Summer Riding

The last couple Thursday Neil and I have finally been able to get out and ride with each other which we have not done for awhile.

We have gone to Ute Park (which is only a mile from Neil's work) so Neil knows the trails really well I have been there a couple times. Ute has great trails very different than midwest riding, but love the new challenge.

Last night we went to Palmer Park (Section 16). We took off from the parking lot and Neil warned me that there is alot of climbing at the beginning, but I was not prepared for 1.5 hours of sustained climbing. It was all singal track. We met up with some of Neils co-workers at the Trail head (1/2 hour into the ride) They all had downhill bikes. So we took off up the Mountain and 1 hour later got to the top it was soo pretty. I was able to catch my breath and some of Neil's co-workers started to put some arm and leg protection on (Neil also warned me that the first part of the descent is really techincal, but I will be able to ride most of it). So we took off down the hill first and I think I was a little siked out, the frist quarter of the descent was rocky, loose gravel switch backs and STEEP! So I proceeded to ride part of it and I just could not go any further I was pretty nervous so I walked part of it. Then Neil's co-workers came down with their down hilll bikes and they were flying down the trail. It was neat to watch them go through these sections not even batting an eye. We got past that section and I was able to ride the rest of the trail down it was pretty loose and rocky, but we took it slow. It was a great night of riding an can't wait to do more.