Mountain Biking For Dummies

Baldwin Lake seems to have it in for me.

Yesterday I almost got lost here in a ridiculous snowstorm with white out conditions. So, what did I do today when the clouds moved out and the snow stopped falling for a few hours? I decided to go for a bike ride through Baldwin Lake.

Let me just say I am not the expert whatsoever on mountain biking. Do not ever ask me for my opinion on mountain biking or who knows what you’ll get. I stick to wide trails, I barely do single track at all as my balance is not expert level what so ever. I am at most, a beginning mountain biker. I only have a basic bike and I’m looking at these wall mounts so my bike doesn’t keep getting in my way. I have a long way to go on my biking journey! I really enjoy mountain biking and it’s a great way to get me out of the house. My boyfriend told me that I should buy a Snap on bike, since my current bike is looking a little worse for wear at the minute!

As a beginning mountain biker today I learned that Mountain biking through a swamp is a bad idea because the mud will stick to your bike tires no matter how fast you go (Ha! Like I was going fast at all) You can pedal and pedal and the thick sticky mud will just stick to your tires like glue. This is what happens when you mountain bike through a dry lake bed after it snowed a few days prior. Yes, Brad paisley had it right when he sang about getting “A Little Mud on the Tires” It’s just not as fun as that twangy country song makes it sound. These were the thoughts going through my head as I pedaled as hard as I could through the sticky mud, still barely able to move. I finally had to stop in the middle of the lake to scrape all the freezing cold mud off my bike tires. The mud was freezing cold fingers because it was only 25°. At this point it was getting dark and I wondered if I would get lost in the tundra like expense of Baldwin Lake again (Just like last night! How am I constantly getting lost in our neighborhood) before the sunset.
I had been gone so long on my little bike ride after dinner, I was so expecting my phone to light up with a message from my boyfriend

“Where are you babe?” As the sun was setting.

If he had texted me, my fingers were so caked with mud I couldn’t even text a reply. My fingers may have been caked with mud, I may have been freezing and exhausted but I did manage to get these lovely shots of one hell of a sunset in Big Bear Lake.