Bike Riding in OMSP

Well Mr. T and I pulled together a bike ride out at Oak Mountain for Saturday, June 28th and decided to not only invite Frank's den but the other WEBELOS dens as well. Turns out they aren't really Boy Scouts either. It was a wonderful morning to be biking and Mr T and I were the only ones to show up. That was okay. We decided to make a big time of it and go until NovaEagle and I were totally whupped since we were the new timers to biking. Mr T succeeded in pulling that off. I was totally exhausted after 2 hours of bike riding along the bottom of the Red Trail.

We first made a quick loop from the South Trailhead with KarateKid as he showed us the race route he had taken a couple of weekends before. We looped back to the South Trailhead then headed down the road to the entrance to the lower loop of the Red Trail on the way to the North Trailhead. Now that was fun. There was big roots and rocks and trees really close together. When you are hiking they don't seem that close but once you add the aspect of speed then they get much closer together.

Taking a mountain bike down a trail really works on your balance. I had to really work on not smacking a tree with my handlebars or running off the trail and down the mountain. Plus lining up on all those bridges only got comfortable toward the end of the ride. Of course I have decided that one needs at least front shock absorbers on a mountain bike. Those roots and rocks really worked on my wrists, elbows and shoulders.

NovaEagle did very well and KarateKid's experience definitely showed up. I couldn't keep up with him on the trails. At one point NovaEagle and I just bonked and we had to stop and chow on some GORP to get our energy back. It was a humbling experience. We made it on to the North Trailhead though and decided to come back via the highway. That was a good decision. NovaEagle had a smaller bike than the rest of us but he pushed hard and was able to stay up with us to the end.

We all had a great time and are looking forward to the next ride.