Gettin' my fix

An old stone foundation, probably from a barn.

Not the safest self portrait I've ever taken - both hands on the handlebars is usually a good idea.

Stone wall - looks like Green Lakes SP used to be farmland. I wonder when the state purchased it to be a park? 

Looking north - I think the body of water is from the Erie Canal. Many cherries and apples were in bloom.

There were lots of titles I thought of for this post on today's ride but this is the one I settled on. After looking at the weather forecast for the next few days, I decided it was high time I get out on the trails. I blitzed home after work (ok, it takes me four minutes but I walked faster today), changed, crammed a peanut butter Power Bar down the gullet and hopped in the car to Green Lakes. I had left my bike in the boot after this weekend just for a case like today. I pulled in the parking lot at about 6:15, which meant I had about an hour and a half of good riding light with an extra half hour of "um, should I really be riding in the woods right now - watch out for the tree" dusk to carry me through. It wasn't pretty but I managed an hour and 25 minutes of riding time, finished just after 8. Since I haven't done any cycling to speak of this season, I was really hurting. There is a good climb shortly out of the parking area and I was CRAWLING up it, the taste of blood rising in my mouth as I pushed myself well beyond what I am physically capable of right now. Since this was 3 minutes in, I decided I needed to tone it down some and not die on the first climb. Once I settled in, I explored just about every trail open to biking in the park - and a few that probably aren't or at least are likely not NYSP sanctioned trails. These were by far the most fun though... I saw lots of wildlife (deer, rabbit, turkey, pheasant) and enjoyed exploring a new place. I discovered a back way in to the park so when it comes time to have to pay, I think I can avoid having to do so. I know this isn't the right thing to do but being this is the closest place with any significant riding, I am not sure I can afford the $7/day and $65/year access fees. NYS will have to make it up some other way - who knows, maybe I'll get a ticket for parking somewhere I am not supposed to... 

Overall, I felt great - sluggish and out of shape - but great. It was excellent to be on the bike and working out the spring time kinks. I felt refreshed and exhilarated bombing down trails (I hit 29mph) and powering up others. At about an hour, I felt in a groove and realized how important it is for me to do this - being on the bike keeps me fresh, eases the stress that accumulates daily. I know I say this all the time, but I need to do this more, lots more. Sooo, here's to more mtb'ing this year. 

After finishing up, I had a great conversation with a woman from Germany who was interested in MINIs. She owned one years ago when she lived in Italy and was thinking about buying a new one before she bought her new Mercedes. According to her, our conversation rekindled the MINI flame. I told her to buy one, she wouldn't ever regret it. But you might say I am a bit biased...

This last picture might be a disturbing for some but I found it interesting - death captured in a couple of different ways.