27 August Cuban MagLab Higher Ground Beginner Ride

The Cuban MagLab Higher Ground Beginner Rides: You need not be Cuban, MagLab, Higher Ground, nor Beginner to participate. Show up and ride with us! NEXT RIDE: 3 September, 6:30pm, we'll be meeting at Forestmeadows Tennis & Athletic Center to ride Red Bug Trail. REMEMBER, meet at FORESTMEADOWS, NOT NOT NOT at the actual Red Bug trailhead between #1 and 103 where we met for the 9 July ride. 27 August ride notes: I got down to Munson Hills Trail early on Thursday after an all day drizzle. Now an all day drizzle is perfect trail prep for a sand trail like Munson. But I was expecting pretty much a zero turnout. You know, gray skies all day, rainy, no one's going to drive down to lower Tallahassee and ride in the woods. Really? Take a look at the photos and count the gang! Quick count is 20 for the main group. Add 5 folks who met us late in the ride at the south end of the Tall Pine Shortcut. Thanks to that late arriving Mike Hernandez for finding us out there with three of the newer riders. More attaboys for Ken Foster riding corral duty again, and to a long lost Jose Sanchez for riding lead. Ken, please more stories and history about Munson's creation! I'll listen to all you care to relate, but post 'em here for everyone to read. Ken also performed an on the trail "Derailleurectomy and Reassemble as Single Speed" rescue. Add a chainbreaker to your kit and know how to use it folks. Or be prepared to walk yourself out. I like this very good multi-tool. Thanks to Fred Dietrich for the chain tool video link! Btw, if you're smart-alecky enough to be using a Shimano HG chain with their goofball iconic pins, you're really on your own, m-kay? Unless you're willing to accept one of our lowly SRAM gold Power Links on your precious Shimano jewelry. (Genuflects and backs away reverently.) I keed! Oh yeah, THE ROUTE: We pedaled ~1.25M/2Km down the St. Marks (paved) Trail to the official Munson Hills trailhead. We rode an anticlockwise complete loop, meaning we did not ride the 1M Tall Pine Shortcut. Return on the paved bike trail. I had total distance at 10.38M/16.71Km, but I do need to recalibrate. Undoubtedly the GPS track will show something shorter, as it adds an assemblage of line segments. We made good time, particularly for the beginner group. Munson's not really technical, but the sand can intimidate when it's dry. I rode the loop two days before the group ride. It wasn't really bad, but there were a bunch of typical sandbox spots. Thursday's ride benefited greatly from that rain. Remember to come to Munson and Twilight Zone trails when you have to get your woods ride on, but don't want to slop through rainy day mud. A few Munson Hills/Twilight Zone Trail links of interest: Ken Foster's Munson Hills blog. Dixie Davis, Linc Clay, and Ken Foster's Fans of Munson Hills/Twilight Off-Road Bike Trails Facebook page. Jim Schmid's Munson/Twilight Mtn Bike Trails blog. USDA Forest Service's National Forests in Florida blog post. My Munson/Twilight Zone pages. 23 September jaunt through Maclay Gardens State Park here. 17 September mini gallery of our Piney Z mudfest is here. 10 September Munson's westside action is here. 3 September action is here. 20 August ride gallery is here. 13 August stuff is here. 6 August ride vids and photos are here. 16/30 July ride fun is here. 23 July ride was canceled for a MagLab student going away party. 9 July ride photos are here. 2 July ride was canceled (weather call). 25 June ride photos are here. 18 June ride photos are here. 11 June ride gallery is here. 4 June ride was canceled (weather call). THIS SITE is private property, and doesn't necessarily represent any other individual or organization. You are welcome to download/use my photos for your private enjoyment, including printing them. Any other usage/linking must come from me in writing (email ok), with credit given. Questions, pre-scoldings, comments, ID, complaints? Thanks, John Kalin Email me "If I fall you're going down with me" - Trail running advice from my Dixie Chicks http://www.tallahasseetrails.com/