Single-Track Excitement

After four hours of driving from Ottawa, I stepped out of my air-conditioned car and felt like I was walking through a blast furnace. Yes, as promised, it was just as hot here as in Ottawa – 35 C plus humidity, which felt like 43 C. More than slightly unpleasant. That tipped the scales. I scrapped any plans of doing a few hours of evening riding. It was just too hot to wear any dirtbike gear, let alone ride a dirtbike.

I sported a homemade mask as I walked to the Sandaraska Park’s office, dry grass crunching under my feet. This campsite is 30 km southwest of Peterborough, Ont. I’d RSVP’d for my camping and bought my day passes for riding on Friday and Saturday in the Ganaraska Forest. The nice lady at the front desk gave me a giant map of the Ganaraska Forest, and I was floored by all the trails on the map. At $30 per day, the price of entry was going to be well worth it.

This was July, and my plans had been made a month earlier. Even though the weather forecast was horrible – 35 C