thursday night at cedarville

when i wrote this last night i called the park that we rode rosaryville... it wasn't, it was cedarville... i have a habit of confusing these 2 southern pg county parks, at least when i'm talking about them... i've corrected the text, but go ahead and have a laugh at my mistake...

honestly, the prospects weren't looking good for the ride... on and off rain, including a couple of lines of showers moving through dc-metro around noon. we got the go ahead from the ranger, but my expectations still weren't high, the heavy rain was looming, the trails would probably be slick from the accumlated rain and fog, and quite frankly, it was cedarville, good for a change every now and then, but not very challenging and not always fun... but hey, it's a ride thats not canceled and it's not riding around in circles at wakefield.

no problems at work so i left on time and was there was plenty of time to get ready... started to get the idea that we might be in for a good night when i stood outside my car in the dark getting changed and didn't get cold... knickers, a short sleeve jersey, and a pair of arm warmers looked like they'd be enough for the ride... no tights, no shoe covers, no balaclava, not tonight... bunky and marcus showed up just after i did, and by the time we set out steve and tommy brought the group up to 5...

out into the woods following bunky and marcus and we hit the gas... to paraphrase bunky, if you're not enjoying rosaryville, you're not riding fast enough. you can really rail on these trails... great flow; long smooth downhills with turns bermed just enough to let you hold your speed. we darted in and out of the woods, on singletrack and doubletrack, up gentle climbs and down fast downhills. in spite of the rain, most of the trails were really dry and in good shape... there were a couple of boggy sections, but when i've ridden rosaryville in the summer they've still been there.

i don't know the trail system, but we rode most of the park, meeting up with another rider, john, who'd missed us at the start, about half way through... the rain held off untill we hit the asphalt of the parking lot, perfect timing.

my legs felt great through the whole ride, but there weren't any hills to really challenge them... normally i drift back through the group on a ride, not tonight... rode up near the front for the whole ride... if i can maintain and build on this form, this could be the start of a great year.