It was a beautiful day! That's right I went on a three hour ride with three of my former high school friends, Pat S., Kent K., & Reg F. We made arrangements earlier in the week to leave around 7:30am and drive out to Ingolf, Ontario about 1 1/2 hours from here for an epic mountain bike tour d' trail! Pat and I on full-suspension cross country and Reg & Kent on free-ride bikes...different styles of riding but considering the technical nature of the trail we actually stayed pretty close together for the most part.
The trail provided plenty of excitement, rolling granite, some minor drops, some good climbs and dicey descents! All in all - very rewarding! Plus with Reg & Kent along - guaranteed laughter! Unfortunately, there was a lot of rain in the last number of weeks and a number of sections of the trail were submersed making the travel a little wet at times. The weather was perfect - somewhere around 12 degrees C, no wind, no rain!
At one point, we met up with a guy in his thirties making a campfire along the shore of the lake. He was making lunch for himself and his 2 year old son, who happened to be hiding behind a nearby boat. Apparently, the boy (who kind of looked like a hobbit) was a little intimidated by 4 mtn bikers. The father had travelled by ATV with his son & dog. Pat decided to interact with the dog and picked up a big stick. He chucked it and his unfortunate aim ended up heading for the little boy - who basically retreated under the boat for cover. Thankfully, the stick bounced off the overturned hull of the boat but we decided to leave shortly thereafter, thinking we had outstayed our welcome. So we grunted our way up a good climb back on the trail, trying to contain our laughter at what had just taken place. Admittedly, I was probably getting more of a workout from laughing than the actual climb at that point!
All in all - it was a great ride complete with a little blood loss and scar on my arm & shin! I made some very technical climbs that I wasn't expecting to make and the steep descents complete with some loose rocks made for some good times as well. It was good to be back on my bike and hanging out with friends, but man I'm feeling pretty wiped right now!
G
3 comments:
Man, sounds like a blast. I love that trail, and thinking about laughing with those guys makes me jealous. Lucky you! I spent too much of the day gazing out the window and wishing it would stop raining so I could go for a ride...but it poured all day. Need to spin pedals!
I'm guessing it will be me jealous of you Jer once the snow begins to fly here and mtn biking becomes a little less likely due to frigid temps! But hangin' with the Rosenort crew was indeed fun! I'm guessing Pat & I will hit the trails again Thursday but the forecast is for minus 6 celcius...
The length of the season is mostly luck of the draw. Out here we can usually expect to ride into November, but some years it snows early...and other times we ride on rock-hard trails right into December. Lower trails stay open later when higher trails might have three feet of snow...mountains are weird that way. As long as the snow doesn't clog up the trails, the temperature doesn't tend to be a factor for riding. This year I've been so stoked that I'm trying to extend the season as long as possible.
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