First Full Mountain Bike Adventure!

First, I want to preface this post with a little history. I was at a Bible camp when I was a kid and in the course of that week, I decided mountain biking was quite possibly the worst sport ever. I avoided it for the next 18 years and then the power of suggestion  finally piqued my curiosity. A hybrid bike, hundreds of paved trail miles and months of glancing over at the dirt paths finally culminated in an unexpected Labor Day purchase.

Hobbs State Park  provided another perfect opportunity to  test drive this potential new hobby. I was strongly counting on the ability to return the bike if this was a no go. I set out on a 3 mile loop, with a more hearty travel plan the normal. I had two accountability partners and my emergency beacon in the event that some sort of crash left me able to use it.  That being said, here are the findings:

Things to consider:

  •  Positioning of the feet. Just because you're clear on one side doesn't mean you're clear on the other. 
  •  Spiderwebs. I'd like to send a shout out to all the spiders who had their evening wrecked by me. I'd also like a little respect from the later in the evening bicycling community that will not have to remove spiderwebs from their Chapstick lips. 
  • Down hills. Actually more terrifying than uphills.
  • Uphills. Really challenging if there's a loose gravel. I shamelessly walked a bit. 
  • Don't try to scratch your nose, leg, or remove aforementioned spiderwebs from your face while in motion. This is a disaster waiting to happen. 
  • Trees. It is highly in likely they will move for you. Be aware and make good choices. 
  • Seed ticks.  Still a problem. 
  • Lastly, don't let the squirrels distract you. They do not have your best interest in mind. 
In conclusion, this is an awesome, intense, slightly terrifying, escalation of bicycling. Same adrenaline dumps and catches in my stomach that I get in a kayak, are easily replicated here.  I'm giving it another shot this weekend and I'm thrilled about the thought of whizzing through the forest! 









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