good ride

Two days before the Juniper Mesa day (which would have been Saturday), we did a morning MTB ride up at Dead Horse Point State Park.  We got up there early-ish - because it's the dog days of summer in southern Utah and DANG it's hot - but with the added elevation, temperatures weren't forecast to get above the high 80s, which was a treat.  There were a fair number of cars in the main parking lot: only a handful of MTBers but it looked like there were more folks hiking.  

We did our usual Dead Horse route of  the Big Chief loop, to Crossroads (which crosses the park road, get it?), to Whiptail and Twisted Tree, then doubling back to Crossroads and taking Raven Roll back to the truck.  For some reason, this day turned out to be my best MTB ride of the year (so far).  My legs felt strong, no doubt in part due to the pleasanting we did the weekend prior; I got my nutrition right; I was thirsty but not dehydrated; and, best of all, I was riding calmly.  The mindset helped, even when I got to sections on which I was less confident.

Out on Whiptail, I think

There were parking lot beers and then back to town, where it was much, much hotter.  We had lunch, then hunkered down indoors (there may have been napping) until the patio was shaded enough to bring our books and our beers outside.