Yeah for mountain bikes!

On Friday some of us drove to a trail system an hour northeast of Fayetteville. The trails were surprisingly dry, with some loose large gravel on a few of the corners. Obviously a bit of it was washout, but it was a good day to ride.

Caleb's bike hates him, and we had to stop after a few miles to fix his cleat, which had dropped a bolt. Once we pulled him out and wrenched down the remaining bolt, we discovered Duncan was missing his headset topcap. Yeah, bummer. So we tightened down the stem bolts and let er rip.

There was a sweet stream crossing thanks to all the rain from Tuesday, and Billy didn't quite have the right tires on for the loose stuff, so I was fastest on the day. Scurvy was on me on the climbs, and Stewbot would catch up on the descents, but I kept it quick and had a good time hosing Duncan in some of the corners. Mitch's legs were totally fried from the day before, but he stuck it out and had fun.

After the main loop, there's an out and back with two lollipop trails, and we got split into two groups somehow. Scurvy, Billy, Duncan and I kept going, and Stewbot, Mitch, and Caleb went back to the van. We didn't know they had gone back, so Duncan and I rode one of the loops backward to look for them. It was way fun trying to drop Duncan. He's really starting to get the hang of mountain biking, but he still rides on the bike instead of controlling the bike in its entirety. He will be fast once he figures out some handling things, though. Scurvy and I think he needs a singlespeed.

I'm feeling really strong this year, which is odd. I only went to indoor two days a week, didn't lift, and the only other big changes I've made are dietary. Granted, I eat a lot better than in years past, and I pretty much don't drink, but even I'm amazed at how strong I felt on the climbs Thursday and on the trails Friday. I won't be racing collegiate road much, so hopefully I can stay on form til summer when I can get to some WORS events.