The Cove

I decided to head out and see what the trails had in store today. I drove up to Carvin's Cove, just west of Roanoke. Just as I was about to get to doin my thing this guy comes out out of the woods and says that the trails are too messy to ride. Not thinking that this guy knew anything about what he was talking about I continued on to the trailhead. It only took about 30 until I realized what the man had been talking about, and he wasnt lying. It was just muddy but the ground was saturated. My wheels sunk about a full two inches into the soft mud but I decided to ride it out, hoping it would get better. Well, it didnt, but I did manage to find a whole new section of trails, probably doubling the number of trails I knew in the park. One of them was a really sweet downhill. It was fast, really fast and really long, probably about 10 solid minutes of switchbacks. The only better descents that I can think of are Mt. Snow and the Hunter Mtn. world cup course. By the time I hit the bottom I was stuggling to keep my hands on the bar.

The most interesting part of the ride came once I was back at the car. The guy that had parked next to me came out of the woods and from about 100 feet away I could tell there was something different about his pedal stoke. As he got closer I realized that he had two prostetic legs from the knee down. I was really pretty impressed that this guy had been out there on a day like this, but more so that he even rides at all. It was kinda one of those moments where you realized how lucky you are for what you've got. We could all use a few more of them.