I missed a day.

This is the sight every mountain biker dreams to see when pulling into a trailhead parking lot. That's right I had the place to myself. Thursday morning I went to class, then instead of falling asleep when I got home at 9:00am I packed into my car, swung by the Breadboard for a little coffee and nourishment, then headed west. I automatically drove straight to the Backbone since that is pretty much habit, although I did have a bit of a desire to ride Coyote Ridge. When I saw the lot was empty I decided the boner it was, so I rode out and did an entire lap in the opposite direction of normal (for you insiders, I went left around the backside of that knob instead of the usual right switchback, then counterclockwise back loop). When I got back to the bottom of the climb I was having so much fun I decided to flip it, climb back up and do a regular loop. It had rained the night before so what had been a little loose a few days before was now firm and fast. The rocks were dry, but the dirt was just moist enough to be solid. I couldn't have asked for better conditions so you can imagine that even after that loop, I still wasn't ready to hang it up for the day. I decided I'd ride Coyote's after all. I kept the chamois on and headed north a few miles. I actually ran into Jen and Luna on my way there which was a bit ironic because I was going to stop to see if she'd be interested in riding with me. She couldn't but it was nice to at least say hi, then I went to Coyote's and was one of about 3 cars in the lot, so as you can imagine, the place was empty. I rode one lap and decided I'd better head back to make it to class on time. Here is a photo from the top of Coyote Ridge looking down between the hogbacks towards the Devils Backbone, if the picture was better you would probably be able to see it off the the right.

Class was alright, then with a little arm twisting, Scott got me to take him to the Canyon for the Thursday night chaos that seems to be most of the school's weekly ritual. It didn't take me long to realize why I haven't really adopted this tradition myself, although we ended up having a pretty good time. Matt Koch was there too with some of his friends that I kind've knew/know. We survived the evening although things were looking pretty grim when some high speed country/swing/spin/throw your partner around, dancing got a little too close for comfort, luckily the dancers took the responsibility to utilize a resin ball as to prevent the potentially deadly consequence of a slipped grip.

This afternoon I rode Horsetooth Mountain Park with Nick "I'll punch you in the threwwt" Lobejko, and his friend Bryce/Brice who works at UNC and shops at the Roubaix. I'd never ridden Horsetooth, but I was soon to realize that at least the route that we rode took us straight to a bunch of trails I'd ridden under the guise of Lowry State Park. We had a really good time though, it was fun, and now I'm exhausted.

I just bought a calling card online that advertised 12.2 cents per minute to Cambodia, but once I got it and tried it, it was 45 minutes for 10 bucks, you do the math, I come up with 22.2 cents per minute. Explain to me how that works? Oh well it still beats the 65 cents per minute I paid last week at that big blue corporate america store down in Mexico.

Tomorrow is the cross ride so I guess I better get to the shop and do some thorn proofing. I'm thinking liners, TR, and Goo. If that doesn't work I'm just going to sell all my bikes and buy some rollerblades and ski poles. I figure I've got all the spandex I'll need to start this new hobby.


Should I feel strange for not having the desire to take someone's life?