February 2003 -- A few BCI members decided to skip the Saturday road ride and hit the dirt instead. On a warm January morning, Pam Matsufuji and Sue Butler led fellow BCI members: Wayne Chang, Doug Phillips, Richard Mell, Alan Wright, Clint McDonald, Connie Sweet, Jeff Houston, and Cathy Scott through Peter’s Canyon and up into Irvine Park. The group was a mix of beginners (this was Cathy’s very first time) and experienced riders.

As some of our “newbies” discovered, mountain biking is quite different from road riding. Some of the riders took some spills, but there were no serious injuries. We laughed as we pulled each other out of the bushes and dusted off the dirt and leaves. Despite the falls and a few of us having to push the bikes up and/or down some of the steep hills, everyone had a blast!

Mountain biking is great fun. It harkens back to the days when we were 10 years old, riding our Stingrays in the old dirt lots. However, we are not 10 years old and the writer of this article took two Aleve tablets when she got home. But it was worth it!