infinitely sustainable pace

Vassago's on the roof

 This past weekend I had the opportunity to head down to Cape Cod for a little mini-break from real life. My parents were down there, and they invited  K and I to come and hang out on the beach. The beach is one of Keiran’s favorite things, one of mine too. It didn’t take too much research to find some mountain biking down there as well. So I loaded up the Vassago Fisticuff (for potential bike path cruising with K) and the Jabberwocky for the singletrack. And off we went.

signage

 I headed for the Trail of Tears in Barnstable. NEMBA has a nice little write up with good info on getting there and parking and what sort of trails one would find. For me it’s always a bit nerve-wracking to go to a new trailhead, particularly if I’m by myself. When I parked at 8:30 on Saturday morning, the lovely parking area, situated under a high-tension power line, was deserted.  What sort of place was this? Would my car be intact and my fisti still on the roof when I returned? Just where were these trails anyway? People really ride here?

Once I got underway, I quickly figured out how to get into the trail system. There are a couple of routes marked (mostly) and I followed the red trail to the West to get started. At a certain point one finds a lot of trails looping off the main trails, and I had a lot of fun exploring all the different options. The riding is fast and a lot of it is quite buff (as buff as northern GA) but then, due to the glaciers i suppose, you come across a huge pile of babyhead rocks. 

buff and fast trails, for the most part

 Mostly flat-ish, there were a lot of roller-coaster style climbs and descents, between those and the speed that you can carry my heartrate was pumping. It was fun to see exactly how fast you could go. I was still pretty wary, not really knowing exactly where I was riding and what was around me. At one point I came across this nice little knife in the midst of the trail, and it made me feel nice and secure. right.

But really i was having a blast. I returned on Sunday for some more, and found more new trails to play on. One of the most amazing things was that the trails were absolutely lined with pink lady slippers. We don’t get those in VT, at least up here, so it’s such a treat to see them.

lady slippers along the trail

Thanks NEMBA for some great riding. I really enjoyed sweating it out on the trails while the sea breezes wafted through the forest. The Cape is a special place, and these trails are a lot of fun. I look forward to returning again as soon as I can.