What a Drag it is Getting Old

I got to go back to the FOREST again last weekend.  We had scheduled the ride for Saturday morning, only to awaken to signs of rain and lighting.

After postponing for an hour we decided to call it off.  I threw a child like temper tantrum which made the cats scurry off and hide.  My lovely wife just listened to me wail with that look she used to reserve for The Kid when he was 5.  The weather for the month of August has been miserable, let's just leave it at that.

As soon as we called the ride off the storm dissipated, leaving cloudy skies with a light sprinkle.  My mood did not improve.  The day was saved by a trip to the gym and a solo road ride.  Then BW called to say we were going to try again in the morning.  I was back in my happy place.

Six of us left the St. Marks trail head at exactly 8:00 am.  I think the last time we did something like this it was 54 degrees and raining.  Today was sunny!  It was the first time we've seen blue sky in at least a week.

We were able to follow my route this time, for the most part.  We only got lost at the very southern end of the loop.  I estimate we put in at least 2 hours of the 3.5 hour ride on single track.  No, it's not the type of single track you're thinking about.  Not like Tom Brown or even Munson.  My arms and legs looked like I'd been fighting the cats by the time we got done.

We ended up with 40 miles for the day, the only pavement we rode was the bike path from Fisher Creek back to Trout Pond.  Oh, and a little section of New Light House and Springhill after we got lost.  There's so much more out there to ride.  It would be easy to put in a 50 plus mile loop and never touch pavement.  If you didn't mind riding graded roads you could link up 60 plus miles with water stops at Trout Pond and Silver Lake.  Sure, a lot of it looks the same, but so does the wheel of the bike in front of you in a pace line.

I don't know why I like this type of ride so much, some would say it's because of its lack of technical terrain, even though we did hop what must have been 20 logs, and despite what BW says it's certainly not flat.  Maybe it's because of my history with this section of the FOREST, I spent so many weekends down here in the 80's and 90's.  Then again, maybe I just like being in the woods.