Trail 100

Rode Trail 100 this afternoon with my brother as an out-and-back from the parking lot on Tatum Blvd. It was pretty mellow with the exception of a few steep, rocky sections that required some skills and a lot of leg. I have yet to develop the former and at this time of year am seriously lacking the latter! The nice thing about exposed rock is that it allows you to get out of the saddle and power up the climb without any rear wheel slippage. Going down I just hold on and let the wheels roll, thankful that I have a full suspension bike. I fell on one of the longer technical climbs and scraped up my left arm and chainstay a bit. This wouldn't have been a big deal if 1) My brother hadn't cleaned the climb and 2) I went down right in front of another rider who had stopped to catch his breath. My big problem on tricky climbs where I'm not familiar with the trail is that I tend to focus on what is immediately in front of my wheel. This inevitably results in my taking a bad line and getting into trouble. It's all good, however, and the more I ride on the dirt the more comfortable I feel. My only regret is waiting until '06 to start mountain biking...