Back In The Saddle

I grew up in Northern Utah were I spent a lot of time outdoors.  Around 1984 I purchased my first mountain bike to ride on the bench areas of the Wasatch front.  At that time the trails were all dirt roads or motorcycle trails.  Most people that you came across gave you funny stares for riding a bicycle out in the dirt.  I biked alot for the next twenty years, and things changed during that time, especially the quality of mountain bikes.  I raced for a few years in the local Arizona circuit and had my share of crashes during that time, with a few scars to prove it.  Around 2004 I stopped riding for some reason and I am not quite sure why.  Over the last two years I have been throwing around the idea of starting a blog but was not sure which direction to go with it, or even if I should do one.  Then about three months ago I stumbled across the Outdoor Blogger Network and started reading through several of their blogs and thought it is time to start my own blog.  It seemed logical to begin by getting the bike back out and start riding. 




Hawes Loop Trail

So today I headed back out to the desert to hit one of my favorite single tracks around, not to mention the closest.  It didn't take long at all to realize that I had lost all conditioning to ride out here in the desert.  The first problem arose on the second hill climb where I was still gassed from the first one. 

 



Tough Climb For The Returning

 As I started the decent back down, I was able to enjoy the singletrack and its twists and turns through the saguaros and palo verdes.  It was nice to see that the trail out here has now been clearly marked, and that maintance work had been done in a few key areas.



New Trail Markers

The biking did bring back a certain need for adrenaline that I haven't had for awhile, cacti and sharp rocks will do that.  The best thing is that it gets me outdoors where I always long to return.  

Red Mountain