Hope you enjoyed the photos of tree crashing and tree overcoming along with some nature shots to tempt even the deepest of Bob Rosses in allof you!!!
So...winter is here! Well, technically it's not, but based solely on the temperature...it sure the hell is. The cold doesn't scare me too much. I work in it, run in it, play in it, freeze in it. All the same, cold is cold...most people don't like it too much. I've learned to love it (to an extent). Little did I know tht when I took up mountian biking this year I would love it so much that the very idea of biking in the below freezing temps of MN let alone the snow would even cross my mind. Well, it has and it happend.
I had a free saturday morning. Malia had a basketball game at 8AM in St. Michael then off to S. Minneapolis to the Reichels house (John and Kristy). John and I had been planning a rid for saturday all week long. We knew the weather would be dicey (cold) but that didn't seem to bother us too much. You just have to dress for it...layers kids, layers! So we hopped in our cars and headed towards Bloomington/Burnsville to try out the River Bottom trails.
We got parked and headed out fairly quickly. Down a wideopen road (room enough for two) we chatted and enjoyed the cool crisp air as it choked our lungs with glee. Soon the trail thinned down to singletrack and we were off and cruising along the Minnesota river banks. Twisting and turning, up and over obstacles and through the woods (nowhere near Grandmothers house) we were having a blast.
Off to my right I saw a HUGE tree that had fallen. I'm not kidding, this thing had to of been 14 feet around..no lie. Someone had built an obstacle up and over the largest part of the tree trunk and John and I decided that it needed to be conquered...so i gave it a whirl. 2 times a charm...I made it up and over and was scared for my life mostly the whole time. John gave it his Harvard best as well, but bailed hard...-I felt bad-. So, onward and upward...through the trails and enjoying every minute of it.
We found ourselves at another trailhead where there was a walking/biking bridge over the river. We checked out the area map...crossed over the river and rode bit on the other side...(paved trails, boo). We did some messing around on some 'less than groomed' trails and then decided to head back to where we started our adventure. I decided to lead for a bit and found the crisp air to be a blessing. I felt good, legs were strong and this was a good time. As we were carving through the woods along the river I saw, in the distance, a blur of color through the brush. Other mountain bikers!!! The competetive part of me kicks in immediately so the chse was on. I ended up catching the two guys right at the hand made bridge that we had to cross at. they were pretty cool cats and we chatted a bit while John was bringing up the rear. John joined us fairly quickly and we were again on our way. My feet were frozen and my legs were shot at this point...but we just kept on keeping on. The ride was soon coming to a close as we headed back toward the lot we had parked at. As we approached the cars I was sorry to swee it end, but the day held so many more things and this was just the beginning to a great weekend.
what a great ride!! Thanks John for 'making' me go to the River Bottoms....hahahahaha. Truly an eventful time. I appreciate our times together, its been so much fun and so cool to re-connect this year. I am truly blessed.
I'm sure I skipped some things here...but so many good memories and so little time. lets see if I can get some pics on here for you to enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment