Our group mountain bike ride was tonight and it was lots of fun! As usual, we hung out and drank a few beers after the ride.
The parking lot for the bike trails is also the parking lot for the ice rink, and we saw a zamboni escape containment.
ALSO... that pile of white stuff in the background, on the far far side of the lot? It's a small pile of snow. I've never had a snowball fight in 80° weather before. First time for everything!
What's better than a mountain bike ride?
...a mountain bike ride that ends with beer and cupcakes in the parking lot!
Husband and I rode with one other person and helped her learn how to get up a log step that's juuuust tall enough to be a little tricky, until you know the trick of it. It was fun to just play around in the woods and not worry about setting any records or keeping up with anyone else. (Or leaving anyone behind.)
Tonight was the first group mountain bike ride of the season, and whooooo I can say for sure that all my winter exercising has paid off. I feel fantastic. (Might not be able to use the stairs tomorrow, though.) We got about 6.5 miles in before dark and I even set some PRs, which doesn't always happen on the group rides - it really depends on who's leading and where we stop to breathe.
It was cold, so we didn't stay for post-ride beers. Maybe next week!
Finally got back to mountain biking with the Thursday group, and I feel fantastic. We rode about 7 miles or so, including going *down* some rooty rocky bits that I never can manage to climb *up*, and also *up* some rooty rocky bits that I usually have trouble with. :)
Then we had berry pie and beers in the parking lot, watching the nearly-full moon rise on the solstice.
We made it two miles into the bike ride before we decided it was too hot, too humid, and too shaky to continue. So we went back to the parking lot. Drank a beer, saw a fox and three deer, heard the loudest cicada in the history of cicadas. Eventually the rest of the group made their way back and we had a great time hanging out and talking 'til it was past time to go home.
ink and yarn