On a rainy day in February, an improbable -- and brief -- moment of sun pours a pool of light on Rosario Strait in the distance.
Rode Galbraith after having the left side of my teeth cleaned. It was the first time this year I have ridden in driving rain, but I had a great time, and was rewarding with the first signs of spring in the dark woods.
Climbed the logging road that connects the upper and lower Ridge Trail, but kept going past the upper Ridge Trial entrance, and then took a left at the fork at the bottom of the hill and climbed all the way to Arsenio, where I nailed everything in the rain, then came down Arsenio Spur and nailed every stunt there too, including the log dump at the very bottom of the trail (my first time ever), and a new log across the trail just before you climb up onto the big sandstone rock that is the intersection with the motorcycle track down.
Rode down the upper part of the Intestine, but is was so dark in the woods by then that
I opted for the fast way down the rest of the way, and retraced my steps to the logging
road that connects the upper and lower Ridge trails. My only takedown occurred near the
bottom of the connector when I hit a slimy tree branch that was lying at about 45 degrees
across the trail and my front wheel suddenly slicked out, flinging me over the bars into
the mud. Fortunately, I just rolled over and came up on my feet unhurt.
The weather was wild and quite unsettled. Big gusts of wind followed heavy rains, but even in the downpour I could see a faint pool of sunlight glowing in the distance on Rosario Strait. The woods were exceptionally dark and murky today, but little green flame-like elderberry shoots are already opening among the dead leaves from last fall. Spring is coming!
Stopped by Mark Bellis's after the ride, and just a couple minutes after I arrived, there were repeated lightning strikes on Galbraith. By the thunder delay, some were as close as a mile away. When I got home, I found my dog, Smokey, in her lightning frenzy (heavy panting and following me around), but the storm passed by early evening.
Approximately 1300 verts.
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