Heck of a ride yesterday...

[benb]

I took my son mountain biking yesterday.

We only rode about 7 miles, all pretty serious singletrack although we didn't go down anything rated harder than blue I think and much of it was green rated?

In any case, physically an easy ride for me. But it has been so cool to see my son develop. He turns 12 next month, and since Xmas 2022 he has had a Trek Marlin, adult XS w/27.5" wheels. Nothing has been done to it except I upgraded his brakes & pads and he has got some serious stopping power. His technical skills are WAY beyond where mine were at 12. And just this summer he has started to make it up the nastiest hills, and if he has to walk he does not get frustrated. He loves it and is constantly asking to ride together. He is not super strong or motivated to hammer yet but his skills are at the point he's scaring me and I talk a lot about thinking about risks and not getting overconfident.

On top of that we are having this somewhat scary weather where it's still shorts & jersey weather even though it's almost thanksgiving. But meanwhile since the day is short you can go out at noon and it feels like your entire ride is taking place at sunset and it's just utterly beautiful.

Gotta be thankful for this kind of stuff, sometimes it's way better than something you'd be more likely to call epic. A lot of my friends who are cyclists IRL have kids that have zero interest in bikes.