Harmony Hill - September 19

It was a good week - five rides! Three of them were at Harmony Hill. Why, you ask? Well, it's Spencer's favorite place lately... so why not. The trail work here has really paid off... it's a great place to ride. Nothing too technical, but there's enough rocks and roots to challenge us here and there. So on this day, Kelly joined Spence and I for a great ride - temp was probably in the low 70s and the trails were in good shape. The summer's rains have slacked off a bit, finally giving us a shot at some mud-free pedaling.

Gettin' ready to ride.

Kelly's full-squish 29er on left, my no-squish 29er on right. HH is a great place to ride sans shocks.

Spence is pedaling through the pasture, soon to reach the woods.

A gradual uphill makes for a good warm up, then we enjoy a great downhill stretch... twisty stuff to a straight fast run to some tighter stuff... blast! Here Kelly is coming down the straight downhill, probably shaking her head as I - heaven forbid - take her picture.

Break!

An hour or so later and a few loops under our belts, we head back up the hill to the parking lot. Here Spence is getting set to head back up that straight downhill section... though now of course it's a straight uphill section!

A few minutes and a whole bunch of heavy breathing later, we're back at the lot and the ride is over. Love those cool September days!

Marshburg - September 6, 2009

It might seem like I stopped riding, but a few vacations got in the way of consistent riding this past summer, and indeed I only got a few stray rides in here and there... when I wasn't packing or unpacking. With summer mostly history, here's some pix from a ride in the Allegheny National Forest near my in-law's house in Marshburg, PA.

Kelly following Spence down one of the zillions of dirt roads. This is a good place to have a GPS with you, even if you think you know where you're going.

Fun section! This one turned into a little river, due in part to all the stinkin' rain we've had this summer. I cleared this section, but Kelly and Spence are a little smarter.

Little tiny bit of water leads to slightly bigger bit of water ahead... Kelly contemplates her next move while Spence contemplates drying his feet. Figuring my feet might get wet anyway, I just pedaled thru.

Righteous biking along beautiful forest stream.

Big puddle. Actually, "small pond" might be more appropriate - tadpoles and all. Spence says "heck with walking" and pedals thru...

...and Kelly pedals thru too. To this point it's mostly downhill... and from here, we log several miles of steady climbing along more forest roads, finshing the ride just in time to head off to the family Labor Day picnic!