Sawyer Lake mtn. bike

Last weekend my friend Alana and I took advantage of the sunshine to go mountain biking at Sawyer Lake, down by Black Diamond.  Neither of us knew the trails very well, so there was a lot of riding around in circles, getting lost, and getting confused, but we didn't care- it just felt great to get outside!  Here we are, lost but enjoying ourselves: 

We brought along our pooches too, Miss Lexi Lou (my Lab-Brittany mix) and Vivi, Alana's Heinz-57 doggie.  Naturally, they had a blast.  Lexi's favorite part may have been the treasure stump, which is in the middle of a clearing at a confluence of about 5 trails: 

From 2010-03-12

This is me showing Lex one of the toys from the stump.  She of course grabbed it and started whipping it around, which got Vivi revved up, and pretty soon they were chasing each other around, trying to snag the toy from each other.  (Sidenote- check out the big ugly bruise on my leg, from locking handlebars with a teammate at our sprint clinic the week prior.  Sweet!).  
 
I didn't actually get many pictures of our ride, but the trails were in good shape- not too muddy, and basically deserted.  Riding there is relatively flat, although there are a few good grinder-grunt hills that get your heart pumping.  Also, there are lots of twisty, turny sections, with a decent number of roots and rocks to make it interesting (reminiscent of Tolt McDonald or Tapeworm- it is really a great place to go to practice slow riding skills, technique, etc.)   There is also a pretty large stunt area, with multiple bridges and drops.  One caught my eye- a teeter-totter coming off a bridge.  We looked at it for a long time, and I thought about dropping it, but I just wasn't feeling adventurous enough to try it.  Oh well, something to come back to!

At the end of the ride, Alana and I were wiped out, but apparently the doggies were not.

I can't wait for more sunny dirt adventures with pooches.