Riding around the country

This summer I'm setting out on an adventure around the United States, as part of the Big Green Bus. [www.thebiggreenbus.org] Thus far I'm two weeks along, and have had some awesome fun along the way. One might imagine that twelve students living out of a single bus would leave little room or time for mountain biking, but one would happily be wrong! Having convinced my compatriots to allow me to stuff a bike into our crowded bus, I've been fortunate to get out for several good rides already this summer. Most recently, I got to check out little creek trails in Durham NC. Sadly the typical action shots have been replaced by still lifes, due to the nature of riding alone.

Hot! Hot! Hot! Oak Hill Bike Ride

Hot and humid weather has returned to the Upper Valley. Today the temps were pushing into the 90s (just barely) and the humidity was up as well. Luckily for us, the mountain bike trails around here are almost entirely under the wonderful shaded cover of trees. Joining me today were my dad and a friend we mostly see when our pond is frozen.

My dad leads us off around one of the early singletrack corners:

Same Old Local Bike Trails

Back to the Lebanon home mountain bike trails. I rode a trail I had ridden many times before, and you know what? It was pretty good. Knowing the good lines through the corners and over the technical bits and how long the climbs are can help sometimes. It puts me in my comfort zone.

A little rain can change the trails fast though. Here Phil slips out of comfort and into a tree:

New (to me) Mountain Bike Trails!

Last night I got to go check out some trails a bit south of me in New Hampshire. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew that there would be trails and I would be meeting up with some friends (and maybe some new faces). I was moderately shocked by how many riders showed up - something around 12. Due to the group size it took a while to get going, but after a while we did get started. The trails were interesting and fun from the beginning, starting with a mellow, winding singletrack climb. Parts of the climb were actually fast:

Close to Home

Sometimes the best rides are those that are easiest to access. They can fill in the small gaps in one's day when there is not enough time to go for a long ride, but when a ride is needed nonetheless. Trails don't get much closer than the trail wrapping around my house. It was the perfect destination (if it can really be called that) for a ride in between rain showers. 

The trail starts right next to our pond

Done. Finally Done!

There has been a bit of a lull in posting recently. You may have noticed. I did not. My head was buried in books and my thoughts in studying. Very unfortunate.

However far away it may have seemed, there was a light at the end of the tunnel and reaching it was ever so glorious. We figured the only way to celebrate finishing exams would be to go riding. Katie joined Alden and me and we headed up to Union Village Dam again. I brought along a borrowed lens to try out and had a lot of fun with it. (evidence follows)

Smiles were easy to find:

Hot and Steamy Ride On Oak Hill

In case you hadn't noticed, it has gotten hot here. Really hot...and humid. Yesterday the thermometer read 95 degrees and the humidity made it feel like we were swimming. We couldn't let that stop us though, so we waited until 6 PM in the hope that it would cool down some by then (what a misplaced hope) and then headed out to Oak Hill. The pace was kept around a nice painful level. Between that and the heat it was a shorter ride, but it was a fun and fast one on a day that made one simply glad to be outside.

The world is looking very green here now. Anson surfs through some green waves:

Rocks, Roots, and More

Another day, another ride. This time we went out to some of the more technical trails around and had a blast playing on the rocks and lurching over the roots. Technical riding can be hugely frustrating at times, but when one is in the right mindset it can be a joy. It becomes a sort of game or puzzle, trying to maintain balance and pick the right line through a section. This was one of the enjoyable times.

Scoping a line (can you find it?)