my first group MTB ride! (and it RAINED!)

[caligurl]

so all last week i was soooo excited cuz we were going on a MTB ride with the guys.... the ride was a fire road that... if you kept going.. eventually ended up at onyx/big bear... but we weren't going that far this time!

so we get ready to head out sunday morning... and as we're walking out the door.. rain but we drive out of it! good! we get there and get ready to leave... and guess what!? RAIN! so we head down the road (or i should say UP the road!) i was thinking "i want to go home! this is cold and wet! lol! but i didn't turn around!) we climbed.... and climbed some more.... all the while this one guy is giving me tips... and telling me to remember where the rocks and stuff are for when we are coming back downhill... it stopped raining a bit.. but we were already wet... but it didn't last.. and started raining again.. it kept this off and on all morning! plus it was cold.. at least for the desert it was cold! the average temp of the ride was 46 degrees... BRRRRR!

we got almost to the top and some of the guys split off and went a different way around... the rest, including hubby, took me a more direct (but still up) way... we got to the top and took a few pics and shivered... then decided it was too cold to wait for the other guys... (the snow level was at 6500 feet and we were at 5800 feet at the point) so we headed back down... BRRRRRRRRRRRRR i took it slow.. but got more at ease as we got further down the hill... on one steep hill that had a bunch of rocks on it.... i got scared and stopped about 1/2 way down... took a breath and started down again! the same guy that was giving tips on the way up... went down in front of me and was showing me the best lines (and giving me tips still!)

all in all it was a fun day! i could have done without the rain (or rather the cold... the rain in the summer warmth/heat would have been ok.. cuz i know it made some of the soft, sandy parts easier) but i really hate being cold! BRRRRRR oh... and i did the whole ride with no crashes! YAY!

i'm looking forward to going again.. i'd like to to this road again.... and go further (when it's not cold and RAINING!)

here's a couple of pics at the top... you can see the ominous clouds behind me!





(i had my rainjacket for the ride.. but took it off for some of the pics! don't i look cold! lol!)