Last Sunday Gary Fisher and I shot over to Georgetown State Forest to go for a little ride.
I haven't been over there often since they closed it to dirt bikes. What I was surprised to find was that, what trails haven't become overgrown, are just as rocky and treacherous on a MTB as the ever were on a DRZ! They are just as eroded and mud-holed as ever. I guess dirt doesn't really "grow back" now does it? The terrain was fairly challenging for my meager skills and I couldn't help but think how much fun I would have been having on a 29er.
So any way, I was peddling around and came out onto a paved road and I knew from hiking in the forest that if I followed the paved road around I would come across theBay Circuit Trail. The place were you enter the State Forest has the trail on either side. I went west and had to carry my bike up the steep esker. I got to the top and decided to shoot a little video of myself riding while I took a rest. Now, in this video you see me ride up and down the hill. Over the top of the hill, the path turns to the right and goes about 1/8 of a mile and then descends a steep grade to a beaver pond and stream. If you watch the trilling footage till the end you will see a guy coming down the trail a little behind me. Right at the very end of the video, as I am apologizing for randomly dumping my bike on the trail while I was retreaving my camera, you can see a girl on a bike just entering the frame. "Good news to see them coming" I thought to myself. Sometimes the bridge over the stream falls into disrepair and seeing them let me know that the bridge must be in tact. After all, I had been lingering in the area for about 15 min or so and they did not come up after me.
Well, any astute reader has guessed the ending of this story already. The bridge was, in fact, out. I chuckeled to myself as there is only one thing that I could think of that a guy and girl could be up to, in the middle of the woods, that would make them flee at the first sign of another person.
On a more practical note, having the bridge out meant that I couldn't keep going along my chosen route. I had to get back on the pavement and either go back the way that I came (the soldier in my abhors "coming in the way you went out) or going the long-ass way around the other side. All street. Gross. Let me tell you what it feels like to ride on a set of 2.1 Veloceraptors at 40PSI. Like walking on your knees though quicksand. I made it eventually, but I was pooped!
Upon my arrival back at the car park there were two crusty old mountainbikers tailgating, their multi-thousand dollar full-sus machines carelessly tossed on the gravel floor of the lot. I wanted to say something to them, to strike up a conversation, perhaps even strike up a friendship. I was scared though and the best that I could muster was a "Good Afternoon". It was 11 O'Clock in the morning. I went home.
Well, any astute reader has guessed the ending of this story already. The bridge was, in fact, out. I chuckeled to myself as there is only one thing that I could think of that a guy and girl could be up to, in the middle of the woods, that would make them flee at the first sign of another person.
Upon my arrival back at the car park there were two crusty old mountainbikers tailgating, their multi-thousand dollar full-sus machines carelessly tossed on the gravel floor of the lot. I wanted to say something to them, to strike up a conversation, perhaps even strike up a friendship. I was scared though and the best that I could muster was a "Good Afternoon". It was 11 O'Clock in the morning. I went home.
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