Soft trails with snow on the horizon
Trying to make the most of the available time, I've been out on the mountain bike several times this week. A couple later evening rides with a pretty nice early morning ride in the mix. With temps in the low 40's. and always a chance for precip - cold weather gear is in order: Helmet cover, long finger gloves, and a good rainproof jacket. With temps above 30°, warmer socks with shorts are still pretty good. The rain has really made the trails soft and responsive - not too muddy and certainly not twitchy. Still, an occasional blanket of thick leaves may hide rocks and stumps that can catch you off guard.
The season on these trails locally may be getting short, as this picture from this afternoon shows snow only a couple hundred feet above this location, with heavier snow not too far above that. The forecast for tonight puts snow a few hundred feet below this point. It likely means there will be no ride over Ben Lomond this year, but I suspect we'll have a few more weeks on the lower trails - hard to say. What is for sure, I'll make the most of the time before I have to start riding down on the Shore Line Trail.
Something about the Autumn that takes me back. I used to look forward to this time of year. I used to spend a lot of my fall in the field hunting - anything. The colder, the better. A good day didn't involve much, if any shooting, but rather just being in the field early and taking it all in. Being out with my yellow lab, literally for hours on end - it just beat just about everything. Even in the summer months, I'd like to carry my 9-pound, ultra-precision rifle (unloaded), take my dog, and hike from our house up to Ben Lomond peak. Going up a back trail, we'd generally not run into anyone 'till about a mile from the peak. The scope on my rifle provided great optics to spot wildlife a long way out. All the times I did that little hike, I don't think I ever loaded a single bullet into the gun. It just provided a great conditioning ballast and fantastic optics. My lab has been dead for nearly twenty years. I think I fired my last round through that gun last year - from a box of bullets I reloaded in 1997. Shooting once a year, typically at a fence post 500 yards away - not a lot of bullets being used. I just don't get out much anymore - thus the bike. I cover a lot more terrain, a lot faster, but it's not the same...........................
A lot to do before the snow flies and the first heavy frost. Until then, enjoy the changing of the season. Maybe another month and it'll be time to register for some spring mountain bike races. Probably a good time to head south for a couple of days.
Ride HARD!
