Boulders and bruises ...

After not nearly enough ride-time this past winter, my pack-mates and I have been back in the dirt, and checking out new trails.

A recent trip to Oklahoma's Lake Murray wasn't a success, however, now that I know where the better riding trails are, next time won't be a flop ... I hope.

Kimy-Jo and I were out in search of new trails within less than two hours of getting our gear stowed in the cabin we shared with a few other friends, and the first five minutes we thought we'd hit pay-dirt (so to speak), when we found a trail head nearly at the cabin's front door.

Trail-side at Lake Murray.

It turned out to be exciting in a good way for all of 20 yards and then things went downhill, literally, and NOT in good ways.

The trail was clearly marked for cycling.  It was slippery and steep and it not only had rocks, it had BOULDERS in the middle of the trail that a billy goat would have trouble maneuvering over, at least if he was trying to make it through riding my Side Winder.  The rocks there aren't just big, some of them have sharp enough edges to slice through tire rubber, and they're nearly half the height of my bike.  Kim wiped out twice, hard, before making it through the first half of the loop.

A rock-run at Lake Murray.
This one was rideable, but a pain to get to.

Disappointment doesn't quite cover what I was feeling every time I had to dismount and walk my bike around the obstacles.  Even with that, I still ended up damaging one of my shocks enough to have to likely replace it soon, unless McGuyver can work his magic and get it to stop leaking and sticking in the down position.

I keep my saddle set high, and when I'm on it, my feet won't reach the ground.  I stopped 20 yards (or less) in, and tried to adjust it only to discover that Luke Skywalker had tightened a reflector to the point that it wouldn't slide up high enough for me to lower my saddle post.  Without being able to at least get my feet close enough to the ground to grab for some balance, or kick off from a few boulders, most of the trail proved to be impassable.

And, I'm by no means fussing about Lukas and his wrenching procedure.  He's new at bike maintenance, and neither of us realized the reflector clamp was to tight to slide it when he put a new saddle on for me last fall.  He did a good job.  The saddle, nor the reflector, would budge.

Kim and I abandoned the first trail, and found a fire road not far away and rode a good ways on it, but didn't find any more single-tracks to ride on.  No trails, but the views were still awesome.

Pick a trail, ANY trail, and wish yourself a lot of luck!

The next morning, I woke up with a migraine (par for the course), and Kim did some exploring on her own.  Thankfully, she found some rideable trails, that are challenging but rideable.  I'll have to wait until next trip to ride them myself.  I was disappointed, but her finding them kept the trip from being a total loss for cycling.

We thought it was a really cute lake-side cabin. 
We were disappointed.  It was a maintenance shed.

I have to hand it to Kim.  She's a new rider, and is still working on her balance, and she has a tendency to crash hard when she goes down.  But, for all the ice packs on bruises she endures after the ride, she still pushes herself and keeps on riding, spill after spill.

Thumbs up, Kimy-Jo.  I admire your tenacity!

Lukas and I have ridden twice since then.  Last week we begrudgingly hite the pavement on the Trinity Trail, in hunt of some single-tracks in the main Trinity Park that Torres tipped us off to.  We put in about 15 miles round trip, but never found the trails we were looking for, so we rode on concrete for nothing.  However, Torres will ride with us next time we head in that direction to personally show us where to find the dirt.

Lukas and I spotted a blimp during our concrete trek
along the Trinity.

Yesterday, Lukas and I rode Gateway, and were happy to find most of the trails dried out and passable, at least in the first two sections of fast single-track.  When we arrived at the bottom of the first hill of the third and final set, we found it blocked by water that was loaded with beautiful green beady foliage floating on top of it, and decided to not cross the step-posts, ride back and call it a day.

The water was deep enough that it will likely take a few weeks to dry it out, and in the meantime, it looks pretty, but both of us were guessing it was a possible snake-pit and steered clear of it.

We're pretty sure the big one on the left is the Mack-Daddy of all
turtles in Trinity Park.

There are two more areas advertising to have single-track trails that are under 60 miles away, and we hope to check them out soon, if the weather holds.

Flood water blocking our path at Gateway.

I'll keep you posted on any new outings, and in the meantime, a reminder that when I'm out and about, I always have a camera with me.

You never know when you, your cycle, or both will end up in the guest gallery!

Thanks for the read!  Ride safe and have fun!

femmeflashpoint