Dirt: Nature's Stress Reliever.

As the school year is starting to wind down, the stress has started to build.  It's days like these when it feels good to just escape from the city and hit the trails with some of the Pegasus crew.  After a day of rain, I was worried that the trails would be near impossible to ride.  Luckily for us, the dirt had dried, making for superb conditions in Shell Ridge (save for the cattle-wrecked fire road back to the trail-head).

                                                  My Ridley X-Bow. One helluva ride.

Riding with my boss and Mel is always a treat.  Being around guys who have been riding longer than I've been alive helps me ride better, and appreciate how lucky I am to be with such a good crew.  They help me take my head off of school, and focus on the ride.  I've finally becoming more comfortable on my cyclocross bike, so riding with guys more experienced than me has become more and more fun each ride, as i'm able to keep up on the tricky sections of trail that used to throw me for a loop.  Being the only guy on a rigid frame today, I felt a bit outgunned on descents, but it forced me to ride harder, surprising myself at times!

The Boss. 

This guy killed it today.

Every ride I can get in between work and school, even if it's only for a few miles on the dirt, is needed.  Riding around on the trails is a change of pace from my usual road rides.  It has kept me on my toes, made me a better rider, and is an absolute blast to ride every day that i'm out! I'm stoked to be able to spend time on the home trails before my journey up north, and to grow even more as a cross rider in the coming months.