Kerrie and Chris from Dubuque came to Decorah over the holiday to
check out our trails and meet the woman behind the bike!
(I am so appreciative and humbled that I could meet and ride with a blog follower, awesome!)
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| Kerrie and I! |
My good friend, Kristin, whom I ride with as often as I can,
was able to show up. Our friend, Lucas was able to attend as well. A nice,
small group of people willing to head out and explore some snow-covered trails
post-Thanksgiving meal!
Outfitted with our fatbikes we headed over to the River
Trail, a parade of fat tires crunching over the snow. After we came out of
River Trail we headed up Quarry Hill to take on IPT and from there, to the fire
road where we decided who would go where.
Travis, Lucas, Chris, and I would go
up North 40 to Gunnar- making our way to the pines. Kerrie and Kristin would
take the fire road up and meet us by the East Pines. I delayed myself slightly
after I gave myself a second shot at the North 40 climb (around the turn and up
the rocky hill.) I’m a glutton for punishment and just knew I could do it if I
had a second shot! Success came with inhaling a lot of cold air, and admittedly
my lungs protested a lot.
I was not sure I’d make it at the very top of Gunnar; I gave
it a winning shot and managed to make it up the short/steep hill. It took a bit
for me to catch my breath after that, which embarrassed me a little. Everyone understood,
so I allowed myself to worry a bit less over it.
We rode through the East Pines and made our way to Little Big
Horn, we decided that we would finish up our ride after that so we could make
our way back to the shop and warm up. (Also, stomachs were getting a bit hungry
again!) For our finish, we rode down Rocky Road and over to the Luge. Two great
trails for people to enjoy riding fast down!
I had a small success on Rocky
Road that is a pretty big deal to me. I made it over the second bridge without
walking! I have a “thing” with bridges since my very first biff on one, and the
second bridge has a ledge. I experienced the awesome power
of the fatbike tire today as it just hopped right up and over the ledge easily.
My heart was pounding in my chest, but I felt relieved to have successfully conquered
something that made me nervous.
The Luge is always a blast, and when we came down from the
trail you could turn to look over the bridge and see the sun setting. It was
glorious! Kristin and I took a few moments to appreciate the view.
Our ride back to the shop was so fun! People in cars would do a
double-take and/or blatantly stare at us as we rode by. We laughed! They must
be wondering why we were outside in the cold, what those “big tire bikes” do,
or wishing they could be out there with us. Yup, the last one has to be it!
Travis and I can’t tell you how much fun we had yesterday!
It was great to get out and ride with friends on a beautiful afternoon. It’s
what we love, simple as that, and to be able to share the experience was so
worthwhile.
So mark your calendars for next Thanksgiving and attend our
second Cranksgiving Ride! Whether you know our trails or not, we'll make sure
you have a positive experience!
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