August Riding

[north woods gal]

Added another 1/10 mile branch on my MTB trails, today. That doesn't sound like much, but, believe me, that is full day of work and heavy work at that. Good section, though, with some hefty steeps that will give me a good workout. May be able to use it as a cross country ski section, too.

By the way, I do not cut down any large or even small trees, just an occasional seedling. Most of the trail work involves moving debris, raking, trimming over head limbs for the sake of safety, filling dangerous holes and so on. Also involves some cutting of old stumps and fallen dead trees that block the path. Have made an effort to minimize the disruption to our woods. Very little underbrush in our local woods, though, thanks to our overpopulation of deer and we also have an infestation of earthworms - an invasive species for us - that seriously deplete what few soil nutrients we have, so our woods should have more of an understory if truly healthy. The mostly bare forest floor does make it easier on me to lay out trails, but I would rather see my woods a bit more healthy.

Now at about 2.5 miles of trail on our property if you took all the pieces and strung them, end to end, but in order to actually to access and ride all the pieces, you have to ride over 6 miles with lots of doubling up on sections to access all parts. Usually takes me a full hour of riding, full out, hard, and that includes LOTS of climbing and techy turns and maneuvers. On a good day, I can average over 6 mph for average speed. If I just cruise and/or play with then objects such as logs and rocks, much longer and slower. So many ways to ride the trails, I never get bored. An almost infinite number of combinations. All beautiful, too, with me right there in the midst of it all the sounds and smell and ambience. Life is good in our north woods.