New England Mountain Biking

When Greg got home from school tonight I decided to leave the boys to handle dinner and bedtime on their own and headed off to explore a potential mountain biking area. I had read on the internet about Great Brook Farm. It was described as a "family centered" mountain biking and hiking area but it is close to where we live (about 8 miles away) so I decided to give it a try.

I arrived in the parking lot where two women were unloading their horses from their horse trailers, getting ready for a ride on the trails. It really must be alot of work to get out for a evening ride when you have to load up your horse and trailer! I'll have to remember that next time I complain that loading up the mountain bike is a pain in the butt!

I grabbed a trail map, hopped on my bike and got started. Initially the trails were pretty much what I expected: double track, very little in terms of grade, views of corn fields, marshes, horse pasture and I passed an occasional hiker. Then I rode over a wooden bridge and took a right turn onto a piece of single track. The nature of the trail immediately changed. The huge off camber and root covered boulder where I found myself caught me off guard and before I knew it I was having trouble pulling my foot out of my pedal and performed my first involuntary dismount of the summer (more to come I'm sure!) I got back up, gave my head a shake, and sharpened my senses, made lazy by the warm summer evening and cruisey trails. It was time to RIDE!

All the different regions where I have ridden my mountain bike have different terrain features. It quickly became obvious to me that in New England, roots and lots and lots of rock were going to be the challenge. I guess all the rocks for those pretty stone walls I keep writing about have got to come from somewhere! I popped out of the trail and continued along a double track. I passed another female cyclist riding a Specialized FS bike and accompanied by her yellow lab. We said our hellos as I passed and then I turned into the next single track trail head that I spied. As I was picking my way through the roots and rocks I heard the yellow lab huffing and puffing behind me; they had picked the same trail. My pace was faster b/c soon I couldn't hear them anymore. But, after dismounting a few times for technical challenges that I felt were beyond me tonight, I could hear them again. As I rode up to a very large rocky formation that looked rideable but I just wasn't sure, I decided to wait and see what the lady rider behind me would do. As I expected, she popped over it like it was nothing. I expressed my admiration and she explained that she rides these trails all the time and that it really wasn't that hard. Rather than trying it, I rode along behind her and we chatted. Good call as she told me about places to ride and invited me to join her for the rest of her ride. So, I followed her along some more sweet single track, with Sprocket, her dog, leading the way.

We parted ways when she decided that Sprocket was dehydrated (it was hot!) but she recommended another trail and gave me directions back to the parking lot (as well as her email address - we're going on another mountain bike date!!!) Of course I managed to get a little bit lost once she left and I was questioning my judgment in not following her all the way to the parking lot. But, I did make it back and was relieved to see the Blue Box waiting for me. I threw the Blur in and headed home. I'm pretty excited to have found a fun place for easy access, challenging rides. Best part of all about Great Brook Farm is that it is a working dairy farm and they sell their own ice cream! So, if I'm having trouble getting motivated for a work out....there is always ice cream :-).