After church, I convinced Jess to hit the trails with me on our mountain bikes. Katherine and a friend in town from Texas tagged along and we headed out to Wakefield Park. The trails were pretty muddy from the mid-week rain and that made many of the easy sections much more challenging than normal. We rode the first bit in the area around the powerlines and back in the woods and made the big descent once. Then, trying to look for some easier trails for the girls, we ended up trudging through the woods a ways and crossing a couple streams before getting back on the regular trails.

By that time, the temperature had dropped enough to get us all pretty cold. I was riding in just my shorts and a t-shirt with my summer gloves on. We rode over to Accotink park just a bit, then turned around and rode one final loop by the power lines. That final loop was by far the best. It wound around and around on lots of fun switchbacks with a few manageable jumps. Next time I come out to go mountain biking I think I'll limit my time to that loop and see just how good I can get riding it.

It was fun to be back on the MTB a bit and my legs enjoyed the respite after yesterday's ride and the tough week before that. I want to get out more in the woods, but it's harder to find the time to drive out and ride when I can just step outside my apartment and hit the roads. Maybe when cyclocross season gets closer, I'll figure out a plan.