In a way, this is what happened to me while toward the end of my Pachaug rockpile ride yesterday.
I went for another weekend Pachaug enduro loop ride yesterday, and I decided to change things up a bit by doing something I hadn't done all year:
I left the house later so that I would finish the ride at dusk.
While this made washing the bike a pain in the ass since I'd have to rely on my outside porch light, it made the ride, itself, enjoyable since late afternoon and dusk favor my eyesight because there is little to no bright sunlight making me squint all over the place.
Because of the improved vision, I turned up the wick a bit and rode my favorite pine-needled sections faster than I have in a while, if not ever, and found that immensely enjoyable.
That, alone, made the ride worthwhile.
I can only imagine what it would be like to have what's considered normal vision, both in having 20/20 and not having trouble with bright sunlight washing-out details on the ground.
Another thing new that I did was adding yet another trail section that I believe I've never ridden before in my life, a section that is an actual part of the Pachaug enduro loop.
You see, there are a few trail sections that I skip every time I ride the loop because I think they suck and are not fun for me.
Typically, that means sections that are very wet and very rocky to the point that it's more of a case with putting up with terrain I don't like than getting some enjoyment out of it.
The thing that's different about this new section is that not only is it another section that is a part of the loop that I'd been skipping, but I believe it was not a part of the Pachaug enduro loop back in the days when I first rode it with some friends in the late 1980s, and the trail I'd been taking (allowing me to skip it) up until yesterday was actually part of the loop back then.
So, what I did was instead of turning right at a three-way intersection, I turned left, and this basically had me making a bigger clockwise loop to get to the same spot a few miles later.
I have to admit that the first half of this new (to me) section wasn't fun because it was similar to a snotty rock garden, but after that was past, it was enjoyable.
New England is synonymous with rocks, folks.
The title of this bloggy post and the pic to go along with it is in reference to what happened at about the 50 mile mark (the ride was 56 miles in total).
My ol' buddy Tim the squirrel defender and the outdoors man was, basically, waiting along one of the last paved road sections for me to ride by, and when he saw my headlight coming up from behind him, he pulled his car a few feet ahead and stopped it squarely in the path of where I'd be turning off the pavement onto the trail.
This was a drag because I didn't feel like stopping to talk with anybody, really, because it was already a few minutes before sunset and I did not want to spent the best minutes of lighting conditions just making small talk.
Not just because it was Tim, but no matter who is would have been.
However, I was still courteous enough to grant him his wish and did stop to chat for about five minutes before telling him I had to get going.
He wanted me to stay longer, but, he's a big boy, now, and I did not leave the house later just to waste the best part of the ride (lighting-wise) chatting about nothing important.
Of course, the fact that I'm a criminal and an asshole who did it on purpose in his mind for killing a squirrel with my Ford Ranger almost two years ago has some bearing on this, but, that's not the main reason I wanted out of there - I just wanted to continue the ride without interruption.
Period.
No matter who it was.
So, I finished the ride at dusk, and it was a good one.
I got the WR-250FY washed via the light from a single light bulb, and although it wasn't as thorough a job as usual, it was good enough.
The bike is currently serviced and ready for another ride on the rockpile loop, and odds are, I'll go today.
If I do, I'll probably edit this post with an update on how it went.
Hoping for no ambush,
-John
Edit:
Today's Pachaug rock pile ride went off even later than it did yesterday, to the point that I cut about 15 miles out of it for a total of 43.
The ride was pretty good and I feel like I rode good as well.
I made another decent pass through my favorite pine-needled section, although I believe yesterday's was a little bit faster, although at another favorite section I rode faster today than I did yesterday.
All-in-all, it was a decent ride out there today.
Next weekend, though, I'll probably leave the house at a more normal time so that I can both not worry about running out of daylight and be able to wash the bike in daylight, too.
Another good thing is that I did not run into an ambush on the trail. ;)
-John
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