Mountain Biking the Margallas

I haven’t gone shopping for rugs yet.  This morning I got off to a late start.  Last night I went to play dominos and some silly card game at one of the other houses.  I was cajoled into staying later than I’d planned.  Not a bad thing though as this morning was a bit of a nasty thunder storm… not nasty as in ugly, rude or in a sexual way, just a serious downpour with lightening and stuff.  So the ride began a bit late.  I rode to Chilla Gah Imam Bari, a Muslim shrine where a local Sufi used to dwell back in the 17^th century.  I had to leave my bike near the bottom of the path up the mountain.  An old gentleman that didn’t speak English told me I couldn’t take my bike.  He also conveyed that it would be safe to leave it, so I did.  It was a nice walk up.  Many nice people, some make jokes in Urdu, usually kids.  I don’t mind as many people were happy to shake my hand and a few took photos with me.  By and large these are very nice people, much like people everywhere.  After visiting the top I collected the bike and went for another ride.  I went way up trail 5 to the top of Pir Sohawa road at Monal.  OK to be honest most of way I was carrying or pushing the bike, lots of big rocks, stair steps and it’s steep.  I made it to the top and took the road back down. I’d been wanting to ride down this road since I first saw it, steep curvy, looks like a blast for a bike.  There are several steep switch backs and I was hoping to take a nice fast run… oops, cheap tires, slippery road like an LA freeway after the 1^st rain, I spilled it on the 1^st switchback.  Luckily the slippery road surface doesn’t just cause rubber to slide, skin does as well, so the road rash is not as bad as I’d feared.  It is a strange and surreal moment, shoes clipped into pedals, knowing the bike is going over and then sliding across the lane; the realization that your skin is being rubbed off as you slide toward the guard rail.  Luckily there were no cars near the turn and I stopped short of the guard rail.  As I was putting my chain back on the chain ring a car stopped to see if I was OK.  Funny, I can rub soap on it to clean it up but water stings like a son of a bitch.  Anyway I rode more carefully the rest of the way down.  Though I did pass a couple of motor scooters on the way.  At the bottom, near 7^th Ave. a kid (boy in his 20’s I’d guess) on a motor scooter, began riding along with me.  He saw my right arm and was concerned.  I told him I was fine.  But he kept pace until we were at Atta Turk road where he was headed to the parking lot for trail 3.  Again some random kid, was genuinely concerned and quite nice.  These are good people, most of them.