Autumnal

One can sense the end of the year aproaching -- and it's not just from the holiday commercials showing up on television.  Images from a (probably) last ride on Waterbury's Perry Hill trail network near my home last week.  Wind and a light dusting of snow over the weekend finished removing any remaining foliage from the trees:  It is officially 'stick season' now.

There was still some color in the understory on the trails at lower elevation.

These trails close for the season on November 1.  If there are some balmy clement days in November I may poach a couple of quick rides but for the most part riding season here is over until 2012.

Higher up, the trees were pretty bare and the thick layer of leaves on the ground made for very tricky riding, even on trails that I know very well.

I know it is perfectly absurd of me and also that I am not a very technically proficient mountain biker but I was quite pleased with myself when I learned to ride these rocks on my rigid bike.   When I first encountered this obstacle many years ago I thought to myself "there's no way I'll ride this".

The 'line', roughly.

My Redline has served me well but now that I have a mostly functional road bike I can set about upgrading or replacing this rig.  Most of the time the rigid bike is fine but I have done some longer rides where the Redline has delivered a real beating and left me sore and barely able to ride.  Salsa's "Adventure by bike" slogan and design philosophy has a certain appeal....
The GPS track of this ride.