Epic Daddy / Daughter ride

Epic Daddy / Daughter ride

 

This past weekend we enjoyed a family camping trip at Mohican State Park.  Mohican offers the most popular mountain bike trail in NE Ohio.  People will drive for miles and miles to ride the roughly 25 mile loop with around 2,200 to 2,400ft gain in elevation.  It is one big, singletrack,  loop that offers everything a mountain biker would want.  It has lots of climbing, lots of gnarly decents with switchbacks.  It has rock gardens and nice sections that flow.  And it has lots of roots to make things a little more difficult.  Mid-way through the loop you hit the famous covered bridge climb that makes everyone cry a little bit.  Shortly after this climb you cross a road going through the MTB parking lot #2.  This is roughly around mile 15 and it is where Addie and I decided to begin our ride on Sunday.  The morning was beautiful with blue skies and big white puffy clouds and rays of sunshine streaming down.  The trail was in excellent shape.  Before we hit the trail we said a family prayer thanking God for the beautiful day and the ability to ride bikes.  Following that I said a silent prayer asking Him to grant be patience during the ride, especially during all the hike-a-bike sections.  After an hour of enjoying the trail and beautiful weather the sky started to turn grey and thunder was echoing through the forest.  Not long after that the sky opened up and let loose dumping buckets of rain instantly.  The trail got slick and both of us got a little scared because it felt like lightening was hitting all around us.  After about 20 minutes of lightening, thunder, and a very hard rain it let up.  At one point after about 5 minutes of not talking to each other I looked back at Addie and we both smiled and started laughing.  It was at that point that we both realized that God was going to keep us safe, we were already completely soaked, our bikes were caked with mud, and our only choice was to ride out the rest of the trail making the most of the situation.  I know the word epic is used way too much, but there is no other way to describe this ride with my beautiful daughter other than “epic”.  It was a ride that was so many things.  It was a learning experience, it was filled with many different emotions, and most importantly it was a huge bonding experience.  I will never forget this ride for the rest of my days.

Thanks for reading.

billy