Went out and rode....

...and I had a good ride! :)

I did the beginner trail at Harris and guess what? I DID IT! You know that place I was talking about a few days ago where I ALWAYS stop? Well I didn't stop today. I slowed way down, like lidarman said to, and simply rode through it. So thanks for the tip lidarman! :) And of course after I did it, I let out a "WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO" so loud that I probably scared wildlife for miles. Tough shit. :P

Oh - and you know that place at the end of the beginner trail where I've never been able to get over the roots but I did the other day? I thought I'd introduce you to said roots. People, meet roots. Roots, meet people.



And now that I'm looking at them, they are NOT the right roots! Hahaha...but they are a good sampling of the types of big ass roots we have here in central NC. Next time I'm out riding, I'll be sure to stop and get the correct roots.

Here are some more pics of the beginner trail:
A bit of trail before a "bridge" type thing before a hella rooty uphill:


Near the beginning of the loop...a bit of up and down for fun:


I'm pretty sure this is the whoop-de that I like on the beginner trail...not very big, but it's enough for me:


Ok...so not only did I do that, but I rode the intermediate trail, loop 1, alone. Something in me said "fuck it...you GOTTA get some intestinal fortitude on your own Fat Chick Biker...you can't wait for someone else to give you that push." So I did. Granted, I didn't do as well as I did when I rode with Maggie, but I still did pretty well. I dabbed a couple times, lost my momentum once and walked a tiny bit up a hill until I could get the momentum up and I almost fell once. And I swear to you, if I had nuts, they would be a hurtin' right now. I was going up this hill that has a couple sharp turns and lots of roots and I guess I wasn't looking far enough ahead and I just about crashed...and crushed my invisible nuts (and thus my girlie parts) against the tube. HOLY INVISIBLE BALLS BATMAN! That hurt!

I got to the fork in the road



where you can go right and go to loop 2 of the intermediate trail



or go left and go back to the beginner trail, and for some reason, I chose to turn left.

Here are a couple of photos from the intermediate trail. I kept thinking to myself I should stop and take pics, but I was kind of on a roll and didn't really want to stop to take them! I even hit Wally Hell this morning to get a front pack for my beloved camera...I am not comfortable taking that much $$ in camera equipment on my back when I don't know the trails well...and plus that shit's heavy!. So I carried my camelbak (without water...don't ask) containing my extra tube, air pump, blah blah blah and hooked the new pack to the front of it with paper clips and spit. Ok...it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't completely ideal. It worked though and it was secure.

Oh...the photos:
Leading to the 1st bridge:


This is the bridge:


Jesus Christ...that post was a lot of work. I need a beer. Or sex. Or both. ;)