Trail Story: Tunnel Vision
I've come to realize that my "trail reviews" are more like stories about my ride on that trail than an actual trail review. Therefore, they are now called trail stories. There are plenty of riders who actually put lots of time and thought into writing reviews of trails. I am not one of them. I prefer telling stories. If you want actual trail reviews, check out Becky's blog - https://www.twowheeledwanderer.com/united-states-biking/
Now, on to my story about the Tunnel Vision trail.
After all that hub riding, and stop-and-go group riding, I was due for a nice long XC day. Ignoring all the "severe thunderstorm" warnings on my phone, and better judgment, I set out to ride the whole Tunnel Vision loop. Besides, the radar said it would only be rain for maybe an hour, and then it would clear up. I'm learning that the weather forecasters in Arkansas are about as accurate as weather forecasters in Colorado.
It was supposed to be a 22-mile trail. Because of a construction detour, it turned out to be 25 miles. While 3 miles extra doesn't sound like a lot, it is when that 3 miles comes at the end of 22 miles.
Tunnel Vision started out great. Lots of art along the trail and through the tunnels. The trail itself was quintessential Bella Vista limestone and lots of ups-and-downs.
About an hour into the ride, it started raining, but I was in the trees and didn't really notice it. Everything was so green!
Only about 6 miles in here ... still smiling.
At exactly 11 miles (which I thought was the half-way point), I had a nasty crash. Guess I was going a little too fast on the wet limestone, and paying more attention to my bike-body separation skills than the terrain, and I wiped out sideways and sliced my knee open. It didn't hurt much, but I knew it was a pretty deep cut. The rain did a good job of washing the blood away.
I texted Jeremy and let him know that I might need a ride. But the next road crossing was several miles away, so I had to at least get to that. Once I got there, I looked at my carefully placed butterfly strips and gauze pads, and decided that I should keep riding. I briefly considered how nice it would be to be whisked off to a nice hot shower and real first-aid supplies, and then promptly texted Jeremy to tell him I was going to keep riding. I mean, really, I was half-way done.
I didn't take any more pictures after that point. It was just more of the same. Like the Back 40 loop, the Tunnel Vision loop was lots of ups and downs on limestoney singletrack. I learned that if there was an up, it was going to cross a road in a neighborhood, and then go down again. Rinse, repeat.
I may have shed a few tears when I saw my truck in the TH parking lot. By that point, every inch of my body was soaked, the gauze had fallen off my wound, and I was shivering.
I don't think I've ever actually had mud BETWEEN my legs before. This was absurd.
Remind me again why I engage in such folly? Oh, right - mountain biking feeds my soul.
My trailforks log for Tunnel Vision: https://www.trailforks.com/ridelog/view/68452667/