So I finally got off my ass and . . . . went for a mountain bike ride in flagstaff.

I am aware that there are probably people who have been mountain biking up here in the pines for a little while now, as things are starting to dry out in places. I’m sure there’s also at least one person who has a pugsly or something similar and is laughing at the fact that I’ve been ‘missing out on all the killer riding’.

Well, ya know what, I’m zoning in on somewhere around 25 days of skiing this year. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Either way, I heeded tRoy’s suggestion and took the Gunnar up Elden Road today. I couldn’t have asked for a much better ride. I felt a little crappy up to around the bottom of brookbank, but then I hit a nice rhythm and cruised the rest of the road. It felt good to get the legs back into singlespeed climbing mode. I tried my hardest to sweat out any muscle memory of this past weekend and replace it with something that will help me on the 120-some miles I’m planning on busting out this weekend. Oh the pain.

The ride all came together as I kept cruising uphill. There was a bit of mud in places, there was just a hint of snow on the road, and the temperature was just about perfect. I had sleeves and tights on, and didn’t even need the windstopper gloves I brought along for the climb. I hit the top and cruised around to all the radio towers for a bit as I enjoyed the weather. As the sun started getting lower, I threw on a jacket, headband, and the winter gloves for the ride down.

I didn’t set any speed records, but did make it door-to-door in a little under 2 hours, which is respectable considering the mud factor. The best part, though, was that I made it back before dark. I rolled in at 6:55, and had light to spare.

It’s gettin’ to be mountain biking season up here again.