Beatty II

I'm going to redo my last post about my ride yesterday. I was trying to limit myself due to time but here we go.

The ride started off a bit frazled. I had three places I needed to be at the same time. I needed to drop off a battery to Jen (which ended up not working - SORRY!) I needed to get my bike & self ready to ride, and I needed to drop Fiona off at a friends while I rode. I hate putting myself under un-needed stress so it stressed me out that much more. Either way I got everything done without too many people upset at me. I finally got to the parking lot at Beatty (for a second time) and got my bike off the car, got chamois on, figured out my water from 3 days prior was drinkable, pedals switched, and was ready to go. Thankfully Mel waited patiently for me & I had someone to ride with. We did one lap which was super nice - I still haven't gotten over the log of evil but time will get me there, I haven't really been on a mountain bike other than racing in a few weeks. I loose confidence easily since I am still on that learning curve.

Mel and I finish the first lap at Beatty - finding Taryn in the parking lot. She had been test riding a Cannondale Prophet from a guy off one of the forums. He was riding her single speed during all this and we waited for him to return her bike. Mel, Taryn & I chatted it up with some folks. I saw a customer (Hi Scott!!) and finally we were ready to rock and roll. The second lap was race pace ready to go ride. It was fun to try and follow Taryn's lines - she has much more experience flowing through a trail than I.

The end of the lap was almost in a dream. It had gotten pretty dark in the woods & the trail was hard to see. Flying down a couple of the hills was a bit freaky - all I could do was try and follow Taryn into the darkness & keep speed up. I love night riding & the 20 minutes before it is pitch dark is one of my new favorites of riding. After riding bikes (mainly road don't forget) it is so great to find new things that excite or make me happy.

That was my retake on Beatty. It was a ride that stuck with me for the past day so I figured it required a better rewrite. Now I am off to bed and riding maybe in the morning.