Just for Fun?

Now that my big event of the year is over, you know that 100 miler that I spent all my spring and summer preparing for, I can now go on mountain bike rides just for fun.  Since the Downhill Diva indulged me all summer with my fitness training rides, it is now time for me to pay her back with all the single track technical madness she wants. Instead of finding rides with lots and lots of vertical gain that we can ride at a good clip we are now choosing fun loops. As much fun as a ride that has a section called the 'widow maker' can be, that is. We were riding Noble Canyon which is a favorite ride to shuttle for the downhillers. Of course we rode up Indian Creek to get there, we want to have fun but also get a workout. Is it wrong that the uphill was way more fun for me than the downhill? On the uphill we were awarded with fabulous views and lots of fun riding. There were tons of heart shaped rocks in all colors on the trail to keep the love flowing. Once the downhill began it was all going well, until the widow maker appeared. Not sure if it was named that due to the technical difficulty of riding over said section or the gnats that swarmed you there. I think if you stayed long enough you would be just a carcass at the end! In any event dear readers, you will have to excuse me for not getting a photo of the widow maker. The gnats were our constant companions for most of the rest of the ride. I am all for trail friendliness but this was ridiculous. We did not need an escort, and I kept politely telling them that they could go away! (if it is polite to yell four letter words). I especially didn't need them distracting me over the technical descent and I almost lost it several times when I inadvertently took a hand off the bars to clear the air around my head. I also found myself taking a little more speed than I should have over things because we discovered that the faster you went the less likely the gnats could keep up. Sure I was having fun!  At the end of the ride on Stairway to Hell I realized that our idea of fun might be just a little skewed from normal.

Downhill Diva in her element

'I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun' - Katherine Hepburn