Stony Ride

I went out to Stony this morning for a little ride. I figured I might as well take advantage of the nice weather while it lasts. It was around 34F for the ride, and the trail was in great shape. I was reasonably comfortable after the first 10 minutes or so.

I felt pretty decent on the bike, but I wasn't pushing very hard. I decided to stop and take a few pictures to force myself to slow down.

Transition to the climb up "Mt. Sheldon". I'm actually at the top of a hill looking backward. The legs burned a bit more than normal on the climbs, but it wasn't too bad... hey, it's December.

On top of "Mt. Sheldon". It's hard to see in the picture, but you can make out the city of Birmingham from here.

There's a bench at the top, for resting I guess. "Mt. Sheldon" isn't really a mountain, it's just the highest point on this trail.

Entrance to Roller Coaster 1 is in the middle of the picture. There's an easier way down to the right.

Beginning of Roller Coaster 2.

The climb at the end of Roller Coaster 2 (again, I'm already at the top looking backward); it's actually much steeper than the picture suggests. This one trips up a lot of novices. The trick is to really haul the mail down the hill on the opposite bank, then you only have to make about two or three hard pedal strokes to clear this climb.

The last little section of singletrack before you're back out on the wide park-maintained access roads. There is one nasty climb after this picture. I saw that they had strategically placed some foam padding around a few of the trees on the descent... must be for the XC skiers.