Ninja mudders

I did my first ever mtb ride in the evening in the DON.  Luckily it wasn't a hammerfest but a ride that was slightly cautious yet a lot of FUN!

It's a good thing I've ridden much of the trails we chose to ride before.  Familiarity is an important aspect of mtn biking.  There are some pretty technical trails in the Don.  Some are intimidating in broad daylight.  And the darkness brings another aspect into the game adding to the adrenalin.  Fear is fear.

As I was heading into the Don from Loblaws, the sun was just beginning to set.  It was 6:45pm.  I saw one rider come up from Pottery and asked if he saw any other riders coming from there. He didn't.  So I checked my phone and Neil had just past so I said I'd meet him at the Cricket Tree.
I put on my new head light and said a prayer.

It's a much different feeling riding the Don in the dark.  I was concerned more about the trail and some of the drop offs, but in the dark you can't even see the drop off.  Just don't fall down those drop offs, because it's a long way down. You just can't see the bottom.

That's what makes the Don so intimidating.  That falling down a long way fear factor.

Riding along on the trail is a little scary, folks are also walking their dogs, off leash many times.  And seeing their eyes reflecting my light is spooky, but then I got used to it.  The shadows was playing with my eyes and I wasn't sure if it was a critter instead of a shadow.  But after a while i began to ignore them.

I did encounter the odd cotton tail rabbit, and a few raccoons (one fellow big enough to ride a bike) and we crossed paths on a skunk on a trail.  Luckily we didn't spook it enough to warrant a lifting of his tail. Phew.  That would be a bad introduction into the Ninja Mudders evening ride.   There were a surprising number of riders out on the trail.  All with bright head lights.  But it was a really great evening for riding.  Weather was perfect.  After today it's going to rain.  Cuz the Blue Jays lost in the ALDS.  And the Leafs blew a 4-0 lead.  Glad I decided to ride instead of watch my teams.  It was a great decision!

I didn't take my phone out to take any photos, I wanted to focus on the trail and stay away from a potential crash.  There's lots of roots that make some of the climbs a little more challenging.

Also I got a new bike so this was only my 2nd time taking it on the Don trails.

This is a kick ass machine.  It really amazes me how far bike technology has come.  My old mtb doesn't seem that old, 2009.  But this bike is 1) a 29er and 2) trail
geometry.  And I didn't quite buy into the whole larger wheel is better marketing.  But I demo'd this bike back at the beginning of Oct.  And I just couldn't believe how much better it was at everything over my old bike.  Don't get me wrong my old bike I really enjoyed riding.  In it's latest setup, it was as dialed into my type of riding.  I was handling some step down drops way better than before and riding faster on the Don technical trails faster than before.  But when I rode in the MTB fondo weeks ago, I would get passed by these 29ers on the flats, that I'd pass on the technical sections.  So it was frustrating.  I was bent on getting a 27.5, because I had demo'd one back in June, and i figured it would be better handling and accelerate quicker, but this one deal came up and it was just too good to pass up and the demo finalized the sale for me.


I could descend faster, I could climb about the same, handle technical sections with great confidence and I could ride along the flats way faster and it seemed like it was way easier.  I felt like an advanced rider.  The 26" is a great bike to improve your handling skills.  You just need to with the smaller wheels.  The 29 rolls over stuff like it's not there.

It's made mtn biking a lot more fun.  And that's what really matters. The FUN factor.
I'm keeping my old bike for Kieran or Tresa, cuz it's more fun riding with someone else.