Instead of going to football that was 120 miles away, I decided to go to Johnson Branch.

While going up a hill, I got hung up, didn't have a place to put my foot down, and fell down the hill, backwards. I ended up hitting my head and my arm against a tree.

Even though my elbow was bleeding, I decided to be a real man and try the hill again and I made it.

However, my knee was injured in my fall and I decided to go back to the parking lot. Was on the bike 50 minutes.

I have a film clip of me making that hill a couple of weeks ago. It looks innocent in the video. It ain't.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_29roB ... sp=sharing

Gonna be sore in the morning.

You sure that's a bike trail? Looks like the concrete is all covered up with leaves and stuff.

That's a good way of describing it.

2 1/2 weeks later, I finally go again. Johnson Branch opened and I went after work today. Didn't quite get there in time to do the entire thing, so I just did the 7.2 mile loop and skipped the advanced part. Took 56 minutes, had a blast.

Before I rode, I talked to another old bald rider who said he had injured his elbow recently at a different trail.

I asked him if a kickass time was had and he said yeah.

Went again today, this time rode all of Johnson Branch. Was 5 for 7 on climbs.

Lots of leaves to ride through. Had fun.

Got pulled over by the Gainesville PD on the way home, only got a warning.

Went to Johnson Branch on Christmas day and did all but the advanced, took it slow because I'm out of shape.

The trail was hard to see in places because of the leaves. It was 48 degrees.

There was leftover ice in a few places, and I nearly fell into some icy water early in the ride. Here's a 42 second video.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r1LTGL ... sp=sharing

I had fun.

Holy crap I puckered a little when you almost fell in the drink!

These vids are great. Do more!

Double-birded the ISD and left early, went to Johnson Branch. Only had time to ride the 7 mile trail. Rode like a sumbitch.

I actually brought my headlight just in case I had some sort of problem and got caught out in the woods after dark.

I rode 57 times last year, beating my previous record by 6. I can't imagine getting to do that again this year, but who knows.

I do have some motivation.

Went to Johnson Branch today, was 58 degrees when I started. Wore a compression shirt and big gloves because the wind was out of the north. I ended up sweating quite a bit.

Nothing really went wrong except I couldn't climb very well. Still, I really enjoyed riding today.

Here's the boulder section that gave me my worst injury ever back in October of 2010 (24 seconds).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-DZ8_E ... sp=sharing

It's been 12 years and I still feel funny going through here.

Johnson Branch today, was 60 degrees. Was strong as an ox today, which means the next 20 rides I'll be back to nursing home Hoob.

Oh well.

Rode at Johnson Branch Monday. Wore summer clothes. Did ok, was on the bike 1:21.

Climbing leaf-covered hills is damn near impossible.

I cooked on the grill last night and it felt like April weather.

I've had a hankering to grill some sausage lately. Actually, I think I just want to do a big cook with a brisket, pork butt AND sausage. Maybe do some stuffed jalapenos, too. Or maybe I'm just hungry because I skipped lunch.

Johnson Branch today. It was my best climbing day ever and I don't know why. I am recovering from a cold and coughed like a sonofabitch and didn't feel that great. But for one day, I was mister climbing man.

Put 22 psi in the back tire and that turned out to be a good choice. Was on the bike 1:21.

Haven't been on the bike for five weeks. The closest trails are closed because of recent rains but Bridgeport was open, so I drove an hour to ride there.

The highlight of the ride was, somebody put a large cutout of Bigfoot along the trail, about 2/10 of a mile in. I'm guessing it was metal and it was actually a silhouette. But it was really funny. It's the damndest thing I've seen in a while.

The lowlight was, this trail was muddy and shouldn't have been open. I went a half lap and quit. Went 5 miles.

All of the trails are closed because of the rain, but the Ray Roberts Greenbelt is always open, so I took the bike there. This was ride 124 at that place.

Encountered quite a bit of mud and was covered by the time I was done. Took the bike to the car wash after I was done.

Rode 18 miles, was on the bike 1:31 and I loved it. Wasn't strong at all in the beginning, got better after my muscles warmed up.

Saturday was on its way to being a total disaster, going for a ride saved it.

Edited to add: this is the first time I didn't wear a helmet on a ride.

Johnson Branch today, was on the bike 1:32. I am not in good shape at all. But I lived. I think.

Rode Johnson Branch today. The highlights:

Encountered four college-age girls with really short haircuts as I was going up the "ditch climb." Exchanged pleasantries and then told them to ignore me if I fell back down the hill, screaming. There was no way in hell I wasn't going to make that climb after that, and I could hear them discussing the difficulty level of riding a bike up that hill.

Also encountered a family walking two dogs. One was a 20 pound dog with a harness that contained this message: "Talk shit, get bit."

Rode the concrete walking trail when I was done, it's about a 3 mile trail through the woods. Lots of milfs were seen.

Was 4 for 7 on climbs. Had fun, then had a yummy barbecue sandwich afterward. Also got someone else's food order in addition to mine, and it looks pretty tasty. I'll be having chicken fried chicken tomorrow.

I must admit that I did think about the possibilities as I rode away. However, I'm not sure any of these young lasses have ever seen a peen unless they walked in on their dad or brother.

---------------------

Same trail today, encountered 3 Asian guys who were lost. It was at a crossroads where you can choose which trail to take. They were about to go on the advanced. With no helmets.

They were camping and thought they'd go on a nice bike ride.

I told them I've had two or three injuries on that part of the trail. They decided to take a fire road back to camp.

Was on the bike 1:27:30.

College Coed Ditch Climb would have been a great title for your letter.

Today was a bad weather day at Hoob ISD, so I went again. I spent quite a bit of time trying to remember the name of my newsletter and failed. College Coed Ditch Climb.

Encountered a few hikers. One told me that he recently retired and I replied that I didn't need much temptation to do the same.

Was 5 for 7 on climbs. It will be my last ride for a while, unfortunately.

Johnson Branch, first time to ride in 7 weeks and it showed. Did okay on climbs, but was nearly dead by the time I got back to the parking lot. Was on the bike 1:31.

Encountered a friend today who is a road biker and I hadn't seen him in years. He's 5 years older than me and looks five years younger. Dang it.

Since the lake trails will be impossible to get to because of the holiday, I drove to Bridgeport for a ride there. Even though this is an easier trail than Johnson Branch, it's different, and I got my ass kicked 6 ways to Sunday.

When I was about as far away from the trail head as I could get, I started hearing thunder. Things were starting to get dicey at some point, so I found some cut-throughs and made it to safety. Just as I was leaving the parking lot, the mother of all floods hit.

Other than getting my ass kicked by the trail, I still got in a good ride. Was on the bike 1:20, rode 10.36 miles.

Yesterday I loaded the bike up and got dressed to go ride, then checked the weather. A thunderstorm was between both of the lake trails, so I didn't go. I don't like lightning.

Went to Johnson Branch this morning and did okay. Still not very strong and really, not in the greatest shape. But I did have fun. And a kickass time.

I have no doubt you are in better shape than the rest of us by far.

Thanks, G. I feel like I am about to expire any minute.

Johnson Branch again today, and I picked the wrong day to not bring the GoPro. Had a wreck going up a slight hill that was littered with rocks the size of footballs. Ended up getting my bad leg folded behind me with my weight on it. Massive and funny cussing occurred.

Kept on riding. Had another incident where I scratched the crap out of my calf and this drew blood.

And it was humid as fuck.

And I need to mow the yard before dark. Hopefully ibuprofen will help some.

The good news is, I have a weight goal to make before I go back to work, and I'm inching toward it.

You know they make flat bike tracks that don't have rocks and trees and other deadly shit on 'em, right? You just go around in circles until you get tired and then go home in one piece.

Today I actually stayed away from danger but still got on a bike.

I have a friend who has a couple of e-bikes and she needed a riding partner. We went on a 25 mile ride today, took a couple of hours. Most of the riding was on gravel roads outside of town. It was a good workout and I had fun.

In general, we used no boost while on level ground or going downhill, used it going uphill. There were two settings, "eco" for slight uphill climbs, and then regular for when more boost is needed. I never needed more than eco, probably because of my experience in goofy climbs on bike trails.

I was riding a Canyon bike, and I went to their website just now to see what she spent on the thing. Dayum.

Vacation continues. Bridgeport was about the only trail in Big Sky Country that was open. Drove over there and got rained on on the way, but it wasn't raining there.

Had a decent ride.

Bridgeport today, felt better and did better. I think it's because I am working my way up in endurance and not going balls to the wall at the beginning of spring. That's a mistake at any age, especially mine.

Rode the rock roads outside of town today with a partner, rode my regular bike this time. Rode 23 miles, was on the bike 2:08. Sweated my balls off.

Had to take the bike by the car wash on the way home since it was covered with white rock.

I had a good day.

It's been a week since I rode. Went to Johnson Branch after work, cussed up a storm when I discovered that I forgot the Camelbak. I did bring an insulated bottle of Propel so I just brought that along and did the simple 1 hour ride.

Encountered a guy who was new to this trail. I learned that he was a former motocross guy, was 56, and had to switch to mountain biking because he had numerous injuries on a motorcycle. He said his wife suffered the same issues with injuries on a dirt bike and switched to mountain bikes, but she wasn't here today.

He had his phone mounted to the bike on a holder and was listening to the Freak while he rode. I recognized the station when I heard Grubes laughing.

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I last rode, went to Johnson Branch on Saturday morning. Took it slow, was on the bike 1:29.

Missed the first two climbs and really, I wasn't close to making them. Then I made the final five climbs.

I am not going to make my weight goal for the beginning of school.

Rode this morning on rock roads, used an e-bike. Went 25 miles, took something like 2:20. I had brought my regular bike and then changed my mind at the last minute because I'm not quite in good enough shape for that.

Rode an e-bike today, went two hours on various rock roads. I have lost muscle mass.

Friday: Rode an ebike on rock roads, was on the bike a couple of hours. Was covered with white rock when I was done.

Sunday: Took the Giant to some trails at Flower Mound, where I had never ridden before. The place was easy to ride, but dayum that place was busy. Everyone I encountered was polite. Lots of Indians (dot) there, both walking and riding. I would definitely recommend this trail to beginners. It was highly shaded.

are you renting this ebike or do you own it?

A friend owns it. She bought one and liked it, then bought another so family or friends can ride with her.

We rode this morning, but I decided to man up and ride my own bike. I be sore. And tired.

After not riding since November 18, I went twice this weekend, both times at Bridgeport.

Saturday I went on a standard 9 mile easy ride, nearly died because I'm so old and out of shape.

Sunday I took my wife for her first ride on her new bike, and we took it really slow. She had two pretty bad spills because she's not used to riding between trees. We probably need to ride on rock roads for a while.

In other news, I'm married.

Congratulations! What 3rd world country did you order her from?