A little blood, a little rain, and a little armadillo ...

Yesterday's ride at Gateway marked three new events for the Trinity River Pack.

One:  It was Andrew's first ride on single-tracks in the woods.  And he did great!  Beyond that, I was hugely relieved that he actually had fun.  I told his mother last night (Jen Hall) that I was thrilled over Andrew having a good time riding dirt, in the woods.  After his first outing, and his admission that he didn't care for the dirt road section of the ride to the Stockyards, I was worried he'd eventually move toward being a skinny-tire pavement rider.  To my elation, yesterday marked a turn around, and he sincerely enjoyed the adventure in the woods at Gateway Park.

Green Slime Tire Sealant

Two:  Lukas got his new Mongoose beast on single-track for the first time, and he reports that it grabbed and maneuvered as well as he'd hoped it would.  The only thing he's decided to switch out on the Goose is the saddle.  He said the Goose's saddle is really good, but his Schwinn techno-gel saddle still beats it in comfort.  (I had to smile at that.  Schwinn quality perseveres again, lol.)  My concern about the Goose was that I wasn't initially impressed with the tires.  We'd forgotten to pick up Green Slime tire sealant when he bought the bike, and I honestly thought it'd not make it through the first outing without sustaining a flat.

Much to my surprise, the tires didn't loose air, or sustain a puncture on the first ride, which is in an area that is known for causing flats.  And to add to my suprise, when we loaded yesterday, the tires were still tight with air.  My Sidewinder and Andrew's Ranger (both are Schwinn's) had to have "air lifts".  Skywalker was cheesin' over that.  And he once again asked me if I'd consider to divorce Schwinn for Mongoose, but for now, I'm maintaining my loyalty to Schwinn.  However, I really was impressed with the Goose's tires holding up far better than mine have.

Andrew - bike guarding.

If you've had issues with flats, and haven't tried Green Slime, I have to say, it's one of the best investments I've ever made.  The stuff is spectacular, and was recommended to me by a friend who's a quad-runner enthusiast.  It's inexpensive, and so far, I haven't had a flat since I put the stuff in my tires.  We treated two sets of tires with it for $6 and some change.  It's easy to put in, and one application has been sufficient.  My tires continue to loose enough air between rides to warrant refills, but I haven't gotten a flat while riding even once since using it.

Three:  I wiped out.  It wasn't an impressive wipe-out.  The boys still have me beat on those, but I did loose my seat, and made a one-point landing on my right foot.  My left foot got tangled in my bike frame, and it took a good bit of hopping and twisting to get it loose and get my bike back on it's tires.

That's the first time I've dropped my Schwinn all the way to the ground, and thankfully, I didn't even get a bruise from it.  I did come home bleeding, but that was due to some briars getting wrapped around my ankles.  I ended up off the track, and into the briars due to a duet of little armadillos that caught me by surprise.  They were really cute, and although they spooked me (I was afraid they would run into my bike) it was the first time I've seen armadillos in the open, that weren't road-kill.  Next time, I'll be on the lookout, and hopefully get a good photo of them, if I can keep from scaring them into the brush. 

A track that excited us, until we discovered it only
led to the road.

Skywalker and I got excited when we realized a trail that's been closed since we first started riding Gateway was finally reopened.  We'd heard that it ran cliff-side along the Trinity River, which borders some of the park, but had been closed for over a year due to trail collapse.  But yesterday, there was no flourescent ribbon barring out way, so we headed in to give it a try.  Lukas rode point, and we kept Andrew between us.  When the Fort Worth Mountain Bikers Association says a trail runs cliff-side, they mean it.  That means, no guard rails, just a steep drop.  If you veer off the path, you'll be hoping you and your bike can fly, 'cause the drop in that park is about 60 ft. from the cliff to the river below.  But, before you'd hit water, you'd hit dirt and rocks.

We made it a long way in before the trail disappeared.  It had broken away from the cliff, and we ended up having to turn around, and head back the way we came.  That's generally a no-no on single-track trails, but there was nothing else we could do.  In that area, the woods are way too thick with both trees and brush to navigate with cycles. 

If we could manage to get to the bottom of this hill,
there's an impressive river stretch with rapids below.

We were disappointed but still glad we'd investigated it as far as we could.  We also discovered a new trail along the way, that will get us down to the river side.  From the higher trail, we saw the first set of natural rapids in the Trinity that we've come across so far.  They're not deep, and certainly not huge, but big enough to be noisy, and make a whole lot of splashing.  We plan to check out the new trail our next outing, which will hopefully be today or tomorrow. 

Before we finished the last of the third set, we decided to cut it short and head back to the lot.  The light was fading in the woods, and I didn't want it to be dark before we finished.  That proved to be a good decision, because halfway back to the lot, the wind kicked up, the rain began to pour, and the sky was putting on a lightening show.

So close, but not yet accessible.

I didn't mind the wind or the rain, but the lightening was enough to spook me into as fast of a pace as I could manage without leaving Andrew behind.  We got loaded as fast as we could, and headed for home through some impressive spots of deep water.  When we got back, we had to wait an hour before the storm let up enough for us to unload our bikes.

No one came home with anything other than scratches, bruises and wet clothes, so we're chalking it up to another good ride.

That's it for this one, and my apologies for the poor quality with the photos.  My friends, Ronda and Mike, were in for a visit from Illinois recently.  During a tour of the Fort Worth Stockyards, I lost my little Sony, and I was reduced to using my mobile phone's cam for this trip.  I'll have the Sony replaced soon, but the mobile was all I had at my disposal for this one.

God bless you, thank you for the read, and don't forget to thank a Veteran at your next opportunity!

If you've got a pic of you and your bike, send it on!  We'd love to post it in the Guest Gallery!  You never know, one of these days, you might actually meet us up with on the trails. 

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