Since the first trip didn’t go as planned: https://www.missionexploration.com/mountain-biking-at-gunstock-my-first-try/
I had a moment this past Sunday to go back up and try again. Shoes, shorts, helmet, bike and new water bottle… I was good to go. One thing: I forgot the map.
Getting lost wasn’t going to stop me and I knew damn well which trail to go on. I wasn’t going to let this one trail get the best of me!
So up the hill I went. Oh and it was a hill. I biked up 95% of it (to throw out an arbitrary number that means nothing). Only a few did I get off an walk. I noticed my back wheel was spinning on some of the steeper climbs. I decided to let out some air from the rear tire and that helped immensely with my future climbing.
Not sure where I was going, but the trail was well marked.
That photo is of one of the easier more relaxing sections of the trail. I didn’t take any photos of the challenging sections as, well, I was busy and trying to make sure my heart was going to stay in my chest. I haven’t worked out that hard in a long long time. Yes, out of shape. But I can see this helping for sure. Great time out there. The trails did a lot of zig zagging and then turned into other trails and that’s where I got lost.
I say lost in the gentlest of senses. I didn’t know where I was or where I was going, but I never felt truly lost. I knew it would come out somewhere where I could simply make my way back.
I even did my first (ever in my life) river crossing!
Shoe got wet and everything…
While riding on one of the trails it just opened up into a small field with a picnic table off to one side. We’re talking a 1/4 way up the mountain or so as I came across this on my way back down the mountain on another trail.
The ride back down was very much well worth the trouble going up. A snack will be needed for the next time around. I think I would have stayed out longer if it wasn’t for the empty belly and slowly depleting glycogen stores.
So I was happy to eventually make my way back down. I didn’t come out where I started, but I was darn close.
They have a lot of summertime activities here:
The big zip line, a small zip line adventure course (I plan on trying that soon!), plenty of stuff for the kids, an off-road segway tour, mountain coaster, paddle boards, bike rentals, scenic chair ride, mountain top yoga, and of course hiking. All this just 5 minutes from the lake house. I think I’ll be spending a lot more time here.
The old girl did well. It’s a Balance AL550 – built in the early 1990’s, she’s all tuned up with new rubber, tires and chain. It’s quite comfortable as bikes go and run so well, it’s hard for me to upgrade right now. Maybe as I do this more and get better and go on more challenging trails I’ll consider it, but until then this girl will do just fine.
