Today I went for Mountain Biking trip which is organized by SUOC. I’ve done mountain biking when I was in Indonesia almost every weekend. At first I was wondering where can I have good trails for mountain biking in Syracuse. The area is located near Syracuse University south campus. To give you better sense of direction, look at the map below.
I don’t have a decent bike for mountain biking and never go for mountain biking with complete equipment but this time was different. We started our trip at 11.00 am. We met in SUOC E-room to get the bikes and other equipment such as helmet, spare inner tube, hand pump and etc.(see I don’t even need to have the things by myself. SUOC provides them all). Every SUOC trip have a leader and this time we had a training leader which we called it ghost leader. His name is Dave and the supervising leader was Vernon. There were also me and other girl whose name is Anna. She is a freshmen and that was her first experience in mountain biking.
The area was so beautiful and pretty different than I had in my hometown Gresik. The trail in Gresik was formed from limestone with brownish soil on top of it which will turn into mud after raining. The scenery is full of green plants, shrubs, grass, bamboo trees. On the other hand, in Syracuse, since it is fall, every leaf is turning into yellow. We have so many maple trees for the wood trails and for the open trails (outside the wood) the terrain was formed from gravel sometimes big rocks and grey soil. The trail was well made so that we have equal up and down trails.
Since the trip was intended for beginner, the leader chose the suitable trail for Anna (I didn’t consider myself as beginner). At first, Anna was afraid. She came down and walked if there was steep down trail. Understanding the trails is the key to success (didn’t fall). I didn’t know the trail and had accident. It happened after I went up the up trail which is followed by down trail with sudden right turn. I pushed my front brake and flipped. I almost fall over the cliff but fortunately I could grab the surrounding tree. Vernon also fell from his bike when he was jumping too high and could land perfectly. He got some bruises in his right hand and hip also he burst his front inner tube in the crash. Luckily we brought spare and changed it.
After all, It was a great to be able to continue my hobby (Mountain Biking) in Syracuse. Moreover I don’t have to own the equipments myself (I know I am cheap. It is because I am a poor grad student). Also today I experienced jumping from the boardwalk although it is only one meter high. See you on my next trip.
