So dirt, we meet again.

Soaring temps across the country means trails are drying up quicker than ever. I headed out to the Don Valley for some singletrack re-education. The trails, however familiar to me, were a nice change to all the road and trainer riding I've been doing - It also marks the first time I've done a trail ride since I got contacts in December. In the past I've ridden without my glasses, my eyesight isn't so poor that I can't ride but all the details are blurred. I feel like I've been hindered in past races due to my poor eyesight but even from this first outing I feel faster.

Back to the ride - Parked at the Pottery Road entrance and there was already three cars and five riders. Headed up the first climb and immediately felt winded, just something about being back on the mountain bike made my heart race a little faster. Once I settled in at the top it was all business as usual. I laughed when I saw the trail closed due to construction signs that had been torn down, neatly rolled up and placed at the side of the trail. More cyclists were staging at the Loblaws parking area so I quickly chose the downhill so I wouldn't get caught up.

My biggest weakness has always been downhills and I've always attributed this to my eyesight. I don't see obstacles until they're right in front of me so when I'm traveling downhill at high velocity I tend to shy away from the quicker lines until I can see everything. However this time with my contacts in with 20-15 vision I felt I had never gone quicker. With this new found velocity I almost had an over-the-bar moment when I hit a crest with my weight too far forward. The front fork absorbed most of that mistake but there was definitely a moment of "oh shit."

The rest of the ride was pretty drama free, the bike felt great and in perfect tune. As I was leaving even more people were pulling into the parking lots. I ended the ride with just over 30km ridden at a moderate pace.

This Sunday marks 5 weeks until the opening race of the OCup series at Mansfield. Training will steadily increase in terms of workload over the next four weeks.I will be training through Mansfield so there won't be a real serious taper, just a slight decrease in intensity so I'm not completely gassed before the race.

Off to complete a suspension overhaul...