Avalon Ride

Like clockwork, as soon as we were at the farthest point from the car the
thunder started. The trails were generally pretty good with the usual
mudholes in low lying spots where the trail has been widened. It rained for
maybe 10 minutes, but then cleared up. That left the trails damp on top and
a little slick, but not soft or muddy.

I was determined to go slow and take it easy since my legs were still a
little sore from the TT on Sunday. I went right to the small ring for the
waterbars. You can do that climb in a very low HR, it just takes a long
time! 8-) Melanie was doing some SE intervals so she was leaving me
behind on the climbs. I wasn't even tempted to keep pace because I was so
in need of an easy ride.

We did a nice loop and did our best to stick to the rocky trails. We only
hit a handful of muddy spots. A lot of the recent trailwork has involved
laying down that white gravel/sand mixture in some of the traditionally
muddy areas. It seems to work well and has held up to constant riding and
rain. It protects the trail and gives riders a narrow path to follow, thus
keeping the singletrack "single". It will take some time but if they can
use that solution on the farm loop and some of the other chronic areas the
trails will stay narrow and become a lot more weather proof.

I just put some new tires on my Fuel...Continental Explorer UST 2.1's. The
tread is a bit less aggressive than what I had on the IRC Serac's. They
hooked up nicely even on the slick trail surface and wet rocks and they
seemed to roll pretty quickly too. I wanted to get new tires on before
Shenandoah and have enough time to get used to them. I think they'll work
fine.