imploded
April 21st, 2006, 09:35 AM
(note: I wrote this yesterday but forgot to post it. So, this all takes place on the 20th)
I just cycled back from a long trip (work) to India. My internal clock is all screwed up, and I'm asleep before 8 and up by 5.
This morning I laid in bed thinking I've done too much road riding recently, and with the nice weather today, I should go out and rip through Heritage SF. I loaded the bike on the Jeep (the soft top down from the night before), and cruised across town with Rage Against the Machine softly playing. The light was still warm and yellow, and the skies that nice mix of steel blue and light yellow.
I arrived at Heritage and there was a bit of a chill in the air - I was second guessing wearing shorts and a jersey - but I got strapped up and rolled into the woods. Traffic was light on E. Hartford Ave, so it was a straight roll across the street. The quiet rush of the Blackstone, as it drops under E. Hartford Ave, broke through the otherwise silent early spring morning.
I rolled into the woods and I felt at home - I'm so used to seeing a bump in my path and swerving to avoid it, that it felt excellent to take the first little root right on the chin.
The light this early really fills in the trail, especially the first half mile or so, where you have sweeping views of the Blackstone and all the flora and fauna that live on the plain. It's great to look up from the trail and be surrounded by that view - in fact, I think it makes the ride that much easier, no matter how much of a hammerfest it shapes up to be.
The trails are dry, but the rain two nights prior has armored exposed sections up quite nicely. With all of the massive flodding on the Blackstone last fall, many sections of trail have become rutted or more rooty; which is great for a challenging ride. Ribbon Candy is just as delicious as it was before, but a little more so because the flooding out there (only recently receded) means it's very virgin and pretty lonely. Ribbon Candy gets you in this great flow of spin, steering, and drops that keeps your head on a swivel and your rear out of the saddle.
I missed the trail and I didn't even know it. There was this quiet grumbling that I thought was "cycling", but in fact it was "mountain biking". Here's to the first early AM ride of a great season to come.
Cheers,
-Andrew
I just cycled back from a long trip (work) to India. My internal clock is all screwed up, and I'm asleep before 8 and up by 5.
This morning I laid in bed thinking I've done too much road riding recently, and with the nice weather today, I should go out and rip through Heritage SF. I loaded the bike on the Jeep (the soft top down from the night before), and cruised across town with Rage Against the Machine softly playing. The light was still warm and yellow, and the skies that nice mix of steel blue and light yellow.
I arrived at Heritage and there was a bit of a chill in the air - I was second guessing wearing shorts and a jersey - but I got strapped up and rolled into the woods. Traffic was light on E. Hartford Ave, so it was a straight roll across the street. The quiet rush of the Blackstone, as it drops under E. Hartford Ave, broke through the otherwise silent early spring morning.
I rolled into the woods and I felt at home - I'm so used to seeing a bump in my path and swerving to avoid it, that it felt excellent to take the first little root right on the chin.
The light this early really fills in the trail, especially the first half mile or so, where you have sweeping views of the Blackstone and all the flora and fauna that live on the plain. It's great to look up from the trail and be surrounded by that view - in fact, I think it makes the ride that much easier, no matter how much of a hammerfest it shapes up to be.
The trails are dry, but the rain two nights prior has armored exposed sections up quite nicely. With all of the massive flodding on the Blackstone last fall, many sections of trail have become rutted or more rooty; which is great for a challenging ride. Ribbon Candy is just as delicious as it was before, but a little more so because the flooding out there (only recently receded) means it's very virgin and pretty lonely. Ribbon Candy gets you in this great flow of spin, steering, and drops that keeps your head on a swivel and your rear out of the saddle.
I missed the trail and I didn't even know it. There was this quiet grumbling that I thought was "cycling", but in fact it was "mountain biking". Here's to the first early AM ride of a great season to come.
Cheers,
-Andrew