Early AM ride with the Bears

This morning I rose early to ride in the cooler morning air of the mountains. It had been several weeks since I last rode at The Woodlot so it was nice to ride on my home turf.

Upon arrival in the parking area I was not too pleased with what I found. There had been a bit of vandalism and partying in the area and there was a mess of beer cans, a fire and a broken tree that all needed to be addressed. So before my ride I cleaned up the mess.

A little pre-ride cleanup.

Once I was climbing I notices that the raspberries that line the climb low on the mountain were now starting to ripen. This means only one thing........bears. Lately I have been riding with a bear bell on my bike and a nice big can of pepper spray. Hopefully the bell does its job during my rides and I never need to use the spray.

I was on my Rune today with my heavy duty wheels and big DH tires. I am thinking of racing the Rune again in the Bear Mountain DH race in few weeks, so a few laps on the bike with the heavier duty wheels will get me used to the additional mass.

I made my way up to the top and rode Dinsdale which was such a sweet loamy rip and then Cabin Trail. 20 feet from the entrance to Cabin Trail was a nice mound of bear scat in the middle of the road. I couldn't resist taking a picture.

What everyone likes to see at a trail head.

Cabin was simply a blast and then a sweet rip of Snakes where I stopped in one spot to take note of a few trees that need to be cut out. After Snakes it was up to Bloggy Style and finally Shotgun.

I was in my car driving home at 8:30am. Nothing better than an early am rip with the bears.