OP Mountain Biking

March 11

Today was by far the most challenging OP day yet. I loved it. Jenni and I went mountain biking on St David’s Day, but because the shop was closing early we had to settle for the Llyn Elsi ride. The first half of the ride was up hill, to the lake, and then the rest was back down hill into town. Nearly the entire trail was the wide fire path. I’m glad the Marin Trail was more technical.
We started the day by getting used to the reversed brakes and shifting gears. Then we learned the attack position. After some practice, Steve taught us how to deal with an obstacle in the path that we could not avoid.
From there, we basically learned as we went. I took a nice spill at the end of the best single-track path in the whole Gwydyr forest. I managed the first three jumps without trouble, but as I landed the third and took off from the fourth my left hand slipped off the brake. In a quick attempt to replace my hand, I grabbed the handlebar, but no brake lever. This left me with only the right brake, unfortunately in this country that is the front brake. Luckily there was a tree there to ‘cushion’ my roll. Without missing a beat I jumped back on my bike and hit the final jump. I think Steve may have seen it, but everyone else was behind, so they missed it.
I like how the trail went up and down gradually, instead of first half up and second half down. A few of my friends back home have mountain bikes and go riding out by the dam. After this experience, I might have to join them this summer. I can’t imagine any trail in Iowa will compare to the Marin.