New Trails

My Honda All Ready To Roll

Yesterday, a buddy and I headed up to the county park across the river that has mountain biking. The trails are from easy to quite hard and the name of the park contains more than a hint as to why: Rocky Ridge. The first time I have been out since late October, with my ribs still not fully healed then from a bike wipe-out at said park when an insect the size of a drone landed on my arm and in my attempt to shoo it, I lost control. 
  
Pennsylvania is not exactly mountainous in any Alps-like manner. And while the elevations are low, the trails are hard. And stocked with stones and rocks. Which makes for interesting and dangerous mountain-biking. I prefer a fairly clear trail with elevation rises and drops, twists and turns, and not a ton of rocks. If you hike the Appalachian Trail north past Delaware Water Gap, boots go there to die. I have heard it said that it is the hardest part of the trail. I have done that part. It destroyed a pair of beloved Herman Survivor boots. Same deal at Rocky Ridge.   

The day was a made-to-order perfect May day. Warm, nice breeze, sunny, and too early in the season for bugs and gnats and skeeters that make trail riding nasty once Summer gets into gear with the heat and humidity. We need to take the good with the bad and the golden days of May and October make it all worth it to me to live in this climate. The misery of Summer makes the best days better. I enjoy Winter. Summer is the beast that I cannot handle. It drives me stark raving mad. What is the opposite of Snowbird? A Canadian Goose? Head to Canada when Summer hits like trying to dodge the Vietnam War-Era Draft. I have buddy that lives in Buffalo. Close enough.   

When we hopped on the typical trail I ride at Rocky Ridge, I somehow missed the turn-off. It was muddy and dangerous. And rocky. I was distracted. So, we descended into the abyss, on a trail that I have never rode before. And although it was above my skill level in many parts, leading me to hop off the bike at times, it did put us along a creek that had swelled to the size of a quasi-river from all of the rain we have received the last couple of days. It was quite beautiful and awesome. I considered how a failed to take the turn-off put us in a new place with lovely sights. God's grace often surprises us in ways we don't expect. A missed opportunity affords something better.  Not always or course. But, at least sometimes. It is not a total defeat.

We wound up at the bottom of the very large hill on the road called Mt. Zion (again, the name is a hint as to its steepness up). We had to hump it back up to where our cars were parked where we had some good laughs along the way as we remembered things from our past that we not really connected to the ride. All in all, a lovely ride on a beautiful day in May.