I am parked in the first parking lot at the TH. This morning there were riders today on a Monday morn. Popular. I never ran into any of them. Not an overly big area but trails get a rider a ways out there. First ride here went 13.3 miles in .52 square miles. Tight turns in juniper and pinyon pine forest mixing in rocks makes for short sight lines.
I fixed scratch pancakes while the sun brought the temp high enough to need only a short sleeve top. I researched trails on Trailforks and sort of planned a route. This is the 3rd time riding here which gave me some recollection of what I would be in for. I picked blue color trails leaving Island in the Sky, a nasty black, untested. This time I am riding a new Fox 36 Factory fork with Diaz’s RUNT installed. Previous rides were on the Lyric with the RUNT. Today I challenged myself by sessioning pieces that I couldn’t get first time. I made improvements in my riding, what contribution the fork made I do not know. What i do know is my performance was the best so far. Trails are challenging, and rewarding.
Towards the end my brain was worn out from concentration and exposure to risk. I let my beer reward pull me thru.
Nice sunny fall day, temps warmed enough for shorts and no shirt for soaking up sun.
Tonight only 1 rider showed up and rode.
Tomorrow I will ride the South trails then drive to Salida where my new PUSH Elevensix shock will be waiting for me and Chicken Dinner trail the next day.
Snow is forecast for Thurs. And well below freezing at night. Furnace is keeping me warm, last night it was running every time I woke up at a low temp setting. Doubled over down blanket kept me toasty.
Cows are an invasive species. Demand their removal from OUR public lands.