Training Log Archive: danfoster

Jess and I rode the full loop at Delaney. 5 days after the wind event, the trails are still littered with debris. We knew of at least two trees down, but ended up dealing with at least six. Put me down for 45 minutes of "getting swole", pocket chainsaw style.

I've probably ridden this exact loop more than a thousand times at this point. Today, monster-biking over debris, dodging dinosaur boot prints permanently embedded in the ice, and alternating between ribbons of dirt, mud, ice, and exploded pine boughs, it still felt like an adventure.

All this freeze/thaw is turning the trails to ribbons of solid ice, but the untrodden snow out in the sunny fields has turned into a crusty styrofoam fatbike playground. Played several high-speed rounds of "bite the shoe" with Jess, and ventured off trail in every clearing to explore on the "go anywhere" crust.

Several dead pines down from the recent wind event, including a long-hanging limb in our front yard. Bonfire time!

Lunch ride to Bolton. Should have stopped to eat on a flat rock on the East flank of Old Bay, but continued up and of course there were no good options after that. Ran into and old wildlife tracking friend and chatted for a while. Finally pulled over at Vaughn Hill and hiked the bike up through the slushy snow to a perfect bench rock on the stone wall. Stuck a non-alcoholic IPA in the snowbank, inflated my trusty sit pad, and enjoyed a late lunch.

This was my first ride with the Garmin Varia radar tail light, and it's amazing. The first two times it detected a car approaching from behind, I glanced back, saw nothing, and thought it was glitching. In both cases, I heard and saw the car two seconds later. For the majority of the cars that overtook me today, it alerted before I knew they were there. Only twice did I notice first - a loud pickup on a fast road, and a motorcycle - both loud enough to hear long before they were visible.

I'm 100% sold on the Varia. Go get one.

Rode the Harvard Hills with DH and DB. 40, light drizzle, with some wind.
Ordered a Garmin Varia (alerts when cars approach from behind), and re-read the AMC Outdoor Leadership guide chapters on risk management and acceptable risk in outdoor activities. Made some promises that I hope I'll never have to break, while still participating in AR.