Sick and Sweet

I decided that I needed to change the scenery and go mountain bike riding this morning. I have been planning a ride with my son Marcel and a family friend, Hubert Casmiro and his two boys, Dylan and Nicolas. We emailed each other and found a time that suited everyone's schedules. I think the kids are happy about making their "Black Monday" , the day before school resumes, an excited and enjoyable day.
We met at Kelso conservation, I haven't been there in many years, of course I have ridden on the roads around Kelso, but negiotating trails, Not a clue.
The weather was perfect, the skies were clear and the trails were dry. OK a perfect trail riding day for nubees like me and the kids. Hubert, well, he has mad skills, so even with a non functioning front suspension he still cleared everything.
We started off real easy, it was perfect for me and the kids. Let me tell you that Marcel is 9 years old, Dylan is 7 and Nicholas is 6. Marcel has a perfect trail bike in the Trek MT220, but Dylan and Nicholas's bikes have 14" coaster brake sidewalk bikes. Hubert is convinced if they can ride these lousy bikes it will give them a greater appreciation of better quality bikes. I swear heard my Dad in his logic; and it's probably correct. I can't imagine how well these guys will ride with some killer MTB machines.
We rode the Green, easy trails, and the boys found it too easy, they wanted to head into the woods. So we decided to get on the Blue, intermediate trails. These trails were a collection of rock and roots as well as short ascents and descents. The kids just ripped it up. At the half way point, at a about 1.5 hours into the ride Dylan yells out with excitement and joy. "This trail is Sick and Sweet" Hubert and I just started laughing and the entire crew adopted this as our motto for the day.
The boys were having fun and I understood at that moment why I love to ride as much as they do because it's fun. The trails at Kelso are really good and we are blessed to have the Halton Conservation maintaining and developing these trails. I found the riders were as conscious as ever with regards to nature and other riders. Riders waited for the boys to get up and over rocks and everyone that we met were in their "happy" place.
At the 2.5 hour point I heard grumblings from my stomach and the boys just wanted to go back into the forest. Somehow and not by choice we ended up on a Black, advance trail. Well the boys just showed their stuff. They cleared everything, even double and triple log crossings. Marcel was jumping and catching air, Dylan was threading the needle finding the smoothest lines and Nicolas well he's just a MTB dude, leading the entire pack on these advanced trails.
The boys were pumped, Hubert and myself were thrilled that we could share some precious moments, with nature, our bikes and each other.
Forget the video games, the boys are so excited to get back out there. We hope to see you on the trails over the fall season.