Wednesday Cruise Through Hale

Another great ride at the Nathan Hale forest. I had a tough 90 second commute from my house but I still had the energy left to ride for the next 2 hours. It was hot and humid and miserable again as it has been lately, but I was prepared for it with a full camelpack. I left Bentley at home since his panting antics are out of control when we get home and he hasn't ridden much so I gave him the next few days to rest. Off I went onto the north side Hale which gets so little love but it is growing into my favorite. I still have a few trails to adventutre to in there but I certainly seem to ride the main one. The full suspension was awkward and taking me off the pedals more than I would like, its quite a change going from rigid to plush full suspension but after some time I quickly adjusted. I would really like to have a hardtail to compare between the two but as always my dreams are crushed by lack money in the account. Thats ok cause I am very fortunate to have two functioning bikes. Back to the ride, it was super buggy but I was prepared and instead of using OFF I went for my 100% deet spray on my arms and legs. I managed to get it on my lips which made it to my mouth and numbed it for a good while. So on and off the whole ride my mouth was going numb from my camelbak line rubbing my arm and then me drinking but it was no big deal. I was done with the north side after 45 minutes and got cracking on the south. I found a great trail last time I was in there and I really enjoyed it since its not on the usual loop that my group rides take. I rode the section and was not sure how I was going to link it to another stretch that I am familiar with. With the help of my iphone I got myself on a trail I have never ridden. It was a really great trail too, it winded perfectly up where I wanted to be. It always such a great experience when you find a new stretch of trail that was just out there waiting to be found. It led me to a familiar trail and I was riding it in the opposite direction I normally would which switched things up and it was great. So many times I have ridden the trails I ride on my group rides without much variation, its nice being on my own and picking the trails to mix up a little bit. I ended up down at the back of the park where I slowly and tiredly made my way up the doubletrack to a fun twisty trail that I forgot the name of. Dark was falling fast and I had to close my loop out earlier than what I had planned. Got to the pavement and to home I went on yet another great ride this week! Can't wait for the weekend it is looking cool and sunny!

Mixing up at hale

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