A really good ride home! It was fun and fast going down into Peterson’s Creek, and I made it through the creek, over the first root on the other side AND I made the climb out of the east bank!!! Finally, I managed to make both of these sections in the same effort! Unfortunately, my effort up the bypass trail going out of the valley wasn’t so great… 
But after that, once I got to the top, I came up to the rock wall with a good rate of speed (faster than I have before). My mind tried telling my body to hit the brakes, that I wasn’t going to make it, but I managed to stubbornly push on and I cleared the wall easily! With the extra speed I managed, I was able to keep the pedals level ‘till my front wheel was well over the top, at which point I only had to pedal about 1/2 a crank to get the rear wheel to come up and over. Best clear on this section yet!
Physically I felt pretty good today. I took both of the gulley trails down and the first one was really good, faster in most sections than I typically am there. The second trail was not bad, but that one isn’t as fun! The mini rock garden was a bit tough and I had to dab a bit to keep from going over the bars… I’d really be interested in trying this section with a decent front suspension as compared to my cheap spring type fork. Maybe the big bumps would be soaked up better?
The pipeline section at Rose Hill was really good. The last hill I thought I just might make it! I did make it the furthest yet, so that was very sweet. But that is a tough, tough hill. I’ve heard that Phil has made it, but I haven’t seen anyone actually do it. Maybe if I ride here with Dave this weekend I’ll see him make it! He seems to be the climbing king… 
The trails through to Juniper were good and fast. I got some really good air at the beginning of the the look out trail (where it forks off of the main road), and then sprinted the single-track up to the top. Awesome fun!
Oh, I just about forgot. As I was coming to the trailer park up in Pineview/Aberdeen, there were a bunch of kids sitting on their bikes on top of a little dirt hill. They have made themselves some jumps and what not and they seem to be hanging out on this hill every day. Anyways, as I rode up and past them today, one of the kids yells out at me “Hey, mister! I dare you to come try this jump!”. I looked up at him and just said, “Sorry, I’ll leave that kind of fun up to you guys.” He put his hands up and said, "Come on, I dare you!” Hah! Maybe that works on other 15 year olds, but I simply told him “Kid, I’m way too old to be swayed by peer pressure!” and continued riding.
Sorry, but there’s just no way I’m going to attempt jumping right now. The likelihood of me making the jump without breaking me or the bike is very slim… 220 pounds on an entry level bike (with fragile spokes I might add!) landing a jump is just not a good combination. And if this kid so insistently “dares” me to jump it, you can bet that it isn’t a little 2 foot jump!!! So, I will rest in being the “boring old guy” for now. Maybe after a few years of riding when I’m more well balanced on two wheels I’ll give that sort of thing a try. But for now, for me, cross country is where I’m at and I will stick with the 2 or 3 spots on my trails that I manage to get a bit of air now and then and be satisfied with that… And not risk breaking something I can’t afford to repair…
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