ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

  2025 was a year for making tough decisions and ultimately deciding to turn the page to something new.  For personal reasons I made the tough and decisive decision to quit mountain biking… something that has defined who I am for the past 30 years.  In the process, I sold three of my bikes and purchased a new Specialized Diverge and bike rack for my truck, committing to riding as many rail trails and gravel roads as possible.  I feel good about this knowing that I can still bike and explore new parts of the country… just in a different way.  I’ve discovered that rail trails are kind of like riding Amtrak allowing me to see different towns from a new perspective.  What follows are my favorite hikes and bike rides of 2025 (in no particular order).  I appreciate my friends who’ve supported me, accepted my new limitations,  and agreed to accommodate me on these rides.  I hope to see you out on the trails in 2026! Matt took this picture of me whil...

  When I first began cycling it was strictly mountain biking (and limited to the very few trails that I knew).  It took a while for me to buy a road bike.  What I found was that, even though my first love was mountain biking, I ended up putting thousands more miles on my road bike.  I guess because it was so much more convenient and a way to accumulate miles...which in turn made me a better mountain biker.  I'm going to be honest, though.  I never truly loved road riding...not like the love I have for mountain biking.  Personally, I think it is significantly more dangerous than mountain biking.  Sure, there are obstacles in your way on the trails, but the only moving thing you really have to worry about is yourself.  Not the case on the road...and, as anyone who has ever seriously done any road riding knows, it is shockingly scary just how many drivers are paying attention to everything...except the road.  Yet I pedaled on, because I lov...