. If you aren't kicking yourself by now, you should probably start.
It's been a while since I've ridden by myself for a full lap. I forgot how much I enjoy it from time to time. Mind you, I really prefer to ride with someone else. First off, it's just fun to ride with a friend (or friends) and adventures are always best when shared. Secondly, you will never push yourself as hard solo as you will when you have someone to challenge you. Riding solo has it's own charms. You seem a little more involved in the woods. I hate to use hippy-dippy, granola scarfing new-age terms, but you really get in a different sort of headspace. Sort of a zen balance of connecting with the trail and flowing over the earth like water while at the same time finding a refreshing disconnectedness from worry and concern. And in case you're wondering, no, I didn't smoke any of the random trailside greenery.
In the end, I had a good time. I even pushed myself a little and turned in a 35 minute lap including one quick check to make sure gravity was still working. It was. Thirty five minutes is not terribly fast, in fact it's five minutes off my best time ever and WAY slower than the hard boys around here, but as an early February run, it ain't bad. It seems like my ebb tide riding schedule hasn't left me stranded too far up the beach.
And just for all you folks that couldn't make it, did I mention we nailed down a full lap without turning on our lights?
Go ahead, start kicking.
