trying to turn it around

It felt good to be off for a couple of days last weekend for a change but I still felt really run down from a combination of too much work, a head cold and sleep deprivation. After my 3 weeks of hell I had one day off then I transitioned right into nightshifts through Thursday evening. When I woke up Friday around noon I knew my body was telling me I've pushed it too far. The thing is, usually when this happens, it's a result of too much riding and not enough rest but I had only ridden once in 3 weeks so you can imagine how bad I was jonesing for a ride. I struggled a bit getting moving but with enough coffee and some fuel in the form of pb&j I made it out the door with my bike, headed in the direction of Bays Mountain.

On the drive over I knew from the way I was feeling that this wasn't going to be one of my better rides and physically I just wasn't up for a big climb so I opted to just stick near the bottom and enjoy the newer singletrack. I was correct on my assumption that it wasn't going to be good, I felt like crap and my riding performance was terrible. So bad if fact that I left the mountain feeling depressed at my state of fitness. I knew deep down inside that I wasn't as bad as I felt but it was still something that bothered me.

Slowly but surely I'm feeling better, I skipped riding on Saturday in favor of trailbuilding. Melinda is still in the healing process so I knew taking the day off was the best decision. On the bright side we made some HUGE progress on the Chestnut trail at Bays Mountain. A new entrance was added as well as a bunch of new trail on the upper section. The new entrance is currently open but does still need some work. I've not ridden it yet but I hope to get out this weekend and see how it rolls.

This coming Saturday is when the real shenanigans will take place, a crew of the local kids are heading down south to Knoxville to join the AMBC for their Fall Festival and hit the Dirty South Ride again. This time we should have a good map plus a tour guide so we can focus more on getting rad rather than getting lost. All kinds of fun is going to be had, I've heard talk of short trackin', beer, live bands, more beer, scavenger hunts on bikes, beer again and even some stuff that can't be mentioned. I guess if you want to know what that is then you'll have to show up and find out for yourself. There have been some improvements made to the trails since we rode them earlier this summer that include wooden structures, I've seen a few pics on the Facebox. Should be a good time so if you're not already too busy washing your hair come on out.