New for 2012

I'd say I haven't done this in a while but it's more likely I've never done this. The "this" in question is tracking my mileage for the 2012 riding season. I'm sure I'll forget my Garmin from time to time which has been the standard mode of keeping tabs on my rides and races in the past, but I'll do my best to have it with me on most outings.
It'll be interesting to see how things look throughout the season and I'll be doing my best to post stuff on here as things get underway. With that being said... here we go:



This was the first ride of 2012 for me. This ride started with the realization about half way to Reno that I had forgot my helmet. A quick side trip to a friends house in Glenshire fixed that little issue up and we were back on track.

It's been years (7?) since I've ridden Cow Canyon and I'd got word that there was some newer trail above the stuff I'd ridden previously. Always a sucker for new trail, I headed down there with some peeps to check it out. The new trail is a ridgline moto trail with some steep, fast sections. The climb to get to this part of trail doesn't come easy and you'll loose your hard earned elevation quickly as you rocket back to the "normal" section. The ride is ok, but for me I prefer the Keystone/Evans canyon sections just a bit to the east.

Ride 2:



For my second ride of the season, I managed to remember all of my gear as we headed to the South East corner of Tahoe Lake for some newer/rerouted sections of Rim Trail and the new Vansickle Trail. We had perfect weather for this one. Amazing to be riding well over 8,000ft in January with no snow!

The southeast corner of the lake is quite a drive from Truckee but rest assured it's worth it. The section of Rim Trail between Kingsbury and the bench at Spooner was as good as I always remembered it. Lots of decomposed granite, fast and swoopy. The rerouted sections of the Rim Trail are going to be great once completed (their close, we bushwacked) and the new Vansickle Trail is a great descent of almost 2,000ft of funloving vertical.

And for now... that's it. Ride today? Not sure, but it's likely.