revising?

maybe my new thing is revising a post over a period of time, see what it turns into, cpl mins here and there.

temps are warm after the first frost, trails dry and fast, but leaves now falling. at 1000ft there's a sprinkling, by 1500 the trail is almost covered, by 2000 the trail is hard to discern. today's spin took me to the valley floor and north (downstream) for a mile before turning up the west slope onto pavement, then dirt, snowmobile, 10mins into the ride and onto the singletrack climb. this is one of my favorites. winding along a brook. up a cpl hard-charge climbs. flowing into a series of switchbacks through a stand of widely spaced beech, thickly growing ferns now partially covered by a mix of yellow and orange leaves. the trail dips and rolls a few times before turning back up the hill, a short reprieve to the effort.

after 20'ish mins of huffing i'm out onto a steep dirt road, another cpl-few mins of huffing and i'm back in the woods, now on carriage road, at times overgrown to singletrack, at others, a car length wide. with things so dry it's loose on the steeps, hardly a puddle to be found, even w/recent rains.

the descent begins, eventually dumping out into fields above Bragg hill, the reward of all the effort - a vast view down the valley. the western ridge rising sharply up, mother nature's snow machine, down the well-known slopes and steeps, then across to the fields on the lower eastern slopes of the northfield range which rises-up more casually than it's neighbor 10miles to the west. one of the best views in the valley and i'm flowing on a well-worn ribbon around the top of a few fields, glancing up as much as possible, soaking it in, this life. after a short but good filling, i'm cruising down, too soon onto a hardpacked dirt road, open fields still granting a wide view. cruise easy for a minute or two before turning back onto singletrack.

this section is well-used, roughed-up, but sweet for it - it's a downhill - it should be roughed-up. 5-10mins, back on the valley floor, head east on rt 17, away from Phen Basin and Appalachian Gap, turn up rt 100 before climbing the east valley wall for home. door-to-door in not too many minutes at all. can't wait to tie all the sections i know into one ride...