Cathy spoiled me this Christmas with a new mountain bike. For the last several years I have stuck to road riding. I used to mountain bike quite a bit on a Raleigh Tangent that I purchased in 1989 when I worked at Pedersen's Sporting Goods at the University Mall -- the same year Cathy and I got married. It had no suspension. On downhill runs I would nearly get shaken off my bike. About five or six years ago, that bike finally gave up the ghost and was not worth repairing. I never replaced it due to other money priorities, but hoped to be be able to purchase one some day. As that hope has never diminished, and as friends and family (such as Don and Dave Sedgwick) continued to ride and invite me to join them, I was thrilled to finally pick out a new one -- thanks to Cathy's insistence (I love her!!!). So, about a week ago I picked out a full suspension 2007 Specialized Epic with SRAM X-9 components (thanks to Tom Ingersoll for seeing it on sale at Rock 'n Road Cyclery).
This morning, I took her on her maiden voyage up the Aliso Creek and Wood Canyon park (the park was closed for about a week due to rains) down the street from my house. I rode up Meadows trail to Top of the World, slipped around in the mud, tried to get used to the new Crank Brothers cleats, rode across Top of the World to the fire road, down Rockit Trail (I can't believe I ever rode that trail without suspension) and then back up Mathis Trail to the fire road and back down again. Not a bad day for a first time back in a long time. And I am happy to report that I did not crash once, though there were a few close calls on the wet trails. The fire road leading to the Top of the World is on the highest ridge in the upper left hand corner of the picture. It felt good to get some mud on me. 5 Beavers for Cathy's present.
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