I think I'm hooked. I took my mountain bike into the Marin Headlands yesterday to get a taste of trail riding. Nothing serious, just to see what it was like. I knew of one trail that went down towards Rodeo Beach, and thought I'd go down that trail and back. I don't know the first thing about trail riding, I wasn't even prepared for a "ride", just keeping expectations low. Once I hit the trail, I felt an immediate "whoa!". For one thing, on a road bike, when the wheels start losing traction, you slow down or get that feeling of anticipating a spill, going down, biting it. I take it on a mountain bike, you just get used to riding it through, speeding up even to maintain momentum.

It was fun, though. Tricky. I had no idea how fast people go on trails, but I kept my pace slow at a "trot". Which was a good thing for when I came across a coyote. I turned a corner and there was a coyote hanging out, and another rider coming up on the trail. We stopped to chat about the coyote and he made a comment, "It's a good thing you saw it and slowed down, or . . . you were going that pace?" I don't know if that was a yuppie macho dig, but even if I wasn't a newbie, I don't care about that sort of thing. Anyway, when I got to the bottom of the trail, I ran into a Park Ranger who had just shot the coyote with a paint gun to try to get it to be scared of humans. Apparently the coyote has been around for about a week and hasn't shown signs of fear towards humans, and apparently some hikers have gone so far as feeding it, which is inexcusably stupid if you ask me. It hasn't been threatening or aggressive, but it's just not good for a wild animal to be so comfortable with humans, and the Ranger said that they might have to shoot it if he hangs around for much longer :(

But yea, trail riding was fun, and when I got to the bottom of that trail, I found some others to play on. They were still wet and muddy from the . . . rains, I don't even remember the last time it really rained. Now, road riders, I've noticed, keep their bikes pristine. I don't know how they do it, I sure can't, but their bikes are always nice and shiny and you could eat sushi off of their drivetrains (as long as they lube the chain with soy sauce and wasabi). So at first, I was like, "ew, mud". But hey, I was on a friggin' mountain bike, you're supposed to get muddy, so then I was, "LET'S GET MUDDY!! WHEEEE!!!"

So I want to go again soon, properly attired and nourished. I wanted to go today, but the weather wasn't as nice, but that was probably for the better anyway. Instead I went and saw Monster, with Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. Excellent movie. I think the only fault with it was that I didn't feel challenged or emotionally drained enough, considering the subject matter. The performances were incredible, but who cares about performances when the hotness that is Christina Ricci is being projected 10 feet high on a screen. I know that's shallow of me, but I don't know when I'll get tired of seeing that face on the movie screen. Although god forbid Pumpkin is ever allowed to be shown in a movie theater again.