Saturday, September 29, 2007

Trail Ride...

Today's weather was absolutely beautiful. Although the Memorial Park trails were open, I knew they would be crowded. Not mention traffic along Memorial would be bad due to a closure of I-10. I took a short road trip instead...



Just a short drive up I-45 to the north lies Huntsville State Park. The park is filled with fast single track trails, and a couple of nice views of Lake Raven.





There are some nice bridges throughout the trail system, too.



Beware, the trails are very sandy. You have to be careful of the sand out here. Sometimes the sand is hidden under pine straw, and you will have absolutely no idea it's there until you can't steer. The sand also zaps your momentum on climbs, and often hides in the low spots just before a climb, killing all momemtum. There are spots where its deep enough to stop you cold. But for the most part, once you get used to it, it's fun go slip-sliding through it. Just don't try to steer your way out of trouble or make any quick decisions!

Overall, I like the trails. They are fast, but not scary technical. Overall, a great place to practice multiple skills. I'll be back out there soon. It's hard to beat the convience!

KENDA NEVEGALS RAWK!!
By coincidence, I decided to test out a pair of Kenda Nevegals gathering dust in my spare room. I'm very glad I did. My usual Maxxis CrossMarks would not have done well in this sandy environment...



I'm in love with these with these tires! I ran them at 35 psi and the grip over roots, through sand, and rocks was simply awesome! Like any tire they did wash out in the sandy turns, but gave plenty of warning, before they simply broke away and fell out from under me. Except for the clayey hardpack of deep east Texas, these are my new trail tire. The CrossMarks are still better on the hard stuff, and are faster rollers.



COMMUNING WITH NATURE
The highlight of the day was coming upon two white-tail deer. They were less than 50 yards away before they went running off through the woods... I couldn't get the camera out near fast enough...

Tomorrow... rest day... maybe a bike cleaning...

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