Mountain Bike Commute

On Monday I busted out my first fo rizzle mountain bike commute, hitting two areas that I had avoided so far this spring because I suspected they'd be wet and nasty but by Monday, they were in pretty good shape. More importantly, I was able to scope out the trails that allow me to ride the schmid preserve in a loop of sorts and avoid doing the lollipop (in and out on the same trails). Me thinks it's time for a group ride in the Schmid.

Hey look! It's a bird that you can barely make out! How exciting. You should have seen this photo before I touched it up, just looked like a pile of leaves and branches. What? That's what it still looks like? Like I said the other day, why do I bother even taking pictures?

This below was my one real mistake of the ride. I knew this bridge was out (has been for years) yet I still took the route that forces me to cross here. During the high summer, some of those timbers are exposed and I can cross and stay dry. On this day I was mid calf in some purty cold water.

The other bonus of the ride was that, for the first time ever, I met other riders in the Preserve. I've seen tracks before but I had never laid my peepers on the authors. Of course, they were wearing jeans, t-shirts, no-helmets and were riding 90's vintage Trek Y-bikes (or at least one was and I was so distracted by it I didn't get a good view of the other). They were motoring along though and seemed to be having a good time so I was happy. Later in my ride I saw a Toyota pulling out that had a titus (I believe) in the back. I tried to flag them down and gave chase but almost had an aneurysm spinning at about 150rpm chasing them down the road.

Why do I care so much about a couple of riders? Well, the trails in the preserve are pretty good but the one thing that will make them better is more traffic since the newer trails, even though they are a few years old, are still pretty soft. Get some more tires in there and it will be better for everyone. That and I'm desperate for new friends...