So, naturally, I celebrated with some long overdue training. After a morning strength session, in the afternoon I headed over to Alafia State Park for a good outing on the Scott Spark RC.
While there are several levels of trails ( from Easy to Extremely Difficult), I wisely chose to warm up on the River loop, one of the easiest ones. So far, so good. A few bridges, some twisty turns, but I was managing just fine. And my confidence kept rising. Fast.
Sadly, the images do not do this course justice. I am no professional mountain biker, but found myself forced to dismount over 30 times in just a few miles ( both up and downhill), and had plenty of near misses.
I am not sure if it is the lack of time spent on a mountain bike (or any other bike, for that matter) over the past few months while Law School graduation and the bar exam consumed my days, but my skills certainly were far behind my eagerness.
I am proud to say, however, that I only had one (minor) tumble. I braked hard to avoid a fall, and rolled to the right. There was a ditch, and I rolled (gently) down it, ending upside down and without any way to support my self back up, so I was upside down for a good few seconds until I finally propped myself back up. Nothing to worry about, really, but it made me extra careful the rest of the lap.
Alafia State Park is only 45 minutes from downtown Tampa, but it feels a world away. The easy course is a lot of fun, and if you have some serious skills, the Moonscape and Roller Coaster courses will treat you just fine. Maybe.
