I’ve been wanting to ride the Baileys mountain trail system since it opened a few years ago and finally got the chance on October 21st, 2022. Why I waited so long to ride these trails are nothing more than excuses. Â
I can still smell the cool, tannic aroma of leaves that covered most of the trail. This southeast area of Ohio was past peak color, but was still, stunning. I had the option of locking out the suspension or riding full squishy and chose the latter. I know the trails we machine graded when they were made which means they will be very smooth but wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. Single track still isn’t asphalt.Â
Since I was completely out of cycling shape, just getting 5-6 miles or riding an hour would have been fine. Well that turned into a 12 mile, two our journey and some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Being out of shape had a silver lining though. I love to ride fast, even if it means dealing with 20ton hammer cramps later. With the mass leaf drop, I took extra caution with the trails being mostly tough to see in a lot of areas.Â
The approved plan is to build out an 88 mile mountain bike trail system and they currently have just over 30 miles completed.Â