Hunting season in New England is open. Be safe out there. Bow is Oct 17-Nov 26. Shotgun in Nov 28-Dec 10. Check your state and local regulations. I do a ton of mixed terrain riding. Park to Park. What ever you want to call it. I can cover a good amount of terrain right out my front door. The woods are my church. A lot of these parks don't allow hunting but a lot do. Its probably not a bad idea to wear some hi viz in general this time of years as the weather gets a bit nastier and we lose daylight. I started wearing my orange moto helmet. I like it. It makes me feel a bit safer. I get that some people feel afraid at the thought of someone hunting while they are riding in the woods. I saw a bow hunter come out of the woods just as I was popping into a new section of the Charles River Trail. He certainly looked a bit like Rambo. All decked out in full camo and with his bow. Calling it "hunting" around here sort of cracks me up. Deer are pretty used to people around here. I don't think you need to do too much "hunting" to find one and drop one. Not that this will make you feel any safer but the regulations clearly state that hunters can not hunt near the trails.
Speaking of the woods and mixed terrain. I love adventure riding. It is really what I do on a bike 99% of the time. I am not doing it to hide away from the roads and traffic. I like roads. And road riding. But the woods are just where I can find peace. When its cold this time of year it is always warmer in the woods out of the wind. And it is always changing. Trees fall down and create fun challenges to hop. The trails get covered in leaves and become almost impossible to follow. I have been mainly riding my 29er. After being off it so long and riding my CX bike almost exclusively since July the 29er feels like my fat bike. Slow and fun. The upright position is perfect for this time of year. The big tires just roll over the leaf hidden rocks and roots that might cause you and your bike some serious damage on the skinnier tires. It is slow. Sometimes its good to slow down. I have been in exploration mode and found a really nice connector to Pegan Lane. It always existed but was pretty bushwhacky. The new trail is fabulous. It puts you right up on the top of the fields with a great lookout of the farm and woods below.
We are truly blessed to live in this region with so much open space and real seasons. It is easy to complain about the cold and the leaves and the work that comes with Fall and Winter. But I love the leaves. I love seeing them change color. And I love when they fall across the trail creating a blanket of orange and yellow. The cold is a shock to the system at first. But the best way to deal with it is to get outside and experience it. It is embro and buff weather. Time to dig out the layers. After a couple or rides in the cold you will acclimate. Again you might have to slow down a touch. Bust out the winter boots if cold feet are an issue. Find some gloves that keep your hands warm. Really feet and hands are the key. As long as those stay at least unfrozen you can handle about anything. A buff or scarf certainly makes the ride more pleasant and is stylish. Everyone looks cool in a scarf.
With the changing of the season we are in the home stretch of the Zank SSCX series. We have some great races coming up. Cheshire, Paradise, Putney, Secret Squirrel and of course Ice Weasels. We have a bunch of the special Zank SSCX series Koozies available. Get yours before the season is ovah! We will have them with us at the races. It has already been one of the more memorable seasons on record. Really looking forward to the next 6 weeks. And counting down the days until we enter the Danger Zone at Ice Weasels! HUGE thanks to everyone who has made this SSCX season so rad!
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