let the rubber hit the rock

My first MTB ride of 2020 was a full month earlier than 2019.  For one, all the ski areas have been closed due to the coronavirus, so we've been trying to use our freed-up time to get down to Moab.  For another, on Sunday it was finally warm enough for me to ride (I generally need at least 50 F or my hands and feet get too cold).  This was H's second ride; he'd gone once at the end of January and still had red mud caked to his MTB frame.

Remembering how to ride

To ease back into it, we went to the MOAB Brand Trails.  There were just a handful of vehicles in the parking lot, all parked well away from each other to maintain distancing.  That said, we saw no one out on the trails until our second time around, when we spied two MTBs and their accompanying dog about a quarter mile ahead of us.  They turned a corner and we never saw them again.

That's purty

Although weather had moved through as recently as Friday, the bike trails were pretty dry.  And the sun was out in force for the morning, with wide swatches of that gorgeous blue sky.  It was glorious.  We have really, really missed the sun.  (Remind me that I said that when I'm grousing about the 103+ temperatures in July.)

Cow crossing

We did our regular Rusty Spur/Bar M loop once, then around again but taking the cutoff back to the parking lot on the second go-round.  It was enough riding to wake my legs up and I remembered how much I like MTBing.  Of course, I did find myself a little saddle-sore for the next couple of days!

We hung out in the parking lot for a while afterwards, having beers as the clouds grew.  There were more people around, riding and trail-running, and we met another Underdog rescue puppy named Murphy, who looked just like our Milton without the white.  We also talked to all the range cows and calves who were crisscrossing the parking lot, looking for the quickest way to the best grazing. 

Chilly but worth it

Bike stats: 15.85 miles; time 1:30; average speed 10.6 m.p.h.; H's top speed 22.2 m.p.h.