Sunday, May 4, 2008

Rochester!


(It has started. Saturday roll in the rain...)



Back in Rochester for a night. Its a strange thing, I'm staying with Jess instead of at my parents' house, since they're in Hawaii. (You say conference? I say yeah, right). Anyway, I drove on over here in my nice new car, made it with all four wheels still rolling on the pavement, and immediately put together my bike to go ride at Dryer. Dryer park is awesome, if you're in the Rochester area you have to go check it out, it is all singletracky wonderfulness, which is just exhausting. I mean, normally I'm tired and beat up from riding over rocks and falling on rocks and banging my shins on rocks, but today I was tired from wrestling my bike over short punchy hills with not enough speed, all the while not crashing into the trees. It was an epiphany, now I think I understand why Linnea is always telling me to stand up, and I understand why mountain bikers are so much more buff than roadies. I also think that riding singletrack for three hours is way more tiring than riding at a place like the Fells, which is like 1/4 singletrack, simply because you have to concentrate. Or, I have to concentrate, maybe good riders don't have to bother with that. And while we're on the topic of me thinking (a rare event), I decided that long-distance driving, like going from Boston to Rochester, with only two cd's, is good mental training for OD training sessions on a loop trail. And should be avoided as much as possible.


This one was my favorite trail. It was like riding a roller coaster! My pictures didn't come out great, though, and I didn't take a shot of the sign that said: "Black diamond: steep drops, tight turns, gulp!" I love that they put the potential reaction of the rider on the trail name...


Does anyone else feel like putting a bike in the trunk of your car is sort of like having a person back there? Or am I just weird and connecting a little too much with my bikes... ?


Jess took me out to a great Ethiopian dinner, and tomorrow I head south to the West Rim trail, near Wellsboro PA, to see how far I can stretch my patience...

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