First Ride of the Season

The weather around here has been extremely beautiful with clear blue skies and temps in the mid 70's. We have three more days before it is predicted that the weekend will top out in the mid 60's then fall into the 40's the following week. So I tied up a lot of the chores that needed tending to around the house and got the evening free to go out and have a good ride. I planned on meeting a friend of mine but he wasn't going to be able to get to the trailhead until 7:15 at the earliest. So I decided to head out there a little after 6 to get in an additional loop with a little time to cool down before meeting up. The trail, Cannonsburg State Game Area also known as Egypt Valley, was in great shape. Though there were already a few areas of sand... but that is now status quo for that trail. The trail was so fast that I pushed harder than I really wanted to since I knew I still had another lap when my buddy showed up. So the legs were burning, my arms were going numb and I could feel a touch of tightness in my lower back. BAM! End of the first lap.

Strangely enough, as I paced back toward my car, I scanned the lot for my friend to see if he had arrived. While scanning, I got a look at a guy that I thought may be someone I spoke with a few weeks prior... so I called out, "Carlos?"... sure enough. He is a friend of a friend. So we chatted for a little bit and I found out that the group he rides with will be there every Tuesday night for a ride. Good to know. I wandered away to let him finish up with his group and took a break back at my car to wait. While there, I heard a rustling. I looked over into the woods and there was a dozen or so deer hopping back and forth in the trees... not 30 feet from residential homes.

My friend finally showed and we talked for a bit before heading out onto the trail. My legs started to burn immediately, shortly followed by a reminder that my butt was no longer conditioned to sit for long periods of time in the saddle. Ouch... it still hurts today. We got a bit of a late start and entering into the last section of the trail, we ran into a group of riders with helmet lights a-blazing. It was going to get dark... and soon. We got out of the trail with a little light to spare. Within a few minutes of packing up the gear, everything was going dark.

Following that was a visit to BW3 for a beer and some wings... and they had Oberon on tap... so that was a bonus! We talked for a bit before calling it an evening. Overall the night was great. I was wiped. I shed a lot of stress. And I got in a great first ride of the season. Let's hear it for a great season of riding!