IT IS BEAUTIFUL BACK HERE

I could hear Ben's voice behind me as I was navigating down one of my favorite trails in Michaux State Forest . Tim had a flat and we needed to stop. Of all the places in the forest where Tim could possibly had flatted...he chose one of the most beautiful. The trail isn't identified on the official map of the forest and I'm not sure if it has an official name...but it's an absolute jewel of a trail to ride. It's been nearly two years (and one back surgery) ago since I'd last been on it...and I was loving every second of it! After hearing Ben call out, I walked my bike back to the sight of Tim and Ben on top of a huge boulder...Tim's bike turned upside-down...working to fix Tim's flat. I had never paused here...and why would I? The trail, in this particular section of the forest skirts the boundary of Tumbling Run Game Preserve , weaves in and out of tall pines, flows past an endless sea of green ferns, and rolls over...and around...boulders the...