damn what an awesome mtn bike ride today! i finally got my bike back last night (thx j & r) and have been dying to get some really long rides in, especially since i have not been on the trails since my last voyage back in october in delaware one weekend. eager with anticipiation, i quickly put my bike back together… made sure all was well/safe and then headed out around 1030a. my destination–the greenbelt starting at zilker park. so i went down to the shoal creek greenbelt which intersects the town lake trail… eventually leading over to zilker. i was feeling this was going to be a really good ride already! i had tons of built-up energy from not biking for so long and didn’t really think i was going to tire easily today.
as expected from the insane drought, the trial and accompanying barton creek were extremely dry and dusty. good thing i didn’t clean my bike beforehand! the ride continued all the way to the ‘hill of life’ at the end of the greenbelt, which is about a quarter to half-mile, fairly steep, technical climb. not sure if it was my determination to make it all the way up ON my bike or all the energy arising from somewhere inside… but i shot up that hill in one of the fastest times i have ever done! after sitting at the top, looking out west from the top of the hill, i decided to take a short breather, but also could not pass up this opportunity for an amazing thought-provoking experience. after gathering my thoughts (and breath from the climb) it was time to head back down, which of course is always fun as you get to jump the stepped terrain that you just struggled over.
the one good thing about the dry weather is that it keeps the trail is awesome shape… much better than last time i rode it last may. by the time i got back to zilker park, i was beginning to feel my body suddenly crying out for energy after consuming the morning’s carb-loaded breakfast and pre-bike snack. dammit i know i should have brought something along. the trip back from zilker to the apt got more and more difficult as i was literally running on nothing at this point. when i finally made it back around 2p, first thing was to feed myself before my body thinks it should go into starvation mode (not what you want).
a totally blissful four hour mtn bike ride… was this just austin welcoming me back or just a sign of more awesome rides to come?