I know it doesn't look that hilly in the picture, but let me just mention that we don't really know anything about hills..there are no hills in Baton Rouge. We used to ride a 40 mile training race twice weekly where the total elevation change was 1 foot!!!

Anyway, the trip turned out to be awesome!! We met up with some folks from "BUMP," which is one of the local cycling clubs that does all the trail maintenance and puts on the races at Oak Mountain. We rode one lap of the course with them, which turned out to be just over 17 miles. The trail was very nice, but there was one climb in the middle which was brutal. It was a 2 mile climb with a total elevation change of 600 feet. I know this doesn't sound like a lot to those of you who live around hills-which basically includes everyone who reads this blog except the people from south Louisiana and my aunt Ursel, because Hamburg is totally flat (except for a very, very steep hill called the Waseberg, which is where my aunt was first introduced to World Cup cycling, but that's another story!). However, take 2 miles of steady uphill, 600 feet elevation change, and throw in some rocks, roots, gravel, sand, crazy bridges, rocks, roots, and did I mention rocks and roots? and it becomes a very difficult climb. Once we got to the top, we were rewarded with a very nice, long and fast downhill, so in the end it was all worth it! Jim and I rode a total of 34 miles at Oak Mountain, which is more that I've ever done on a mountainbike, especially on such challenging terrain. Here's a pic of me right after finishing the ride...

We picnicked at the park and then drove home-or I should say Jim drove home while I licked my wounds (nothing major just some minor cuts and bruises). It was definitely worth the drive, and we'll be back there again...

Labels: travel