The Joy of Neighborhood Trails

This evening, as I got in the car after a long day in the office, it was a perfect 68 degrees and sunny out. Mrs. V is away for the week, and I was sorely tempted to ride.

But I promised her before she left I would get a small list of household chores done, so when I got home, I sadly, dutifully put on my work clothes and picked up the paint brush.

HA! If you believed that one, I've got an old radio show about aliens invading New Jersey that'll scare the peewaddins out of you!

Got home, jumped into some shorts, hopped on the Vaya and flew down to that network of neighborhood dirt trails I discovered last week. I can't stop thinking about them, even during the work day. They're just perfect for monster cross -- challenging but not super-technical, with some nice helpings of deep sand here and there to improve one's power numbers. You can do a little roller-coaster action, or stomp up stupid-steep ramps. Just enough roots and crap on the ground to keep my head up and make me feel tough when I roll right over 'em with my new 45 mm tires. (Heh – gotta pay my friend for those...)

Had just enough time to discover a few more short branches of trail. There's not much down there, all told – maybe you could put together a mile or two without repeating any segments – but it's so stinkin' fun, I don't care. Plus, I haven't seen it all yet -- every time I go, I have to turn back without exploring one or two more turns. Clearly, this is going to be my go-to short-ride for the Vaya. (Hope I don't get kicked off of it. No one's yelled at me yet, though I'm sure it's all private property; there're plenty of houses and barns visible.)

I just can't believe how lucky I am to have even  a small network that's so fun and so close to my house -- maybe two miles, max.

As I rolled back, the sun was edging the tops of the trees, the breeze was warm-cool, birds sang their springtime hopefulness from the branches.

I will get to that brush clearing and cabinet painting this week... maybe if it rains...