Decisions

On Wednesday, I finally got in my mountain bike reconnaisance ride from my office home and was able to duck into the two new bits of trail that I had noticed while driving past. One was a pretty decent loop of groomed doubletrack with a couple of brutally steep climbs. The trails also connects to some more preserve trails that I'll have to check out sometime when I have a chance. As an added bonus, I ran into the owners of the property while out there so I was able to ask about bikes on the trails since the sign at the road says "absolutely no vehicles". They said that bikes were more than welcome. Overall, it wasn't an exciting trail but it connects nicely with some other singletrack bits so it's a welcome addition.

the entry to the doubletrack

Once out of the doubletrack it was a couple miles of road and then my second exploration of the day, a trail owned and operated by the Damariscotta River Association. A lot of DRA's trails are off limits to bikes but I saw no sign stating such so I dove in. The first section of trail was pristine singletrack but it quickly turned into an overgrown mess. So much so that I got a bit lost, did a little stomping around in some bramble patches while looking for the continuation of the trail. Finally, I tucked my tail between my legs and turned around defeated. On a good note, on my way out I spotted a nice patch of blackberries that I quickly devoured. Four decent handfulls later and I was hitting the road.

mmmm, berries

Also of note (at least for me since I never, ever, see any other riders) is that while passing through the Schmidt Preserve I noticed some actual mtb tire tracks in the mud that didn't belong to me! Sure, they look like the original rubber from a 95 hardrock but it's still nice to see someone else is using the trails for riding.

If you look really closely and squint your eyes a bit, you'll see the track on the middle left. If you keep staring, you'll see Beyonce's badonkadonk.

Another interesting tidbit from yesterday is that I got the following e-mail from Marcy: "I think you should do the saddleback race Monday..." This just when I've come to terms with writing off the rest of the season. I gave going to the race some serious thought but decided against it for a number of reasons. 1. I'm still hella busy. 2. I should use the day for family stuff instead of Ricky stuff. 3. I really want to do the Bradbury 12 and the Grillz in a few weeks. 4. If I race this weekend, I'd still be in contention for the overall at the end of the season which would make me want to train lots and do all of the rest of the races which I know I can't easily do. So, in the end, I thanked Marcy and suggested we go to the beach instead...