These are the types of things that make biking in suburbia all the more interesting... (Taken with Instagram)
So a recap of today's ride. I started off towards the back of the neighborhood i live in and nonchalantly crossed the street into the woods past the wooden fence with a distant no trespassing sign...
Side Story...this will happen often. If anyone is following me at any point and wants to comment on the fact that i just admitted to trespassing on the property of a local power company, don't. Here's why: I started biking on these trails about 8 years ago when there was no wooded fence at this entrance or any of the other two entrances...it was just a tall chain fence at this particular entrance and you could go around it (you could tell other people had, bikers, hikers, 4-wheelers, etc). This was my main trail I used. It was PERFECT (and still is). It is a very hilly and rough double track trail that branches in 3-4 places all leading out to paved roads , both major and wide single lane. You will get more pictures as i start riding it again. So to get to the point...It started with this first instance...i was riding these trails hard, I was at probably 85-90% heart rate for a good 2 minutes. I stopped next to the dirt road that spans the two power stations on the companies property. A guy in a truck is driving from one to the other and stops to ask me if i'm ok as i was red in the face and sitting on the ground...I was and explained to him what i was doing workout wise, seeing as he admitted to being a biker too, and told him i really enjoyed the trails and was glad they were semi-open to the public with exception to the few signs i had seen pop up over the previous 2-3 weeks. The way he explained it to me was that, the people living further in the woods, whose property connected to theirs, were bringing motocross bikes and 4-wheelers onto the property and tearing up the trails which was why the signs were up and fences being constructed. He said I would be fine coming onto the property anytime as long as i don't go anywhere near the fences that protected their gear...I thanked him and continued my workout. This happened twice more with the same results over the next 6-7 years. So, as far as i'm concerned, or until notified otherwise, I'm going to start using the trails again...
So i get past the fence which is in front of some medium density woods and i get to the edge of the woods where the dirt road begins after what used to be short grass...No joke...It was minimum 3 feet tall now. Powered through that with some unexpected ease despite the numerous 8 inch deep ruts due to trucks using the space at one point. I managed to actually stay on the bike which felt great! I used to have to walk it way back when, and the grass was short then too :P
Followed the main road for about 3 minutes, blew past the smaller of the two power stations and we are now at the previous picture i posted. Only the brush here was twice as tall too...and where there was once 100% dirt single track...you now could see no more than 20% of the path with dirt on it...Got off the property after a while to a road, followed that back to the other entrance, back on the property and back out the way i originally came in.
Then off to mostly concrete paths and paved roads which were now a breeze compared to the back trails. I literally think I have outgrown the gears on my bike...I was able to maintain stable speed on flat and slightly inclined paths at max gear...never used to be able to do that. (I'll be getting a new cyclometer soon hopefully so I might just start posting gps, cadence, and any other gathered data, and pictures obviously.)
All in all, the ride took an hour and 35 minutes and i traveled approximately 22 miles. Great ride, was tired but not exhausted at the end which included a ritual 28ish (maybe 30) mph sprint down the hill next to my house.
vaporwave
romaincrisis
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