I finally took Rosie out for a spin in the dirt for the first time since I got her in July. Not only was it her first time, but it was also the first time I’ve ever ridden a bike on very technical single track. I’ve only ever ridden on very straightforward fire roads, and even that hardly ever and not in many many years.

I rode with the Mountaineerzz, which may have been a little over my head for just starting out, but I think I did alright considering. At the end of the ride, I admitted to the ride leader that it was the first time I had done anything like that, to which he responded, “Wow, not bad. You definitely went from green star t black star. Those were some pretty difficult trails and you did pretty well.” So that’s encouraging.

It was at the same time some of the most fun I’ve had and the most terrified I’ve been on a bike in a while. I also had a fair amount of minor spills and am pretty sore today as a result. I think I may actually like climbing up hills more than charging down them. My fully rigid bike is certainly more suited for that and going up, unlike going down, doesn’t make me want to crap my pants.

I’m not exactly sure about the route, but I think it went something like this, starting at Sunset and Fairfax and heading up Nichols Canyon to enter a fire road. From here we were able to see all the way to Long Beach and Catalina Island. The air was unbelievably clear. The fire road eventually took us up to Mulholland. From Mulholland, we headed to Fryman Canyon and down some trails (this was the terrifying part) to another road that took us to Wilacre Park. From there we went up and down some more single track before crossing over to Franklin Canyon zooming down a fire road (this I could handle and was an absolute blast) until we hit Beverly and eventually Sunset, riding Sunset Strip back to the starting point.

Being of the urban cycling persuasion, I’ve never really like the idea of driving out somewhere to ride a bike. I had thought that, with that mindset, opportunities for mountain biking would be slim. Discovering that there are a lot of fun trails an easy riding distance away was pretty surprising and has me now researching other places to ride within city limits. Closer to my neighborhood than yesterday’s ride are Griffith Park, Elysian Park, and Ernest E. Debs Regional Park. I’ll have to see if there’s anything fun in any of those areas. Whee!

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