To all Mountain Bikers!!!

I will tell my ridin' buddies about this forum. Glad we finally have a 'local' forum for mountain bikin' in our area. I have been riding about three years and it's been great to meet bikers that share the same interest.

I primarily ride Oak Mtn red loop because it is close by and with limited time due to heavy work travel it is hard to justify driving an hour or so (and drive past OM to get there) and not know how good the trail will be. The links to other 'Bama trail sites are making me wanna try out other places. I haven't grown tired of OM yet though.

Took my son out Sat for a ride (he's 11). This was a good day because of the picnic put on by BUMP (Birmingham Urban Mountain Peddlers) We got there a little late and visited a minute, then did a short ride to the Boy Scout camp and he said he was tired and wanted to turn back. We visited at the South Trail Head pavillion where the picnic was going on. Bill Johnson had his laptop out and showed some of the topo maps and talked about the hoped-for trail expansion around the lake. (BTW, they had a TV so if you stayed home to watch the football game you could see it just fine!) Doug showed off his recent cyclo-cross acquisition, Mickey did an excellent job manning the grill (we haven't quite finished the leftover hotdogs and burgers yet but we're workin' on it), saw Mitch, who had weaseled a "yard pass" from his significant other and came out to ride and visit, and just had an all-around good time!

Peyton surprised me and wanted to ride some more so we headed for Mr Toads. That wasn't enough so we took on Johnson's Mountain. We didn't complete the whole thing, but he surprised me and wanted to try his luck on the steepest part (where the two drops lead into the poured concrete sections). We pushed our bikes past the tough stuff, then rode up above this section a ways and stopped for a minute, then he was ready to go. We walked through the section and talked about the best line, and how to set up for it during the approach. I went first and crashed mildly on the second drop. I started over and did OK, but was kind of wobbly...not my best ride. I dismounted and tried to be ready to catch him if he took a bad line and went over the edge, but he nailed the line and sailed through like he had done it a dozen times! He was pumped and couldn't wait to call Mom and tell her about it. That's the most excited I have seen him get over mountain biking! It made my day too.

He rides an older Trek Y-24 that weighs about 40 pounds. Maybe he'll be bugging me for a better bike soon....nah, not a chance!!

I highly recommend joining BUMP and getting to know other local riders. There is a push to expand the OM trail system, but it will take lots of participation to make things a reality.

I'm hoping for a chance to ride again before I head out of town for a few days...see you on the trail!