I took advantage of the warm weather and ventured out for the first long ride of the summer this morning. 22 miles. I was doubting myself for the decision on the way to the trails, but once I arrived, I was glad I made the decision.
The trails weren’t busy at all. Most of the time I had the trails to myself, but there was the sparse bit of traffic from time to time. The trails were dry and the ground in good shape for fast-paced riding. I realized pretty quickly that my bike needed a tune-up, so I took it a little safer than normal. I happened to avoid the all-expected first crash of the season, which if you’ve mountain biked for any period of time, you know it’ll happen sooner or later. Sometime I prefer just to go ahead and get it out of the way. Goes a long way in building your confidence once you’ve crashed and gotten back on the saddle.
All-in-all, it was great to get out, but I’m expecting to spend the next few days wondering if such a long ride was the way to break in your saddle from a long Michigan winter.