Girdled Road 'cross Practice

The weather was perfect today. I was itching to get out on the bike and either do a long easy road ride, or do a ride on the 'cross bike for the third time this season.

I decided to take the cyclocross bike up to Girdled Road Reservation and do a 45 minutes + 1 lap ride around the trails and the fields. The trail loop is half downhill, then back up. If you go counter clockwise, the climb is gradual and rideable.

I've done lots of skate skiing at the park over the past several years and the turns and rolling terrain is pretty much burned into my brain, so I really hauled ass on the hard packed gravel. There are a couple of spots where there was a thin veneer of mud on the gravel and the front end pushed toward the outside of turns and the rear end got a little squirrelly. Luckily I didn't crash--that would definitely be a bone breaker.

It's a fun place to ride and there's some varied terrain to sharpen the 'cross bike handling skills a little bit. It's hard to keep the intensity up, though. If I went any faster on the gradual downhills, I'd probably be in the hospital right now.