A Mill Mountain kind of day. =)

Today was a day that I've wanted to have for a long time. I was originally supposed to go out of town for the holiday weekend, but elected to cancel and stay home. So for the entire month, I've had this day pictured in my mind. If I didn't have to go to jury duty, I wanted to spend some quality time on Mill Mountain. You see there are trails there that I think are pretty sweet and there are people who work on the trails that are pretty cool and ever since I spent time last November and December blazing the trails, I've felt like I have taken a bit of ownership in the park. I've fussed, cussed, complained and protested that evil idea of Rockledge Inn, and I'm also a member of the Roanoke Valley Mountain Bike Patrol who's focus is on Mill Mountain's trails, so see I'm rather attached to the place.

So this morning, I got up in time to get to the Discovery Center by 9a for a rendezvous with the other trail builders. Actually I got there a bit early, so I walked the parking lot of the Discovery Center and picked up trash again. I'm trying to make an effort that anytime I park there that I remove some amount of trash. For some reason, people can't seem to put it in the ample trash cans that dot the sidewalks. It's disgusting to me to see all the crap laying around. It's particularly bad around the top parking lot - I'm going to try to get up there and remove some of it another day soon. Anyone want to help?

Ok, so we piled in the vehicles and headed down to Woodthrush Trail where we hiked a short distance to the Virginia Pine Trail. Sweet! I wasn't sure where this gem of a trail was and it's pretty cool to see a work in progress. Soon 6 of us plus Pchap's little boys (3 and 7 months?) were hard at work, choping through the topsoil, roots, rocks etc. We completed a small section of trail. I will say that trail building is hard work!!! I have a lovely blister on my thumb for my efforts! I enjoyed every bit of it though! It was also nice just to hang out and talk to the others. Each person seems to have a unique opinion on what they think the trail should be. I'll just go along with whatever. =) I'm glad I went and worked today - I wish I could go more often, but this group is usually there while I'm working.

After the trailwork was done and the equipment put away, we headed our separate ways. I went home to let the dog out and do some laundry. Then I ate a yummy lunch while watching in wonderment the GOPs VP on CNN. WTH? Anyway, soon after that, I fell asleep in the recliner for an hour or so. I awoke to the phone ringing - my boss asking if I was going to work Saturday - the answer is no, I'm on call and they can call me in if they need me. Next, I decided to get cleaned up and plan the rest of my day. Why I cleaned up I don't know because my afternoon plans involved going for a bike ride. HA!

I went back to Mill Mountain for a patrol ride this evening at 5p. I parked at Riversedge, but soon was on the phone with who else, my boss. HA! I told her I was going to charge her two hours pay for the phone calls today. =) For my ride, I made my way to Walnut Ave where I climbed up to Sylvan. After this, the ride went: up Monument --> down JP Fish --> down Woodthrush --> Star Trail --> down JP Fish --> up Sylvan --> Big Sunny --> up Riser --> up Ridgeline --> Sidewalk to The Star --> down the road (+35mph) --> Chestnut Ridge Loop --> Fern Park --> neighborhood streets to Riversedge. My ride was 1.5 hours and was about 12 miles. This was a good combination of trails. I liked the order in which I rode them today. Very fun! Again, I felt pretty good for the most part while I was riding. It was a tad on the humid side.

Anyway, there is my 4.5 hours spent on Mill Mountain today. YAY Me!!!