Mountain Biking the Tiger Mountain Trail

I took off Sunday morning for my first real mountain bike trail. After getting familiar with my new bike I decided to break her (and myself) in on the local trail 45 minutes from the house. It was a 13 mile loop trail. The first 3 1/2 miles are a vertical climb gaining 1500ft in elevation. After the first mile I was shattered and took a rest as two experienced looking dudes quickly passed me. I re-adjusted my seat and hopped back on and eventually got into a rythm. By 2 1/2 miles I was picking up on the two dudes and by mile three I was passing them. I felt great. The picture above shows where the downhill part of the trail begins. I buckled up and embarked on a roller-coaster ride through the tree's. It was as if I was riding one of those speeders from Return of the Jedi. There were routes to hop over, rocks to jump off and plenty of unexpected ways to get thrown over the handlebars. I came to many an abrupt halt inches awy from ledges and holes. Some how I completed the 10+ miles of single track deep forest riding with only one scratch (and that was only when nature called!). I can now offically declare that this sport is as great as snowboarding! We'll see what I have to say about that after I hurt myself - and apparently everybody does. Home by 12:00 for Sunday lunch. Perfect! Time 1:10 of continuous riding. Top speed 23.5 mph. 13.5 Miles.