Groundhog Day Weekend

Remember that movie "Groundhog Day", where Bill Murray got stuck in time and had the same day over and over?  This weekend I had a more fun version of that concept - three rides on the same trail in three days.

I finished off my jury duty on Friday, and with a stress level that was off the charts I headed out to West Branch.  There hadn't been any rain or snow for a couple of days and I was hoping that the Quarry Trail, with its great draining soil, would be solid enough to ride.  And when I got out there and walked up to the trail I was elated (overjoyed?  ebullient?) to find the tread firm and nearly dry.  So I cranked out a quick lap before I had to head home - the best hour I'd had in a LONG time.



Fossil in the rock armoring.

 I'd managed to get in a couple of rides at Moraine earlier in the winter, but with my dismal autumn there had been no other singletrack since August.  I'd spent some time on the stationary bike trying to tone up the legs a little, but Quarry Trail has some seriously technical stuff and I was apprehensive that I'd be pushing more than riding.  But I surprised myself with how well it went.  Don't think that I didn't have dozens of dabs or didn't walk some of the rock gardens, but overall I did pretty good and made a couple of features that I usually fail.  I got there in a foul, depressed, distracted frame of mind and left with a smile on my face.  Can't beat that.

Saturday Kenny and I worked on his ski sled in the morning, but in the 4 hours of free time during the afternoon I headed back out to Quarry.  Turns out there was some localized snow out there overnight, which promptly melted once the sun came up.  When I got out there it looked bad - water on the road and wet weeds in the parking area.  But once I checked it out it wasn't that much different than the day before.  And so another great hour of riding as I got in another lap.

Sunday morning I headed out just before Diana got home from work, with the plan of getting in a ride and then heading to work to try and catch up a bit.  The sun was out and the sky was blue.  Even with temperatures around 40 I was able to ride in bike shorts and short sleeves.  And I got in a third lap - which felt even better than the last two.  I was making it over rock gardens that I'd rarely managed to ride before, and acing tech features that usually gave me trouble.  It was great.

The weatherman says that winter is going to make a return Monday night, so this weekend was probably it for riding during the next week at the least.  But after my own Groundhog Day experience I think I can face a week of stationary bike workouts.

Gotta take the good with the bad.  Three days of riding pleasure after five days of jury duty torture kind of evens out I guess.  I put together a little movie of photos and video from the weekend.