I can’t believe I didn’t flip over the handle bars..that was GREAT – lets do it again!!

So, on Saturday we put the mountain bikes on top of the Prius and headed out to Cam Rock 3 which is about 10 miles from our house. When we got to the park, they had bright orange signs all over the park entrance warning that an archery hunt (deer hunting in Wisconsin) was in progress. Well, we had a decision to make – do we risk our lives with arrows flying around and ride our BRAND NEW mountain bikes on some killer trails or do we turn the car around and head back home to watch the Badgers on TV – dah, the arrows can’t hurt that much, can they?

We took the bikes off the top of the car and headed out on the trails. First we stayed on the “double track” trails and just enjoyed getting the legs warmed up. After riding around on some double track paths, we found our first “single track”.

At the start of the track the sign stated “more difficult” – so what does this mean – more difficult than the flat wide trails that we were just on or something else. Well, I can tell you now – it had nothing to do with the flat wide trails.

We started the trail by climbing this trail of rocks that winded up the side of this forest with trees lining both sides. The single tracks only allow for one bike at a time and you need to leave some room in front of you if you ride in a group. We made it about ¼ of the way up the hill and then had to walk the rest. If you allow your front tire to bounce or your rear tire to spin, your toast and you'll need to walk the rest of the way. At the top of the hill there was a sign for the trail on the right – it stated something like “dangerous/expert skill required” or you could go to the left on the same trail that we had been following. So, guess what trail we decided to take? Nope, you’re wrong – for once we made the smart decision and continued on the “more difficult” trail.

I’m not sure I’ve had this much fun in a while, pretty much the whole time I was laughing at what I just did (or at least what my bike just did). I’d be coming up on a log running across the trail and the log happened to be at least 10 inches or more around – with no chance to go around it. So, with some blind hope I just kept going and over the log I went. Next up was the loose rocks that lined the trail as you tried to climb back up the hill – one mess up with the front bouncing or the rear spinning and your walking (or picking yourself off the ground). Then you go a bit further and you’re going down a steep hill with trees on both sides and no room to mess up. A few feet more and you have a large rock in the middle of the trail that has a 2 foot drop on the other side – holy smokes.

It was like the best roller coaster you could ever go on. Here are some of my thoughts during the ride:

Oh no, not sure I can make it over that log – but I’m going to fast to not – holy smokes I did it. Oh no, can I actually go over that large rock and not fly over the handle bars – well, I almost flew over the bars, but that was awesome! Oh no, can I make this sharp turn and not hit the tree – might be questionable, but what the heck I don’t have much of a choice at this point – unbelievable, I made it!! What the heck, a large drop onto large flat rocks and then a climb up some loose rocks with roots all over -- nope, walked this one (of course the kids flew over it wondering what was up with Dad).

It got to a point that I wondered if the bikes had something like the Surgeon Generals warning on them -- hazardous to your health if you are 40 years old or greater -- DO NOT RIDE -- leave it to the kids -- it was crazy (and we went back on Sunday)! But that being said -- what a great way to have Mom and Dad spend an afternoon with the kids doing something that they think is awesome and nobody ended up in the Hospital!

It was an awesome day at a great park in Wisconsin. Can’t wait until the next time!!