Weekend MTB Rides

[maiforpeace]

Saturday we rode the fire trail up Gazos Creek Road, from Gazos Creek Beach.

It was so beautiful - walls of ferns along the way, blooming flora and fauna everywhere. It was a little messy from the rain and from four wheelers messing up the road - I was slipping and sliding everywhere, but it was much more fun than scary. The pea soup thick fog lifted just as we reached the top, and the view of the coast was spectacular. The most exciting and edgy part of the ride was the huge population of banana slugs out in force. I have a strong distaste for anything spineless, and banana slugs are pretty high up on the list. So, the ride down was a banana slugfest slalom! I feel confident I finished the race - because I did not smush one slug. For that, I was awarded a huge bunch of the most luscious watercress, along with a bunch of calla lilies, all wild, and picked on the side of the road back to the truck. What an amazing ride, I can't wait to do it again next weekend when the endless wild iris shoots I saw should be blooming.

[thekarens]

Saturday our bike club rode with the Huntsville High School mountain bike race team at Huntsville State Park. Let's see....43 versus fifteen 15-18 year olds, both boys and girls. I learned that A) I'm old and B) not a fan of sandy hills. There was one section where it was uphill in sand climbing roots. I decided a sadist had made that section of the trail. After about 12 miles I had had all the fun I could stand.

On the flip side it's probably a good place for me to hill train. I need that...don't like it, but I need it!

[Anelia]

Great ride today! We did some wine tasting in a village near my home town. The weather was perfect! Pictures

[Artista]

Great pics, Anelia. Were some of them of your backyard? And what was up with the steep stairs? It looks like there was quite a discussion about them but I don't read a bit of Bulgarian. In fact, I don't even recognize some of the alphabet characters!

[Anelia]

Hi, Artistta,
This is the house of a friend of mine in a village near my home town. They offer wine tasting and also people can rent the whole house or sleep overnight as in a hotel. The wine is specific for the region because it contains many herbs but the most important is the wormwood. In fact, the wine is called wormwood (pelin in Bulgarian). The steep stairs lead to a rock monastery and the discussion was that there used to be old wooden stairs before they constructed the metal ones. I said that the wooden was in deed more romantic but it rotted and it became dangerous for the visitors of the rock phenomenom so the new metal stairs are safer.

[indysteel]

Thanks for the pics, Anelia!

I'm eager to get out for an MTB ride, but between some scheduling conflicts (we had an out of town wedding this past weekend) adn the weather, we haven't gotten out. Plus, we have a "big" vacation coming up (9 nights on the Big Island) and I'm afraid of jinxing myself. While I've never crashed on my MTB (knock on wood), I'd sure hate for my first one to be in advance of the trip. So, it looks like I won't hit the trails until sometime in May.

[Giulianna23]

Great experience. Best mountain bike weekend Ever!!.... Had a Blast!...so much fun!...learned a lot and made new friends !..what else could I asked for?.


My Coach and the group I was placed in, were Awesome!!...can't wait for 2014 clinic.

[Catrin]

It IS a great clinic, isn't it? I had heard your group was headed to ride a portion of Hesitation Point It was good to see you and being around all of those mountain bikes and women having fun on them made me REALLY want to get out there I had a good time volunteering and just hanging out. I should have taken my Gunnar to get in some road riding in the park - there are miles of roads with some he**acious hills but as I left home at 4:45 in the morning that was just too much stuff to grab. I had some nice hikes instead.