Riding Away With Myself

I went on another bike ride today! This one got a little scary. I started by heading down Duncan Hollow Road again, the gravel road behind the campground. I passed the road I turned on last time, and then turned left on another gravel road to get to the Duncan Hollow Bike Loop. This was a dirt bike trail in the woods.

My bicycle is a hybrid - the tires are wider than a road bike, but not quite as big as a real mountain bike. I've never actually ridden on this type of trail before. I will think twice before I do it again.

Part of the problem was that I hadn't looked at it that closely on the map, to realize that the first section would be all downhill. I was going faster than I would like, just hanging onto the brakes and trying to stay in control! Luckily it was a fairly smooth trail - no rocks or roots to speak of. But I felt like I wasn't in control at all!

The late afternoon sunlight was golden and gorgeous. The spiderwebs across the trail showed up really well in the light - as I was crashing through them! I managed to keep my mouth shut, at least.

When I finally slowed down at the bottom of the hill I was able to ride for a while - then it started going back up. And I found that I just couldn't get enough purchase to keep moving - probably a combination of factors, the trail surface, the narrower tires, and my own weight and lack of leg strength. I would push off, but not be able to get moving fast enough to keep my balance. I ended up walking up all but the very slightest of slopes.

When I finally got back to the gravel road it was a relief - even though I knew the trail wasn't that long, I was still having visions of walking out in the dark. At least on the gravel road I'd be able to see where I was going on the lighter rock!

As I rode out I had to get off to one side to let a pickup truck pass by. The driver waved, then did a double take, since I had just talked to him in the visitor center a couple of hours earlier! We talked for a minute then headed out separate ways.

Riding back on Duncan Hollow Road was much easier than it was last time - enough vehicles have passed through that the gravel has been packed down again. I stopped at a meadow to try and capture the evening light on the trees.

 

Just after the field I noticed something in the road - little spiky things. Chestnuts!

Yowch!

Chestnut trees were mostly wiped out by a blight some time ago, but there is an experimental grove along the road here. However, these chestnut shells were found under an oak tree. Silly squirrels.

My ride was just over five and a half miles, but again it was a real workout because of walking my bike up all those hills! I think I'll stick to the gravel roads for a while, unless I know the trail is going to be flat.