East Bay Riding

We were seduced by the cool morning. It seemed like the perfect day to go for a mountain bike ride. Not that we would know. It had been months since we had actually been on a ride. But the Rooster and I were inspired by the cool morning and sunny sky. I slipped on my favorite bike skort. It was wrinkled but the Hawaiian print hadn't lost its bright shine. I chose a comfortable cotton shirt to match. I actually considered that I might be cold on the ride if I started to sweat too much. The guide book told me that the majority of the ride was shaded by the redwoods so it is often referred to as 'the perfect summer ride.'

The Rooster and I started our ride feeling giddy and full of glee. We rode, mostly down. Down, down, down. I was having flashes of the uphill that I knew would eventually come. Don't think about it. You'll be fine. Enjoy the moment. Because right now you are going down. Down. Down. Weeeeee. Yahhoooooo! This is so much fun. Eventually we got to a place that felt like it could be the bottom. Where are we?

I couldn't seem to find my connector trail to continue with my loop. I knew that I didn't want to go uphill extra, in the wrong direction, because I was going to have plenty of opportunity to go up based on that descent. We slowly went exploring. The Rooster was trying to catch his breath after the long descent. After noodling and backtracking a little we saw a man in a park uniform. I asked him where the trail I was looking for was and he pointed in the direction we needed to go. The guidebook hadn't said anything about the trail that he said we needed to take. I should know better than to trust a guidebook. I remember how many people I helped in Moab find there way after they had become lost through the guidance of a 'guidebook.'

We started to go up. I stopped a lot. It was the Roosters' turn to wait for me. He finally had the opportunity to catch his breath. I started to get hungry We hadn't been out here all that long. It just felt irresponsible not to have a snack. Why hadn't I packed a snack? A memory flashed in my head of Kyle stating the importance of bringing snacks for the dog. Shit. I didn't have any scooby snacks for the Rooster. I am such a bad mom. I comforted myself by thinking that he probably wouldn't be able to eat a snack even if I had one. He was panting endlessly. Where is all the shade that damn guide book talked about? Oh, yeah, it was on the long descent. That really long descent was completely shaded by the tall redwoods. Who the hell built this trail anyway? Don't they know that the climb should be in the shade and the descent in the sun. Gawd!!
It took us a while. Rooster trotted from shade to shade and I spinned from shade to shade. Eventually we were back at the truck. What a great ride! All the memories of snacks and worrying about getting lost fade into the depths of my memory. I'm just happy. Purely happy. I love riding my mountain bike. I look at the Rooster and say, "Next time lets start a little earlier Rooster, what do you think?" He looks at me and smiles, panting uncontrollably.