So the first frost in Missouri is a big deal for me. This is because the first time the temp drops below freezing all the ticks, spiders and chiggers die. All summer I am hesitant to get out in the woods because of the obscene amounts of small bugs that crawl and embed themselves in you skin. I don't really enjoy the feeling of picking a small insect out of my skin in the midst of it's blood meal. Plus you add on the fact that I've just finished studying in school the MANY diseases that ticks carry (Rocky mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, Tularemia, Erlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, and Relapsing fever to name a few). Needless to say, I love it when we get the first frost, I finally get back out in the woods without hesitations and the post hike tick checks in the shower. A couple weeks ago (after the frost) I went mountain biking around
Thousand Hills Lake. I have to admit I have been a complete idiot for neglecting this trail for a whole year. It is an excellent 13 miles of pure singletrack. I can't believe it took me this long to get out there. So now I have the mountain biking bug again. It comes at a good time because I need a break from the road bike before I start hitting the trainer next month. So, I've been out on the trail as much as I can in an effort to use this short window of time between the death of the bugs but before
the trail gets too wet and muddy to ride. I have been riding the trail from my house which makes the ride around 25 miles round trip (the 13 miles around the lake is a point to point). I got excited again tonight when I found some maps to another conservation area south of town which looks like it houses around 20 miles of trail. Plus we bought Eugena a good mountain bike (2002 Gary Fisher Sugar 3+). She is excited to give mountain biking another shot after 3 or 4 tainted and injurious attempts with my father, my brothers and I (my dad picks hard trails for the family mtb trips). This is turning out to be a good way to keep my fitness up as I move into the winter training season. It's great to get out on the trail and not see a single person the whole 13 miles. It's a nice release from the stress of school. Something to look forward to, Thomas asked if I was interested in doing an on
8 hour adventure race Dec 2nd in Castlewood park outside of St. Louis. I though I might as well, stay posted....
the trail gets too wet and muddy to ride. I have been riding the trail from my house which makes the ride around 25 miles round trip (the 13 miles around the lake is a point to point). I got excited again tonight when I found some maps to another conservation area south of town which looks like it houses around 20 miles of trail. Plus we bought Eugena a good mountain bike (2002 Gary Fisher Sugar 3+). She is excited to give mountain biking another shot after 3 or 4 tainted and injurious attempts with my father, my brothers and I (my dad picks hard trails for the family mtb trips). This is turning out to be a good way to keep my fitness up as I move into the winter training season. It's great to get out on the trail and not see a single person the whole 13 miles. It's a nice release from the stress of school. Something to look forward to, Thomas asked if I was interested in doing an on 8 hour adventure race Dec 2nd in Castlewood park outside of St. Louis. I though I might as well, stay posted....
2 comments:
You wrote that you are trying to ride as much before it gets too wet and muddy. Wimp! Live a little and get wet and muddy. Life is too short to stay clean and dry, unless we are talking about drugs and alcohol.
I think the eugenas new bike is named after the greatest person in the world! (this is probably not sugar)
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