2.1 MILES INTO OUR RIDE...

2.1 miles into our Friday afternoon ride at Rocky Ridge, Tim and Adam found me dazed and sitting on a bench  located on Trail #2 at Rocky Ridge County Park with a look of exasperation on my face.  2.1 miles into our ride...and I had twice already ended up sandwiched between my bike and the rock gardens that make up trails #8 and #9 in the lower sections of the park.  No ride is a bad ride...but some are, as we all know, rougher than others.  2.1 miles into this particular ride I seemed to be doing everything wrong...the lines I chose to ride were questionable and any level of mountain biking skill I've acquired through the years mysteriously seemed to have taken the afternoon off.

My Stumpjumper resting on one of the hundreds of boulders that make up the landscape around trails #8 and #9 at Rocky Ridge County Park. -- October 19, 2018

I'm really not sure what I expected.  I had been on those very trails a few weeks ago and I knew the condition they were in after all the flooding that occurred here in York County last month.  When Tim and Adam caught up to me and found me sitting there on that bench I was taking a breather, trying to compose myself, and half-heartedly contemplating a nice leisurely hike-a-bike back to the Cruz.  Looking up at my friends, with a stupid smirk on my face, I asked them if they wanted to ride that first 2.1 miles again.  

Tim took this pic of me...looking a little shaken...sitting on Trail #2 at Rocky Ridge.  No ride is a bad ride...but some are rougher than others. -- October 19, 2018

Tim and Adam navigating a rock garden at Rocky Ridge County Park. -- October 19, 2018

The second half of our ride was a little less technical. -- October 19, 2018

I'm not one to ever quit anything...let alone walk away from a mountain bike ride...so we pedaled on....putting those first 2.1 miles behind us.  The next four miles flowed much more smoothly than the first two and seemed more typical...albeit, a little slower than usual.  In my head, I had plotted a route back to the parking lot that would maximize our fun and eliminate any major climbs (my body was beginning to feel the effects of hitting the ground twice).  With just a mile to go we crossed paths with another mountain biker, Justin.  It was his first time on the trails at Rocky Ridge and he needed directions back to the parking lot.  Tim, Adam, and I introduced ourselves and invited him to join us on our last leg...and he did.  I hope we run into him on the trails again soon.  It was a super cool way to end a ride that began so ominously.  I was feeling so much better than I was just under an hour ago... sitting on that bench...2.1 miles into our ride.

All smiles...just moments before the first of my two "accidents" on Friday.  Tim Sindlinger, Dave Raymond, and Adam Zeigler -- October 19, 2018


Life is a journey...not a destination.



David A. Raymond -- October 21, 2018


I spent my Saturday relaxing....the most physically taxing thing I did all day was a little pumpkin carving with my good friend, Mike Graham. -- October 20, 2018

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Here's the Garmin map and data from my rough ride at Rocky Ridge County Park with Tim and Adam...Happy (and hopefully, smooth) riding!





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