Camp Lynda 2.0 final thoughts.

I am safely back at work, dry, warm, and not pedaling, so it is a perfect time to reflect on the past few days of adventuring around St George.

- St G. has a lot of great riding. I was very surprised how good it really was. Not just wide open sage covered hills, but Moab-ish sandstone, shale canyons, buff stuff, big expanses, lots of fine grained, red-devil sand....mercy.

- There are a lot of Daves who ride long miles on mtn bikes and I think they were all here for Camp Lynda. I lost count and it got really confusing, so I just called any guy I was talking to by the name of Dave and I was usually right.

- I love riding in new areas. One of the best things about this type of non-event event is just seeing new country and riding a bike over it. Sweet.

- There are a lot of fast folks who ride bikes and I am not one of them.

- I survived. Actually, I felt really good, but missing Day 2 helped a lot. It pushed my limits a bit in that I had never done that kind of mileage on a mtn bike over that short a time...about 120 miles in 3 days. It continues to open my eyes to what can be done with some regular training/riding and hard work.

- Everyone I met was friendly and there were no big egos that I could see. That is a nice change from some other cycling groups I have been around (cough, cough...roadies...cough, cough...XC racers...nuff said)

- Rides like this make me think of the next big goal or big ride. Of course, it is all about Vision Quest till March, but then? I need to do a hundred mile off road ride. That would be epic for me and is a good goal, I think.

- Weather. Bad weather. I don't ride in bad weather. I live in So Cal. I just need to wait a day or so and ride then. Getting up early and beginning a ride in the rain, riding for 4-6 hours in the rain, and finishing in the rain was a new experience for me. Ya know what, despite the toll it takes on the bike, it was pretty fun.

Last night I was talking about the trip and my wife asked, "Would you do it again?"

Yep. As long as someone named Dave is there.