The Ossipee Takes to the Woods

The River along my favorite running and riding trails has moved out into the woods. Remarkably, the trails are still open and runnable.


When Kevin laid these trails out last year, he really knew what he was doing! Normally the trail in this photo is much farther away from the river. Notice how the river comes right to the edge of the trail.



Running beside the raging river is very stimulating, much different than the relaxed and meditative feeling I get when the river is slow and calm.



There is one spot on the trail where there is a ramp for mountain biking that goes up and over a huge fallen tree. Now the end of the tree is in the swollen river. So when I stand at the top of the ramp I can feel the power of the river vibrating and swaying the entire tree. It is a very cool feeling! I wasted quite a bit of time standing there in the middle of yesterday's run.

Last evening I rode my bike one quick circuit of the Ossipee Trails alone and then a longer, more meandering circuit with Kevin when he got home from work. He has been a very patient and good instructor. Mountain biking does take a while to learn. And for me it involved a lot of time sprawled on the ground with bloody knees, legs, and arms. This is much different stuff than the easy riding I used to do on fire roads and logging roads before I met Kevin. Now it feels good to easily ride over things that stopped me or made me fall last year.

My biggest thrill last evening was on our return trip. I have been walking the bike over that ramp I talked about earlier. There just isn't any place to put a foot down if I run into trouble climbing the ramp or staying on the ramp. Whenever I thought about riding over the ramp, I had visions of a very nasty fall involving broken bones. But for some reason, maybe because of all the time I spent standing at the top of the ramp that morning, I rode right over without hesitating last evening!