Fun newbie ride! Spills, thrills, adventure for all!

[Catrin]

It is Limekiln, and I have a friend I text when I start and stop. She knows local mtn bikers who are good at finding people if I miss my check-in time. That really helps. As this was my first time on the trail I just focused on getting to know it better.

[Nick]

Glad to hear you're having fun, Catrin, and that you extricated yourself safely from the fall position. I enjoy hearing about your adventures...

[Roadtrip]

So looking forward to meeting you Saturday Catrin, I'll be really bummed if you fell off a trail and hurt yourself less then a week before our ride

Lol. Be safe out there and glad your having fun!!!

Shannon

[Catrin]

Not to worry Roadtrip, I am home all safe and sound. Had an awesome time and can tell that my body is finally starting to "get it". Not saying that I didn't do any walking, but had fun on the parts I didn't walk 7 hours of mountain biking in 3 days (counting the walking) and only a few bruises and scratches to show for it

[indysteel]

Welcome home, Catrin! I'm really proud of you. Hitting the trails and camping by yourself is pretty courageous IMO. It sounds like you accomplished a lot!! We've come a long way in a couple of months I'd say!

[Catrin]

Welcome home, Catrin! I'm really proud of you. Hitting the trails and camping by yourself is pretty courageous IMO. It sounds like you accomplished a lot!! We've come a long way in a couple of months I'd say!

It was all awesome, and friends made certain I had enough camping gear Today I rode Pine Loop with a friend and her child, she also rode with me at Versailles a little over 2 weeks ago and she said there was a very marked improvement in just that short of a period.

Yes, we have both come a long ways. It was fun watching that 5 year old today, he did better than I, and indeed he was giving me advice on my shin guards (the advice was to get better ones, but he was able to articulate WHY, impressive 5 year old!)

For the record, I am still unsure how I got in, or out, of that "stuck" position on the trail yesterday - just thankful nobody was there to take a blackmail photo

[indysteel]

I'm glad you got to ride with them today. It's amazing how quickly kids pick up on stuff. Oh, to be young again!

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty thrilled with my own progress. My last time out, I did part of Green Valley. Frankly, getting to the trail was the hardest part. Part of the NT Connector is really rooty...and uphill. I still get pretty worn out when there's a lot of climbing, so we only did about a mile of GV before turning back. I was afraid to ride those roots coming downhill (this is where I turned back at the clinic). But I did it and at a pretty good clip! As for more climbing, I tend to think my set up on my Specialized needs to be tweaked. I'm going to raise my saddle and move it back a bit. I don't feel like I'm otherwise getting enough power out of my legs.

Plus, the bike is relatively heavy...but I have a pretty cool fix for that in the works!!! More on that later!