"I mean as ready as I can be." I lamented.
"Yeah we can only hope to not suck too much."
"I haven't even ridden a bike since the last time we rode in the early summer"
"Yeah I have been walking lately to try and keep it up but I also haven't ridden."
"I need to start using the trainer again."
While we talk I throw my stuff into the trunk and put my bike on the rack.
"You got everything?"
"Yep"
"Ok lets go."
We hope into the car and pull out of the driveway and make our way out of his neighborhood.
After we leave the neighborhood and pull down a cut through road Erik points out a little tree.
"The Sumacs are turning really red this year." He said while pointing at a small tree, that was a bright and vibrant red.
"Oh… yeah, they are really red."
"Yep."
As we drive to the park we continue with our meaningless chatter.
He talks about what projects he is working on at work and I talk about what car crash videos I had seen recently.
Nothing of note happened on our way there, it was a nice and easy ride.
We pull into the usual parking lot, which is strangely sparsely populated.
This is a very popular park for just about all of your outdoor fantasies. It has mountain biking, hiking, fishing, kayaking, a dog park, pickle ball courts, and a massive playground.
The playground was the pride and joy of this park, it was huge, and most importantly it had a massive trampoline in the middle of the large wooden play castle.
If I was still a kid I would definitely want to play here.
But, strangely there were only 2 other cars in the parking lot.
One was a ranger the other was another biker, we could tell from the bike rack on the car.
"Wow, it's almost empty." I noted.
"Yeah, that is strange, usually it is packed on a day like today." he also noticed.
"I wonder what's up? Maybe they are all in the mountains?" I questioned.
"I don't know, maybe?"
While we questioned the emptiness of the park we both put our gear on.
Helmut, shoes, gloves, and protective glasses. Every time I put this on my first thought is always how goofy I must look.
I am not a tall guy, only 5 foot 8 inches, or 173 centimeters. Not only that I am skinny, like super skinny. However, I was spared a little with my genetics, I have pretty good looking muscles.
I know all skinny guys think that. But, I have some self awareness. I have a defined 6 pack, good little obliques, and decent pecks. I definitely fall off in the arms I will give you that. My shoulders are just as nonexistent as my biceps. But my triceps are really nice, and my forearms are sticks.
I shouldn't even mention my back, it just isn't there, only some little lats.
My legs are just as much sticks as they are muscle, I honestly have no idea how people build muscle. I have eaten like 6,000 calories a day only to lose weight. I used to exorcise all the time and yet my body never really changed. The only noticeable difference was that my muscles were a little more defined.
That was why I stopped trying to get more muscular.
So I am sure with clothes on and a backpack that clips on it makes me look like a little money riding my bike through the woods. I can only give a small self deprecating laugh.
We set off into the woods down through the trail.
The first half of the trail is mostly climbs with the occasional flowy down hill part, mostly used to get the riders to the main mountain.
Once you get to the base you have a slow plodding climb to the top.
At the top there is a circular trail that covers the peak of the mountain, which functions at the trail head.
Or a gathering place for people to rest before going down one of the many trails that they have available.
The ride there is always a slow one where we talk the whole way up.
We talk about many things but most come with some form of repetition.
…
Once we reach the top we take a break in front of the trail we always ride.
I for one am dying for some new trails to ride, but Erik is a man of habit. If he finds one good trail he will ride it to death before choosing another.
The only exception is if the trail is too far to go to regularly.
"Whew, I am doing strangely good today." He remarks.
"Yeah, I was expecting to be a lot worse off than I am."
"I was interested in seeing how well we do today. I want to try to make a trip to the mountains to ride. But I don't want to be ducking wind the whole time."
"Yeah, that would suck. It would be pretty bad."
"I want to make some trips to that trail this year."
"Yep. But, we will need to get up there soon before it gets too cold."
"I looked at the weather and the high this weekend is going to be in the 50s. And I know we aren't riding in weather that cold."
"No, we won't, that would be rough."
"The weather should get a little warmer for a week or two before the season ends. Maybe I will take a day off to go in the middle of the week so there aren't that many people. Dad and I went by there once during one of our trips and the parking lot was packed. I pulled up to let dad out to go to the bathroom and I had to make a 27 point turnaround just to get out."
"Oof, yeah we want to avoid that."
"Yeah… that wouldn't be very much fun."
"Nope."