We're in the Pacific Northwest for a year. This is giving us the
opportunity to try new roads and trails. One of the trails starts
about a quarter mile from our house. It has some, umm...
characteristics that haven't appeared in trails we've ridden in North
Carolina.[29KB JPG]
For example, there's the issue of on-bike sustenance. There's no need to carry gooey Power Bars or liquids. On the way out we can grab a few handfuls of blueberries from the bushes next to the house, and blackberries are available at several points along the trail. The blackberries are as much a trail hazard as a benefit, though. Some of the canes are up to 25 feet long, are covered with an impressive array of thorns, and lie in wait along the side of the trail for careless bikers. Also lying in wait (or so we imagine, riding at night) are the family of coyotes we can hear howling in the distance.
The trail runs through a spectacular cedar forest, with trees that would take three or four Tarwheelers to reach around. This, again, has both benefits and drawbacks. The forest is spectacular, and the large trees mean that the there is little underbrush to interfere with riding. On the other hand, you have to get used to loggers speculating on how many board feet there are in a tree. The counterpart to Cary-like growth in rural areas here is the seemingly inevitable logging. This area is scheduled for logging soon, so we're going to enjoy it while we can.
Cedars grow well in damp conditions, so they're the perfect tree for
the Pacific NorthWet. Even in the driest conditions, the trail is
at least a bit damp. That leads to two other complications. The
first is the peat bogs forming down by the salmon stream at the far end of
the trail. They take the concept of mud riding to new heights (or,
rather, lows). The second is, well, the slugs.
No one does slugs
like the PNW does slugs. The slugs here, banana slugs, can be up to
half a foot in length, and look like Chiquita Juniors (tm) left
out for far too long. That leads us to the complication. Clipping
in once you've inadvertently stepped on one of these things is an
exercise in futility. The end of the last ride had Rick at the bottom
of the biggest hill on the trail yelling "I can't clip in! I've got a
banana slug in my cleat!" to the sound of derisive laughter from up
the hill and further down the trail.[35KB JPG]
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