Trails Closed, Ride Anyway
Nature Wins, I Whine
Yesterday’s plan was simple: Marshall Grade, hit the trails I’d been eyeing, feel like a competent human for ninety minutes. Nature had other ideas.
The first trail I’d been scoping had been dug up entirely. Not rerouted, not improved, just... gone. I walked my bike over to the actual path and found trees down everywhere across it. Whoever’s responsible apparently looked at the situation and decided closing it was easier than clearing it. Cool. Great. Very cool.
So I dropped down to the Bear Right, a trail I hadn’t ridden since I went over the bars and broke my neck on it, which honestly felt like a poetic moment to get back on the horse. Also blocked. Trees across the whole thing. Missoula’s been taking hits like this all over, Blue Mountain, Dead Man’s Downhill, parts of Deer Creek, wind damage just quietly erasing trails people have ridden for decades. I was pissed. More than the trails, though, I’ve been losing my grip on things in general, stressed in ways I can’t explain or shake, watching the people around me grind themselves down and wondering if that’s just what happens now.
Eventually I stopped fighting it and just rode what was left. Sidewinder, Son of Sidewinder, Sound of Music. That last one brought something back. Railing down it, not thinking, just moving. The full ride clocked ninety minutes and ended better than it started.
I’m not done yet. There are too many trails I haven’t touched, too much gear I haven’t justified buying. The frustration is real, but so is the reason to keep going out there.
May 28th Never Plays Nice
May 28th has a long history of demanding something, whether it’s chasing a peloton up a Montana mountain pass, grinding through a 24-hour solo race, or just figuring out where to ride when it’s snowing again. Looking back across two decades of posts from this date, the through line is simple: showing up, whatever that looked like that particular year.
Read more: https://8i11.vercel.app/story/hnumj45q