Back to the grind in the new year

Today is my first day back at work.... getting up at 5 AM after averaging a 10:30 wake up time since the winter break was a tough one.  Being an adult sucks sometimes.

But, I'm luckier than most with the time off I get, so I'll shut it.

Ended 2011 with a ride at Wompatuck, and somewhat fittingly I smoked my shin on the frame of the 4300 after slipping on a wet root.  Oh, the bane of my existence for the 2011 race season, off camber wet roots.  I'm happy to say my "rough" experiences have made me a more skilled rider.  But on December 31st I didn't cut the corner sharp enough and as I lifted the front wheel over the first 2 roots I wasn't quite able to clear that third... ensue the slide, skid, slam.  It apparently wasn't as bad as it felt in the cold... no real bruise to speak of, just a little tenderness.

Otherwise, it was a good ride.  Although, with a soft rear brake it made for interesting descents....  But overall, a great way to end a year.  I was hoping that I would be able to follow up with a nice ride on the first day of the new year, but New Year's Eve celebrations kept that from becoming a reality

Happy New Year!!

Thank God we live in America... where if a holiday lands on a Saturday we will fight for the right to have the following Monday off so that we aren't "robbed" of any free time off.  Seems kinda silly... but who am I to argue against another day off.  And since I was somewhat "dehydrated" after NYE and generally a waste of space, an extra day was very useful.

With the Georgia game on at 1pm it would mean and "early rise" in order to get any ride in prior to the game.  Well, on the last day of my break that didn't happen.  So it looked like I was going to have to settle for a workout and ride on the trainer.... until Annie suggested that I go for the ride and just DVR the game.  In the back of my head I knew this to be an option, but there is just something about watching a game on DVR that just doesn't feel right.... plus, with technology keeping me updated on score reports I wasn't sure how it would all turn out.  

But once again I'm thankful Annie is around to keep me from being completely lazy.  I go out and rode Belmont.  I hadn't ridden there is quite a long time and from what I remembered it would serve as a pretty nice and quick ride.  It did in fact do that, but I was in for a pleasant surprise as a lot of work had been done out there.  Trails were clear and there was much more singletrack that what I had remembered.  Not sure if they had previously been there or it was new (some of it was clearly newly built) but either way that place is shaping up nicely!  Unfortunately the work being done had shut down some trails on the McLean side of things to bikes.  Not a huge deal but the one rocky descent leading back to Rock Meadow, which was the most fun part of that side in my opinion, was the biggest closure to bikes.  Ah well... you lose some and you find some.

On the Rock Meadow side I came across the Western Greenway.  Of course I'd noticed it in previous rides, but mostly when I was on a carriage path so it meant little to me.  They've bumped up work and signage on that trail and I followed to see what it was all about.  It actually turns into some sweet little singletrack leading out of the area.  As I left Rock Meadow I cam across other singletrack crossing the Western Greenway...  what a great find!!  This might mean the possibility of some nice miles leading to other riding spots!!

I'll definitely be going back to explore more of the Western Greenway and the areas it intersects.  

I rode from the Rock Meadow section along the Blazed trail (blue) over through Beaver Brook and Lot 1 to the crossing of Trapelo Rd.  More sleuthing the internets is in order to figure out the status of those unfinished sections, but considering this map was produced in October, I'm sure it's pretty accurate as is.... but as it stands now there is more out there!!

And now.... back to work!