Hello old friend...

Tuesday night found the original chickys (me and Paula) venturing out to our original locale - The Explore Park. I have no clue when I rode there last. Sheesh, right now I can't remember the last time I rode at the Cove. Maybe my tired, numb brain isn't functioning completely anymore or maybe it's really been a while. I'll get back to you on that. Anyway, the nice thing about Explore Park is that you can ride there in the dark. As creepy as it sounds, a bike light helps you traverse the trails safely albeit for me, slowly.

So I dug out the battery pack to my light, charged it, found my helmet with the light attached and planned to meet P at 6pm Tuesday. Of course the traffic getting to the Explore Park is enough to make you want to stab yourself in the eye with a spork, but it was fun once I got there. We rode the beginner trail where it took a few minutes to reacquaint myself with the rooty trails. Then we went down the intermediate trail and up the hill. I think this is the best I've ridden up that hill. We stopped for a few minutes to talk to some friends. Soon we continued on to take the Outer Loop where we again encountered a group of friends. This was turning into a social ride which of course is cool!!!

After we crossed the road we did the lollipop loop backwards which is always fun. I climbed from the bottom to the top of the trail without stopping. I think this was a first. I stopped at the top to wait on P because I didn't know which direction she wanted to go. I had to walk a couple times while on the loop, but that's ok. Once we got back to the road, we had to decide where to ride next. We started off going down by the river and were going to ride back up through the park. After we rode by the trailhead for the Expert loop, I wondered out loud about it, so we turned around and took it back out.

OOF! That has to be one of the hardest trails in Roanoke. It was off camber, has some leafy areas, some insane rocks, some babyheads and some dips that make roller coaster at PVP look tame. I struggled at times, walked a bit but eventually made it back out. This trail intersects the outer loop so the return route would be familiar. The sun was really starting to drop, so there were a few low light sections. I climbed the outer loop back out the best I've ever done! YAY ME! I ended up turning my light on for a bit so that I could safely see the trail.

I really enjoyed riding at Explore Park again and hopefully will be able to work it into a ride schedule! Like I said, you can ride there with lights so WOO HOO!!! Oh yea, I did ride some logs and stuff that before I wouldn't have tried! I guess I'm getting to the point where I trust myself a bit more. Look out!!!