*edited for serious grammar issues, it still ain't great
It was a fine ass day with a Strathcona High School start which in a lame attempt to get some more kilometres in I rode the bike lanes to the valley. I am tired of these 17 kilometre rides and I don't know why. I do remember hitting the high twenties quite a bit years ago.
I do remember 12 kilometre rides happening quite a bit in the shift work days so I guess there has been some improvement.
Why am I going on worried about this? Who cares? I went for a ride and it was much better than I thought it would be. The first bit on the bike lanes I had myself convinced to just stay up top and ride around as my legs were quite tight from yesterday. I had a bathroom break at the start of machete. Was it Machete? Nope I Googled and it was Spanish Switchblade. What a badass name for a trail I always called Machete. It's quite steep to start out and a lady walked by with her dog and asked if I was going to ride that so naturally I had to say yes, and then go down.
She was long gone went I went descended down and forgot about how steep the second drop is. It is definitely worthy of ass puckering and once down in it the trail winds its way through the forest quickly. One of the better downhills in the river valley for sure. The plan was to just climb back up and ride streets after but I wanted to Ride Raven and it was it's usual amaze self. I don't know which way riding it I like better.
I love climbing switchbacks so today's visit was top notch and I think I like that way better but it is a bit harder on the legs. I crossed the river and rode up the Riverside Descent on my way to the sweet and sultry singletrack of Mackinnon Ravine. Root Canal and Backbreaker were taken down and yes. A shout out to the old Back Breaker descent. I still miss that old way down.
The ride ended on busy pavement. A half marathon was going on and I couldn't help to feel bad for the runners mixed in with all the Sunday afternoon people. That would have been annoying.
