Boo Hoo Forest Closures

[snowtulip]

Hi Everyone,
Any suggestions on keeping my spirits up now that our mountains are closed because of fire dangers (well, they actually close on Friday, so I have two rides planned for tomorrow)? Every summer we have to deal with this, but I've been so excited about mountain biking this year that I don't want to lose the momentum. Maybe I should build a mountain in my backyard? Curious to see what everyone else does during closures.
Enjoy!

[Irulan]

Where are you? My camp in Canada (women's mtb) was cancelled due to fire closures last year.

Irulan

[JanT]

The forests in Arizona, and even some of the state trust lands here in the desert, have closed in recent years due to extreme fire danger. We try to find places that are still open to ride, such as city parks, bike paths, etc. This year I am prepared with my new road bike to do roadie/endurance rides. I'm finding its much easier to deal with the Phoenix heat on the road, where you generate more of a consistent breeze!

In the meantime, we pray, do rain dances, and say "Rain, rain, come today, little Jannie wants to play!"

[pedalfaster]

Here in the midwest we are having the opposite problem: too much rain. We can't ride either (muddy sloppy trails) and the severe t-storms make it difficult to even sneak in a road ride.

[snowtulip]

I'm in New Mexico, we've already had a busy start to the fire season, one reason why the closures came early this year. I'll have to ramp up my urban assault efforts and make more weekend trips to Colorado. I hope the rains show up soon!