June 21, 2026

Reasonably rocky

Most cyclists I’ve met, myself included, are not out for the downhill. Most of us prefer the climb. Even the boring flat is more enticing. The downhill is always too quick, twitchy, rocky, somehow precarious. That was today.

I had a blast getting to the trail. Not too much wind or traffic. I had vaguely scouted the route google maps and set expectations for some hike-a-bike and rocks.

I can’t offer majestic prose to describe the place, so I’ll leave it at lovely rolling hills of toasted grass. Shaded moments in the bends where oaks nest. Mineral and color variations. Many types of chards to tickle your ankles, and intriguing chaparral yuccas.

At around two-thirds of the way in, it started to get technical. Nothing wheel-bending but enough to get me into frantic talk-to-yourself mode to distract from fear. My Jones SWB can take it but it's a bit of a dance to float over rough terrain on a fully rigid frame. That yield some good insights and works my attention span.

Then, at the last intersection, I noticed my phone was missing. I had used it to take this picture at the previous fork. So I pushed back up the last segment. Fifteen minutes later, the phone was retrieved. A group of old dudes on full-suspension e-bikes saluted while bulldozing their way up. They surely felt the same rocks I did, but their pelvises probably didn’t get the same beating as mine. Maybe I’ll get there someday. I can't emotionally afford this kind of comfort.

Weird judgmental thoughts like these are common for me on the trail. Perhaps it's a healthy sign of communion with nature or internal alignment.

Aside from the adrenaline rush of the desperate uphill retrieval push, the whole thing felt like a sweet spot. One I’ve been looking for for a while: a full loop in 90min-ish, with a solid climb, not too technical but still challenging, and far enough from home to feel like a proper ride.

I could see my neighborhood from the top of the hill, but hey, that’s the stage of life I’m in. I need to be a dad for the rest of the day. That modest outing satisfies both the dad and the wannabe cyclist in me.