You see, it’s been quite some time since I’ve hopped on my 2005 Gary Fisher Tassajara mountain bike – probably a good two years for sure.

But tomorrow and Thursday it will be a faithful camping companion as our family heads to the outdoors – to Guadalupe River State Park, home to scenic limestone cliffs, songbirds and some of the worlds most creative racoons.

So this evening I gave “Tass” a little TLC. Lubed the drivetrain, adjusted the saddle height, added some lights and generally just gave the bike some much overdue attention.
“I’m sorry it’s been so long, Tass.”, I replied.

“No problem, boss. Let’s hit the dirt!”

Just yesterday morning I walked towards my two bikes in the garage. My Felt F75 seemed to almost roll forward in anticipation of another 20-50 mile road bike ride. But imagine its disappointment when my hands grasped the handlebars of my Tassajara.

It was time to hit the trail.

Not just any trail either. The premier mountain biking experience out at Boomer’s Rocky Hill Ranch.

This was going to be a “guy weekend” for me, Joel and Bill. Bill had been to Rocky Hill before and was eager to introduce us to its maze of trails. Our plan called for biking at Rocky Hill followed by an overnight stay at Buescher State Park.

Rocky Hill was everything Bill said it would be. Great mountain biking in a scenic pine forest with lots of twists, turns, descents and climbs.

We biked trails like Hard Boiled, Off The Lip, and Miracle Mile. The place, my friends, has character. At the start of Off The Lip we were flying up and down a series of short but fast descents and climbs that simply rocked.

• View photos from the ride.

We even had the fortune of crossing paths with Boomer – one of the owners of this mountain biking nirvana – who led us down an awesome trail called Frontal Lobotomy. We enjoyed sharing the trail with Boomer who provided some great mountain biking tips along the way.

Three hours later we were done. There was so much we didn’t get to explore since the place has so much to offer. No choice then but to go back in the near future to explore other trails that await us like Avenue of the Pines or Coyote Run.

• View videos : Rocky Start, Rocky Descent, Justin MTBer, Justin Walks The Bike

As always, my Garmin Edge 305HR was tracking my progress with great accuracy despite the dense treecover thanks to its Sirf technology. The Edge reported what I already knew – Rocky Hill had been a tremendous workout with more than over an hour of fat burning in Zone 3, 45 minutes in the beneficial Zone 4 – home of the “Target Heart Rate” and even 25 minutes in Zone 5 where getting enough oxygen just isn’t always possible!

• View GPS derived ride details on Motionbased.com

What a weekend!

“Sir, you do know the park closes at 5pm today for the hunt.”

The hunt?

This was my two seconds of confusion while passing through the visitor station at Guadalupe River State Park at around 3:45pm this past Sunday. I’d decided to grab the mountain bike and head out to the park for an hour or so of riding. The mountain bike was my steed of choice since it was windy and cold. I reasoned that cruising around under the dense treecover might provide a shelter from the elements.

That it did. I had a blast with the park all to myself.

I’d forgotten how much fun it is to be offroad. To twist and turn. Start, stop. Plowing over rocks and obstacles with an abandon that only a fat, knobby tire can provide.

My only regret is that this ride was cut too short.

To play it safe, I left about 20 minutes until 5pm.

I had no intention of launching an experiment of what happens when you mix mountain bikers with deer hunters.

Maybe next time…