I Can Blog Again

My new Gary Fisher Sugar 4 (& No It's Not A Girl's Bike, John!)

For the last few months, I hadn't felt the calling to blog. My last real blog was post after we rolled down a mountain. And since then, life's just been hectic, busy, and an up and down whirlwind---all of it in a good way.

It had been almost 6 months, but this past Saturday I finally decided to return to the scene of the "accident". I just bought a mountain bike, and yes, I could have ridden anywhere (that's the way WA just is), but my first thought: Let's go where I wrecked.

I was all down for some catharsis (sorry--for some reason this $10 word was in my head, and I had to use it!), I think checking out the crash site, and hitting the trails would be the remedy. The drive up to the trails was great. Listened to some awesome music (Bjork & Fishbone always do nicely when hugging curves on mountain roads). It's summer, but there was a chill to the air. I still chose to ride with the windows down and sunroof open. I must admit driving in my Mini (with it packed to the gills with me, mountain bike, and fly fishing stuff), on this mountain road, in the summer, was exhilerating.

And then it happened. I drove by where it happened. It came and went. I drove by where I lost control of my truck and sent 5 of us careening down a hill. No time to dwell though---I was at the trailhead.

So, I pulled out my bike, stretched the cobwebs from my old joints, got on my bike, and I was on my way. Now this was the first time I'd really been on the saddle of a mountain bike since '97 (my previous bike [Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo] was stolen just prior to me moving up to the northwest). For the most part, getting on the bike was like "riding a bike". All the motions came back to me...for the most part. There were nuances I had to get back into muscle memory. I forgot how good it felt to really use your quads. The trail I took immediately pointed upward & my legs were put into gear from the get-go.

Riding Uphill

Overall my ride was fine, but I did notice a few issues:

• I only have a 12-speed. The tiny (hill-climbing) gear wasn't working for me---the derailleur needed to be adjusted. So, I was going to have to Armstrong-it and go in lower gears than I would have liked--I didn't care. I was here for a workout.
• I didn't have toe-clips. It's amazing how much less force you can apply to the pedals when your feet aren't "tied down" to the pedals.
• I should have gotten bike shorts (it's three days after the trip, and my butt bones are still feelin' it!)
• Lastly, I might want to get a helmet (for obvious reasons).

Looking down at Bluewood

So, I basically rode a path friends and I snowshoed earlier in the year. I ended up treading some new ground and kept going passed where we snowshoed. I approached a side road, and this trail looked enticing. It was smaller and there was a non-motorized vehicle prohibited sign was up. I had to take it. After I made the first turn, I came across a deer leg. I don't know who left this here. Maybe a cougar left it as a sign: "This is my trail: turn back". Whatever the case, it got me thinking about animals---I was on their turf.

Road 500

I kept on going. One thing about mountain biking, it allows for reflection. Your mind can venture off path and think about all sorts of things. I missed this about riding. I'm so glad to be riding again. So within an hour I made it to the top of a ridge. It took me about an hour to climb 1300ft & I had some great views of valleys on both sides of me (one of which had the Bluewood Ski Resort). I chilled here for a bit, and then pointed my front wheel downward.

A Poser

Holy crap!! I forgot how fast you can go downhill. Within seconds I was easily going super-fast. This was without pedaling and with my elderly-self riding the brakes!! I don't know if its wisdom or plain old age, but barrelling down this trail was scary! It seems like in another life I would have cascaded down this rocky trail with abandon, but now I definitely had reservations. There were times I felt like I froze, but I think this was mainly related to my long absence from riding. I was able to loosen up by not putting all my weight on my hands and taking it more on my legs and upper back. I now have a full-suspension bike, but knee & elbow joints have always been the best shock absorbers.

18-minutes later I was back at the trailhead: Whew!!

The Ride

I was now officially a mountain-bike-rider again. I had a great ride, and a nice time in the Blues. The memories of sliding off an icy road was behind me (I briefly stopped at where I lost it last time, on the way back---man, we were so close to the trailhead--we crashed within a half mile of leaving the trailhead!).

We All Have Our Own El Guapo

I then headed down to Dayton, put on my waders, put on some old basketball shoes (yeah, I fly fish rez-style!), and hit the Touchet. The Touchet is a small stream, but it's fun. I caught (and released) a grip of trout. A few were on the order of 12", but the average was more like 8". It was fun though. After this I hit up the Liberty Theater and checked out a special screening of Three Amigos (a classic!!). I then stopped off at my favorite bar in the world, had a Pisco Sour, and listened to a local rock band.

All in all an excellent day. A day worthy of getting me back into blogging!