Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Beautiful weather for a quick ride...

Easter morning dawned cool but sunny. I struggled with whether to spend the daylight hours in the shop or to steal a few of those and ride then work into the night...the ride won. Seriously, how can you love bikes and not take advantage of the rare sunny day in Ohio, it'd be almost criminal.

So I rounded up Kalten and Mike and we headed to the Mohican State Forest, a nice 24 mile single track loop that allows for shorter jaunts to be linked up by bailing out on park roads or cut off loops. The plan for the day was to put in 16 miles, plenty of time on the bike, especially for Kalten who was tackling the hills on a single speed.

Despite the recent rain, the trail was in superb shape as the loomis soil drains quickly and the construction efforts / recent trail work had everything flowing well.

It was a little chilly getting going, but by the end of the first mile climb, the sweat was dripping in my eyes.


the trail is designed to be intermediate friendly, tossing in a few small obstacles to keep it fun...here's one of many log pile crossings in the first couple of miles...
Typical rooty trail, keeps you on your toes...
One of the aspects that I enjoy most about riding in MOHO is the scenery...the gorges and the hills never tire the eyes. I certainly appreciate them now, but in the fall when the colors are in full bloom, it is breathtaking, and I'm not just talking about the climbs!

Here's Mikey tackling the steep switchback climb out of the gorge...
'lil ol me coming out of the rock garden, still upright ;)
You can tell that spring is upon us as Kalten rides through an explosion of green in the otherwise muted colors of the forest.
The ride all done, it's time to put the blue skies behind me for the white fluorescence of the paint booth...it was good to get out, but will feel better to be caught up in the shop.
cheers,
rody

3 comments:

martn said...

that sounds like fun.
we have the radest spring weather since more than a week over here in germany and all my bikes are currently not rideable (springy fork is away for some service and the new project is taking more time than thought)... i'm starting to get all shaky and stuff...

Rody said...

Martn,

gotta hang in there...use that riding time you are missing out on to do some trail work in your area, nice to give back to the single track you love.

rody

martn said...

oh, thanks for reminding me, i already had some ideas, where a little maintenence would make some improvement. mud holes and stuff. i'll see if i can get out there.