Muse back!
March 24, 2007 / Saturday
First Dirt Ride Of The Season
Mountain biking season is here! Met up with Lucinda for my first dirt ride of the season and her first dirt ride ever. Drove over to Alum Rock Park, where I learned to ride last April. Warmed up on the not so steep partly paved mellow trail (sorry, no map or trail names), then headed up to the switchbacks.
I was pleased that the trails all felt much easier than they did the first time I rode here. Noticable progress, whoO!
On our way up to the switchback, we came upon a snake sunning itself on the singletrack. I suppose if I'd been descending I'd have tried to hop over it, but since I was climbing that wasn't an option. I stopped, eeked (Snake! A snake! Oh, it's a snake!), and stared. It stuck its tongue out at me a few times and slowly backed away into the grass. Phew. (Badgers badger badgers...)
Lucinda did great, riding her way to the top to enjoy the picnic table bench, tree shade, and view. I remembered being totally beat by the time I made it up there on my first day, but she didn't seem all that fazed by the climb. Cool. :)
My right knee started to hurt a little toward the end of the ride. My repeated bounce bounce bouncing probably didn't help much, but then, gratuitous bouncing is part of what makes mountain biking so fun.
When do I get to ride again? I wonder how my knees feel about tomorrow.
*bounce*
March 24, 2007 05:21 PM | Injuries:Mountain
Comments
Um you might want to watch the snakes in Alum Rock. A large portion are rattlesnakes.
Posted by: Shadow at March 28, 2007 03:46 PM
Yeah, Lucinda mentioned that she saw a rattlesnake sign as I was standing there staring. From several feet back she asked me about the shape of the head, but all I could think was, "Uh, it looks like a snake." We listened for rattling, but heard none. In any case, after it backed away I rolled back down about 10 feet to pick up some speed going by.
Mushroom! Mushroom!
Posted by: Viv at March 28, 2007 06:06 PM