{"id":846,"date":"2011-04-17T21:02:41","date_gmt":"2011-04-18T05:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=846"},"modified":"2011-04-18T05:28:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-18T13:28:00","slug":"a-return-to-the-dirt-in-anacortes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=846","title":{"rendered":"A return to the dirt in Anacortes"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a week full of mostly rain,\u00a0chilly breezes and general ickiness, the skys started to clear up a bit on Saturday afternoon and by sunset I was optimistic for a\u00a0bike ride the following day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Whistle Lake area of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands<\/a> was the destination.\u00a0\u00a0 I had ridden here a couple of times in 2009 and I was really looking forward to getting back onto the flowling singletrack goodness of\u00a0this place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This was my first time back on the bike\u00a0since the truck accident<\/a> three and a half weeks ago and boy could I feel it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The opening climb was steep and there was\u00a0much more\u00a0huffing and puffing than I had expected.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was a quite brisk 47 degrees for pretty much the entire ride and the cool air felt really good.\u00a0\u00a0 While we\u00a0SoCal weather weenies\u00a0consider that cold, after a\u00a0week of typically Seattle area weather, this was no where close to bad.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is something about being out in nature of a trail that meanders through the forest\u00a0is good chicken soup for the soul.\u00a0\u00a0 I am especially fond of the\u00a0series of trails going around the lake with its numerous\u00a0twists and turns coupled with\u00a0short up and downs.\u00a0\u00a0 The trails on the north side of the lake is often perched well above the lake and sometimes is downright near-cliff like just off the trail.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I did pretty close to the route I did in 2009 and by the time I was done I was pretty spent and my legs were complaining.\u00a0 Obviously way too many tasty beers and no miles on the legs were issue.\u00a0\u00a0 I was nearly finished with my ride with the sun came out for good and the day was getting downright awesome.\u00a0\u00a0 I had plenty of time left in my day and I did not feel like leaving the trails just yet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There is a also a series of trails in the Heart Lake area where I had parked.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I just had to go out and get some more time in the dirt even though I was “done”.\u00a0\u00a0 I liken it to having a yummy Thanksgiving dinner.\u00a0 You are plenty stuffed already\u00a0but you just have to have that extra slice of pie to finish things off.\u00a0\u00a0 So I headed off to do a loop around Heart Lake.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I ended up\u00a0worked over and sore over the “extra slice of pie”\u00a0\u00a0 but\u00a0it was well worth it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/p>\n

Less than a mile from Heart Lake is Mount Erie and there is an access road up to the top as well some viewpoints.\u00a0\u00a0The views were quite amazing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was certainly a great day to be out on a bike and a particularly good day to be getting back on the saddle.<\/p>\n

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