Kansas is like a relative time warp, the relativity being to Florida where there are so few open spaces and large rolling fields of grass in which to lay.
Kansas seems to have plenty of places to just hang around...
It also has beautiful wooded lands that aren't slated to be developed into condos next month, friendly strangers, lakes with open access and, yes, long flowing mountain bike trails carved into hills of tightly packed trees and vines.
The trail we rode had just the right amount of elevation change for us two Floridians... which is to say not all that much. The terrain was technical and rockier than expected but still "flow-able". The trail climbed, twisted and wound it's way around the lake with plenty of opportunities to gaze.
And, unlike in Florida, the trail builders seemed familiar with the concept of momentum. That's to say that the down hill sections flowed well, encouraging you to stay off the brakes and enjoy the speed. Sometimes it seems a common held belief among Florida trail builders that any steep downhill should be followed immediately by a 90 degree (or sharper) turn or some loose sand in order to discourage any sort of fun or thrill seeking.
Here's a couple of examples of typical terrain around Clinton Lake. This creation looked like it was a living trail feature, not just a pile of deadfall. there were little buds sprouting up on the limbs:
There were also a bunch of easy features sprinkled throughout the trail. Easy, but definitely fun
And sometimes skinny...
While we were camping at Clinton Lake it was warm but not too hot. Humid but not stifling. Sunny but not intense. Breezy but not windy. It was just... comfortable. Comfortable to the point that it almost felt like you are nowhere-erehwon. I would describe Kansas as the womb of the United States.
And if the comfort and the general friendliness of everyone we met were the reasons we stayed for so long, then the tick infestation and baseball sized mosquitoes (that could lance you straight through a down sleeping bag) were the reason that the time between when we decided to leave and when the car was packed and ready to go was so short.
We left Clinton Lake State Park after four days of easy living at a beautiful campsite. We were compelled to leave because of the thousands of barely-visible-to-the-naked-eye ticks that made us there home after we rode through their nest.
They were too small to get off with tweezers, which didn't matter anyway because there were way to many to try. We had to scrub them off... with a nylon bristled brush's in open air showers. Guess how much fun that was?
In retrospect, I should have snapped a few pictures, but I didn't find it funny at the time. Looking back, my tick speckled legs, butt, chest, back, neck and arms would have made a great addition to this post.
Next stop? Jason's private land... Home to the KSFreeriders.
No comments:
Post a Comment