ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

Leading Matt and Tim on a crisscross ridge adventure in Michaux State Forest -- June 21, 2022   Mountain biking with your friends is great group therapy.  There is nothing like hitting the trails and heading off into the woods to lose your mind and find your soul.  There are conversations to be had, stories to be told, laugher to be shared, and trails to be shred. There's not a care in the world...unless you are the ride leader.  You know, the guy who ultimately knows where you are, where you've been, where you are going, how you are going to get there, how long it will take you to get there, and (at any given moment) can point and say "our vehicles are parked over there."  It's a lot of added responsibility. Leading the way in Patapsco Valley State Park. -- December 28, 2021 Taking the lead for our annual ugly sweater ride in Hershey.  Left to right:  Matt L, Dave R, Ben K, Matt W -- December 11, 2021 I've been that guy for the past few years and I ki...

Last weekend, completely unexpectedly, I found myself putting my Roubaix on top of the car and driving 70 miles east to Valley Forge National Historical Park .  I've always wanted to take my bike there and ride through the park...and, with my Saturday completely wide open, I snagged the opportunity.  Granted...I wish my wife could have been with me...or, for that matter, any of my riding friends...but I was perfectly content to be there by myself.  Just me and my bike and a whole lot of nerdiness.  I've been to Valley Forge quite a few times...but never on my bike.  The thing that amazed me about my bike ride through the area used as a winter encampment by General George Washington and the Continental Army in 1777 and 1778 was how much of more of the park I was able to see by riding my bike as opposed to driving through.  I saw entrenchments, land formations, and smaller monuments and markers that I had never noticed.  So cool...and yes, very nerdy....

There wasn't anything normal about 2018. It's been a year of extreme humidity, single digit temperatures, and more rainy days than I can remember in my lifetime.  Even on the "dry" days riding conditions were challenging,  at best.   Mud and water and more mud seemed to be the recurring theme of the the past year.  With the exception of a ride I took in Mesa, Arizona, I don't recall a single time this year when the trails were dry and dusty.   Regardless, the conditions didn't stop me (or my riding partners) opting outside to turn some pedals.  As a matter of fact, I rode (and cleaned my drive train) quite regularly and quite often. My Stumpjumper nestled in low hanging clouds and resting on the sign in Michaux State Forest marking the border of Cumberland and Adams Counties. -- July 31, 2018 Throughout the course of 2018, I rode my mountain bike in, at least, sixteen different places...making my normal trips to places like Mich...