Sandals Mountian Biking Adventures: Quite an adventure

Today Stephanie and her dad went with me to Oak Mountain to ride. I really didn't know what to expect as far as skill level since her dad informed me he had not been on a bike in over 30 years. Moran was kind enough to let me borrow his bike (The green regions machine) since I only have one spare. We met at the Waffle House so he could follow us in since he had also not been to the park in over 25 years.

We parked in the back parking lot near the South Trailhed and I tried to get my bike set up for him first so he could ride around and get a feel for it. I got it close and he took off while I swapped pedals on Moran's for Stephanie to ride. Once I had finished airing up all the tires and checking over everything he seemed pretty comfortable riding around. We quickly realized the Moran's seat would not go low enough for Steph so I was able to get my seat lower than previous attempts (I don't know why it finally lowered, I hope I didn't force it past the bottom stop).

Since Steph could not reach the pedals on Brian's I had to swap them and I put her on my old one and her dad on Brian's. They seemed to be comfortable so we worked our way up into the field above the parking lot. They both had no problems whatsoever riding around up there so I decided it was time to hit the trail. One thing as we were leaving the field, they both seemed hesitant to ride through the opening in the gate (about 4' wide). I knew they would get over this fear very quickly on the trail.

We rode up the road to peavine to the top of Mr. Toads. I was hoping that a slightly downhill ride would be a bit easier. I might should have chosen the family trail as I think it is a bit wider and has fewer roots. It is interesting how you do not realize things that could be potential problems. The first little section is quite thin and has a few roots that are not perpendicular to the trail. This was probably not the best place to start for the first time, but they did fine. Steph like going slower and her dad seemed to want to go a bit faster. When they swapped and he started leading, things went more smoothly. However I was a bit worried he would get going to fast around a blind turn, but he did fine.

There was also a bridge on this section that I had not even thought about. Steph's dad went over it fine and I shouted congratulations to him right as Steph was heading for it. Unfortunately, I think I made her nervous about crossing it because she locked up the brakes and slid off the bank to the side of the bridge. Unfortunately I could not get my camera out quick enough as she quickly jumped up and scurried across the bridge in hopes I wouldn't catch her. We rode the rest of the way out and they were both doing pretty good near the end. We stopped back at the trucks for a rest. After getting some water we did a few more laps around the parking lot before packing up.

They both did well for their first trip and I think there will be another in the future. We will wait till tomorrow when the saddle soreness kicks in to know for sure.