Riding a New Trail

I’m heading out to a new trail this Saturday for some early morning riding and I am stoked. For me, riding a new trail is always a fun experience but sometimes the anticipation of riding something new is just as fun.

Riding a familiar trail has its perks. It’s always nice to know where you’re going. It’s also nice to know when the next big climb is or the technical part of the ride. Lastly knowing that you probably won’t get lost is a huge comfort too. But sometimes being too familiar with a trail can make you a bit uninterested in riding it.

With a new trail, there is always the dilemma of which bike to take on the new trail? Hardtail? Rigid? Full Suspension? Which would do better out there? Are there a lot of climbs? Is it a fast trail? Any jumps? Technical steep sections? There are so many factors to take into consideration when deciding on which bike to ride on the new trail that it can be almost paralyzing. It would almost be better to have just one bike. (Hmm… nope. It didn’t work. I thought I’d write that line and see if I could believe my own writing but I can’t.) Having just one bike is a bit like heresy. The more choices, the merrier.

Just thinking about the different terrain that you may encounter on a new ride gets my adrenaline flowing. My palms start sweating and my feet get anxious to turn the pedals. I picture myself riding strong up the hills and flowing on the downhills, flying through the singletrack and just having a great time. Of course when I get out there it’s a totally different story: I’m struggling to get up the hills and going down hill is like pulling teeth because I’m going so slowly.

But it’s worth it when I get back to the car and I think about the trail I just rode. New trails can’t help but put a smile on your face. Now, whens the next one?