I took the long way home yesterday. I managed to leave work by quarter to five, unusually early for this phase of the project. It was a clear and unseasonably warm day, just begging for a bike ride. A winter weight long sleeve jersey and tights were required for the morning commute, but on the way uphill into MacDonald forest the afternoon sun was so warm I overheated in shorts and a jersey. I climbed Upper Dan’s trail to the top of Dimple hill and was on top of the world exactly one hour after leaving work. The Willamette valley was spread out below me in the late afternoon sun and snow covered Mt Jefferson was visible 70 miles away.

I started back down the trail and then the gravel spur connecting to 600 road. The road was a golden tunnel, with the sun low on the horizon to my left filtering through the alder leaves like a horizontal spotlight. It was a long straight downhill, and my shadow was projected on the hillside to my right, keeping up as I accelerated down the hill. After a minute the sun was below the horizon and I was back in a darkening green tunnel. A long cold gravel downhill lead out to the pavement and civilization. There was a clear view of the sky on Oak Creek road, with an almost full moon in a cloudless blue sky. The twilight was plenty bright to ride in, especially when I took the bike path around Bald Hill and was completely out of the trees. There was another beautiful view across the hay field towards the Benton County fair. The field was a smooth vibrant green six inch deep green shag carpet under a dark blue sky. I rolled into my driveway just as it was getting dark.

Fall mountain biking haiku:
Sunny afternoon
Tacky trail with muddy spots
They will be ice soon