Blue Bell Fields Forever

You know those days when you get to ride and everything just comes together perfectly? It is the reason we all keep riding, or at least one of them, I think. Well, I can honestly say that yesterday was one of those days. It was soooo good I almost cried.

Really.

The bike, the way I was riding, and the setting were all just spot on. I don't know how it could have been any better. I felt so blessed I was almost guilty. Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades though, as they say, so I sucked it up and gutted out the ride. (<===HA!)

Well, you can call it "climate change", or whatever, but this spring is just too weird. Everything is blooming at once. And the blue bells are bonkers this year. I can't remember seeing so many or so beautiful a display as this year's crop. I literally was surrounded at times by blue bells as far into the woods as I could see. And that with a serpentine stretch of single track right through it all.

The Rockstar made me a "trail star".

The scooter I was on was the Titus Cycles Rockstar. Since ditching the offensive wheels it came with, I have really enjoyed this bike. I knew it was decent, but with the WTB/American Classic wheel set it really has come to life.

I know some folks are not too fond of the WTB Bronson tires, but either I have some magical set, or it is the TCS version, or something, but these seem to be behaving quite well. The other Bronsons I have tried were on the Breezer, and that set was sketchy, especially the rear tire. They were also folding bead tires with tubes inside. Maybe that's the deal. Whatever it is, the Rockstar is just a hoot to throw into turns at higher and higher speeds.

I know for a fact that I was going around corners at The Camp faster than I had ever gone on any other bike before. Now, I am not in tip-top shape, or at least I don't feel like I am, so I am attributing this to the bike. Of course, having almost ideal dirt conditions doesn't hurt, but I've seen that before out there.

Probably the highlight of the ride was when I was slicing and dicing through some twisties as a herd of deer bounded away from me through the blue bells. Amazing! That's one ride I won't soon forget. However; it couldn't last forever, and at some point I had to say "enough is enough", and point the truck homeward.

I took a meandering route home, basking in the afterglow of "one of those rides", and in no particular hurry towards whatever was next, which happened to be lunch. After lunch, I got the itch to go out on one of my rarer two-a-days, so I grabbed the Fargo version II.

I have some new Michelin tires I am checking out on this scoot, so I set off to see how the Green Belt was faring after the wet, mucky season was over and now that we have transitioned into a dry spring.

The city actually has mown the path and taken care of the sketchy water crossing I had to traverse over the winter months. Nice. So there were no sticks and branches to worry about, as I was fearing when I started out. I obviously was not the only one recognizing the near perfect weather, as I encountered several folks out walking around in the woods, which was nice to see, actually.

I had to keep this ride fairly short, since the kids were due to be picked up from school soon, and I needed to get back and clean up a bit. So, I cut the Green Belt short by heading around the lake and hitting a paved bike path which took me almost directly back home. On the way, I hit something, or more correctly, something hit me. Right in the left lens on the Oakley glasses I was wearing. Now, I saw it coming at the last minute, and it looked like either the world's largest bumble bee, or a humming bird. Whatever it was, it thankfully took a glancing blow, or I may have had whiplash from that UFO!

I ended up capping off the day by having an ice cream cone with my kids. Yeah.......that was a perfect day!