Back on the Trails & No Crashes!

This morning at 7am I met K, Phillip, Steven, Brent, Cole, Ortner, John, & John's dad, Gary at the AEDC Saddle Club mountain bike trails! Yep that's right... I'm the only girl! It was cold!!! 34 degrees! I get so stressed out when I even think about mountain biking. I made my last right hand turn onto the road for the trail and just honestly thought I would pass out my heart was beating so fast and I was so nervous! I haven't mtn biked since July.... and my skills were totally lacking then. I've had some pretty bad crashes before... and it has kinda scarred me. I mean, nothing where I've broken any bones or done any real damage - just broken skin and bruises!

We took off on the trail & I volunteer to bring up the rear. These guys are going to hammer - NO DOUBT! I am most comfortable there - I guess I have no confidence. That way if I wreck I'm guaranteed to not get smashed by another rider behind me! It's called 'Eliminating further damage.' :-) Well, we make it through the first 5 miles in about 47 minutes - NO CRASHES! I'm feeling a little more at ease now. Ortner wasn't feeling so hot... he felt like he could have possibly had a stomach bug. We were at a point where he could have easily gotten back to his car. So finally Steven says "Ortner! You goin with us or headin back?" Ortner releases a HUGE burp and says "I'm goin w da BOYS!!!" So it was ON! We head on across the road to the lake section - man it was slick over there! We just got a really good rain yesterday. This section is a little over a mile and then across the road back to the other trails. It got pretty technical here(technical for a girl)... and some climbs that had my heart STOMPING to high heaven! My legs were burning and I was breathing hard! We stop again right around 8 miles or so. And guess what.................... STILL NO CRASHES! YAY!

We take off again and everything was still going well. I can tell I'm getting a good workout because all the sudden I start feeling hungry! I was enjoying myself.... I got some confidence and trained myself to look ahead instead of turning the corner and flying up on a technical section out of control and slamming the brake. Gary was kind enough to stay with me for most of the ride while the rest of the fellows hammered it out probably a half mile ahead. Right around mile 11.5 I spot Gary's gray sweatshirt on the trail and I see that the trail is going to come out on a fire road soon. I'm hoping he knows I'm not going to have any clue which way to turn from here. He must have assumed I knew..... he was no where to be found. I ride a little ways down the road...... no Gary. I stop and unclip to see if I can hear a bike and follow my ears.... no sound. Nothing. Ugh-oh... I'm lost. You've gotta be kidding me.... I've stayed with them the whole way and with 2 miles left I'm lost? 4-letter word! I take off back the other way where I came from hoping someone has realized I'm lost and coming to get me. NOPE! Not a soul in sight! So I wonder if maybe they are all at the end of the fire road waiting... I take off and the next thing I know I'm back to the main hwy that can take me back to my car. I have two choices - I can try to jump back on the trail and guess which inlet I need to take........ or I can go the way I know is back to my car. I choose to decline the unknown and go for the known :-)

So I get back to my car and my computer reads that I've read about 13 miles. I waited for several minutes on the crew to come back but they didn't. I loaded my bike up, took some of my gear off, changed shoes.... still no one in sight. I was getting cold. I thought "I hope they're not out there looking for me." Then I remembered that they probably haven't even looked back since we were so close to the end... and when they see my car is gone from the parking lot, they'll know I'm ok. So, I headed on home. K called me in a few and I told him I was fine. I am feeling pretty bad that I didn't just hang around in the parking lot for the rest of the bunch to get back. That could have been the wrong decision on my part..... I think from now on if that happens I'll wait. I'm not sure that was good mountain biker etiquette :-/

I had a great ride & a great workout! No CRASHES! There were a few close ones.... but never went down! I'm sure I will be very sore just from working different muscles. It was worth it though!

Total Ride Time: 1:31
Average Speed: 8.1mph