mountain biking in kansas

Switchgrass EPIC mountain bike trail
 Sure sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it!? I was presently surprised by an Epic mountain bike trail that can be found just a few miles off of I-70....and on my way to my friend's wedding. And for the record, although there were only 2 of us, when he lived in Wyoming he was part of the mountain bikers so I'm counting it as my trip with the mountain bikers this year for the 2015 goals!

Steve liked catching critters...I screamed when I about ran over this one!

We met in Wilson the night before, he coming from the east and me from the west. We stayed at the historic Midland Railroad hotel, it was super cute and the food and beer sure hit the spot after traveling all day.

Crossing the tracks, Wilson, Kansas

Then the next morning we headed out to Wilson Lake to hit the trail. The trail consists of stacked loops for a total of 24 miles. I was so excited to ride 24 miles as that would be the longest ride I'd ever done, but I was comforted by the fact that if it gets to be too much there are tons of places to "bail" and make a shorter ride....which I had to do. At 18 miles I was beat! I was starting to make lots of mistakes that could have ended in crashes that really injured me, so I bailed.

Overlooking Wilson Lake from Switchgrass Trail

The trail was amazing and I think I'd like to give it a try again, especially now that the first 5 miles might not kick my butt so bad! They were pretty technical for me and I wasn't sure I was going to make it past the first section.



Stegosaurus Drop



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Licensed to

Image
CARRY! On Monday my phone rang with an unknown number, I don't usually answer these, so I guess since I was really over the place of employment project I was working on I decided "what the hey" "Hello" "Is this Jennifer blah blah blah?" [ah, crap] (see here how I'm protecting my PII) "Yes, it is" "This is the Sheriff's Office, calling to tell you your concealed carry permit is in" "Great!, I'll be out to pick it up today!" And now, I am officially licensed to conceal carry......and put a rush on that Dirty 30 list item to find a pretty gun and a super cool shoulder sling! And yes, PII....that's what working for the federal government will do to your blog.
Read more

What i'm loving wednesday: winter

Image
[Linking up with Jamie at  This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday!] One kind word can warm three winter months. ~Japanese Proverb I'm LOVING..........Winter I love winter! but I hate shoveling snow. As it snowed around here (finally AND 2 days in a row!), I thought about my hatred for shoveling snow....I think if it were either light before I went to work or after I got home, maybe shoveling wouldn't be so bad. So snow and winter go hand-in-hand, how can I love winter if I don't like shoveling snow?   Playing in it of course! Christmas markets, throwing snowballs, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, hot tubbing, cabins and fireplaces, hot snock-o-late, big snowflakes, crisp untouched fields blanketed in fresh snow. It's a clean slate and I love it! Have a great winter and enjoy all it has to offer! Here is a picture I took a while back my way home from snowboarding at Beaver Mountain, Utah (a great little ski area btw). This is...
Read more

Losing the farm

Image
When I tell people I work for the Farm Service Agency, I either get a knowing nod like "oh you are one of those government employees" or I get a "what do you actually do?". I've started leading off with working for the US Department of Agriculture because most people have actually heard of that that. We are a small agency within USDA that administers the farm subsidy, disaster and some insurance programs of the Farm Bill. The farm bill is made up of 15 different titles addressing different areas. The 15 titles or parts of the Farm Bill are , the ones that are bolded are the only ones that I directly work with through FSA. Commodity - provides income support to growers of select commodities Conservation - provides funding for farm environmental stewardship thought programs that improve management practices, retire less productive land and protect natural resources Agricultural Trade & Food Aid - funds US agriculture export a...
Read more