all the time playing the same licks

Every time I come across a new(to me) trail is a Good Time. We've been living here for 11 years now, and just last week I rode some new(to me) singletrack that will make your head spin while you see purple spots. My favorite option is singletrack. Most of the time I ride my usual routes, occasionally mixing up the direction or shuffling trail order. I ride along and ignore that one faint side-trail because I checked it out a few years ago and, even though I can't remember why now, it doesn't pay off. It goes somewhere wrong or it's too oaky/poorly routed/rooty/whatever to warrant riding. Sometimes I find a good connector on the fringes that adds a funner or quicker or safer option. Last fall I began systematically poking around the edges of that neighborhood at the bottom of the hill, trying to find more and dirtier ways to get to and from work. It paid off, and well, a couple months ago when I found that magic route that gets me to and from trails in 5 minutes. That type of thing.

Point being, there are new trails to be found even after all this time. I especially love that. It helps that I am more willing than some to ride places that are closed to some. We do what we must.

So. I'm gonna be test riding some things in the next couple of days that I really hope work out. The kind of trails we only talk about in person.


Friday night was some trail riding switching up usual routes and shuffling orders. It worked out great. With my crappy handlebar light and my Petzl (shoulder crash wrecked my light) that kept slipping off my helmet and hitting me in the neck or face it felt like we were going dangerously fast, when really we were just going dangerously. When we rolled out on Carmel Valley Road at 12:46AM the sheriffs were there to greet us. We watched 2 patrol cars roll past as we exited our fireroad, our lights off for safety. After they had gone, we fired up our red blinkies and began riding back to home. A different sheriff's deputy rolled up behind us and pulled us over. Because our headlights weren't on was the probable cause."We leave them off to save the batteries and turn them on when a car comes." And our blinkies weren't fixed to the bike (we'd clipped them to our pockets). "You always ride your bike at this time of night?" "Sometimes." She ran our IDs as another deputy joined the party. The Sirs and Ma'ams crept into my speech as stealthily as 2 mountain bikers sliding out from a questionable trail. By the time they'd stopped us, on the pavement, everything was legit except for the mussette full of empty beer cans hanging across my back. I pretended solid citizenship while keeping my back away and the cans from rattling. No warrants/etc we were advised to ride on the opposite side of the road so we could see the cars coming and sent on our way. I scoffed at that. "You wouldn't stop us for that?" "It's what I would do."

Don't take ride advice from the cops. We crossed the street so's we could take that other section of sneaky connector singletrack. Not much by itself, but all those pieces add up to fun.