Tonight was the first Monday night group ride of 2009. I was pretty excited to go. I went. I had a lot of fun.

We started by riding down the road for awhile. A good deal of this “while” was spent climbing. It’s the Keweenaw Peninsula – we have long, long hills. We continued down a couple of roads until we reached a two-track. This two-track led to areas we weren’t familiar with, so we took it. We even had the great pleasure of riding through a water pit. The mud was a bit much for my over-inflated tires.

We got back on the road and took it to the edge of McLain State Park. The park is fenced in, so we decided to follow the fence to the lake and get into the park that way. That is where the singletrack started. It wasn’t official singletrack – probably a deer run – but we had a great time riding it. We reached the water, ducked into the park, and rode around the trails in the park.

After riding around the park, we returned to the road and headed back to our host’s house. We potlucked and enjoyed one another’s company. It was a great time.

Most importantly, I found myself quite grateful for being able to ride my mountain bike with my Monday night friends. I had sand in my shoes and mud on my legs, and it felt right. I am amazed at how much happiness riding my mountain bike brings me. No wonder I ride.