Blog Update: Mountain Bike Mobile Monday

Between a bad knee and a bunch of too cold for my asthma followed by too much rain to ride last couple of months I managed a grand total of one ride since sometime in November. Prior to that I was riding five days a week so this has been terrible and frustrating and I haven't adjusted well.

But that all changed this weekend!


I returned to my favorite trail: Northshore Saturday. I was looking at the DORBA Facebook page and they were talking about this trail and debating if it was more fun on a 26er or a 29er. My favorite response was "riding Northshore is fun on a bike". So true!
This is the most beautiful spot on earth that doesn't have a diamond, mound and dugout attached.

I had forgotten what amazing views there are when biking.




Views like this are just amazing. Those aren't the only views to enjoy at NS. I don't know how I have managed to forget so fast how nice and nice to look at all the men are on the trail. They are always smiling, saying hello, thanking you, and making sure you are okay when they happen upon you sucking on your inhaler. The mountain bikers I run into must be the nicest men on earth. Too bad I don't know these guys in real life. Okay, I know a couple but that's not the point of this blog!

On top of that nearly every time I go to Northshore I see a deer. Saturday I was struggling with asthma a lot so I had to stop several times either to use the inhaler or just control my breathing. While stopped I heard a freight train speed by me at top speed. It was the most incredible thing ever. The train was a buck racing by at full run. Nothing could ever be that amazing except in nature.



You would think this bike was a child the way I talk about it and take pictures of it. My Jeep doesn't have a name but I always refer to my bike as Skye. Now to be fair, I call her that because she is a Trek Skye SL and yes, when I get the next bike, if I actually get the bike I am looking at, I will refer to her as Lush. :-)

I kicked butt on Saturday in between NS kicking back. It is amazing how weak my legs felt and how sore my bum was the next day. All that built up resistance to climbs and the saddle are gone! Just completely disappeared without a trace. My skill level is still way better and my ability to control the bike. Yes, my doubters I actually do have the ability to control it. I hit parts of that trail like a champ Saturday and I hit parts like a 10 year old little girl.


But views like this make it worth looking like this after:


Who's sexy and she knows it? Well not me, obviously. Haha!

Sunday was L.B. Houston.


I was tired and Julie hasn't been out on the trail in a little bit so this was a good choice, we thought.


We picked this trail because it is fairly flat (it is very similar to River Legacy without the EKG) and because it was open it never occurred to us that it would be muddy! It was just tacky for the most part but the Swamp Loop and the bypass were both flooded. We walked, not wanting to ruin the trail. Well, that was our thought.


You can't even see the tire in all that mud! Riding in this or even just a tacky trail was incredibly challenging.
When we got to the Jeep Loop we thought we were home free. We passed the old Jeep and came across the new Skill Section of the trail. It must be knew because it wasn't out there a month ago when I last rode. Neither Julie nor myself were sure how to ride this new section.


So we decided to carry our bikes over the tree that was laying across the path. There really was no choice. Either side was wooded thick trees.



This smile proves that even though I am really hurt, bruised and totally physically exhausted I am beyond happy! I feel so alive and so amazing on the trail. I feel like myself for the first time in a couple weeks and I know that everything is going to work out just as God has planned! What an amazing gift of a weekend!




This is my new motto! I am going to focus all my attention on taking life as it comes and enjoying the ride!


Simply,
Laura




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