I drove to the Lake Houston Wilderness Park east of New Caney to ride my new Trek Marlin 8 MTB. This was my first time there and probably the first time to ride trails. The last time I rode a MTB was over 6 years ago on the docile Kingwood greenbelt trails. Those are paved but today I started out on a dirt and tree roots trail. Before I arrived at the park I wanted to ride 26 miles. After the first mile I hoped to ride 5 miles. No question, I was out of my skill zone and comfort zone on the trails. Later when I moved to the gravel roads and dirt trails my riding skills were more in line with the terrain. I forget how far I was on that first trail (maybe 1/2 mile) rounding a bend on tree roots seeing ahead a drop to a wood bridge with a big tree root on the other side and uphill. I tried to stop to decide how to ride that but when I put my right foot down I ended up laying in the leaves on my side. I walked across the bridge and up the hill over that large root.

Staying on the trails for awhile my speed was slow (5 mph maybe) maneuvering over and around the roots. I have more appreciation for the MTB XC racers now. Later sections of the trail switched from dirt and tree roots to soft sand. The 29×2.35 tires on my Trek Marlin 8 MTB floated on the sand with my legs pedaling fast to keep my momentum.

I don’t remember when I decided to leave the trails and move to the gravel roads. Maybe it was when the Ameri Trail crossed a gravel road. There was a man walking to his pickup truck on the side of the road. He had tried to fish but his new reel broke. Later I saw his truck at the Caney Creek Landing fishing spot.

Exploring the roads took by the park headquarters and camping areas. Not sure where I was going I looked at the park map a few times to get my location. Winding on the gravel roads I made it to the 5 Mile Road parallel to the power lines. I saw a sign that said “Bicycle Trail” and went on it. This was mostly dirt with a few roots. Several trail turns and offshoots came up and I took the North River trail. I stopped when some small logs crossed the trail. Looking beyond the logs the trail looked more grass than dirt and I turned around heading back to 5 Mile Road.

5 Mile Road stretched into the distance. I came to a gate with a sign announcing hikers and bikers only beyond it. A sign showed Lake Isabel 3 miles ahead. That was my new destination. Biking to the lake 2 deer stood beside the road (see the video) and ran into the woods. A little farther in a grassy area 4 deer ate grass. At Lake Isabel I turned around (at 15.3 miles) biking back to the gate. In the same grassy spot the 4 deer had moved to the other side of the trail (see the video). It was 19.3 miles when I reached the gate. I took the gravel road to the left. Parts of it looked familiar from my earlier riding. At Caney Creek Landing the road circled back. I decided to head back to where I parked the Jeep. It was farther than I guessed allowing me to finish with 22.17 miles. Not the 26 miles I planned but close. My legs were tired from riding. The Trek Marlin 8 weighs 32 pounds, almost double my Cervelo Caledonia.

Strava top results: PR on Trail to Trail (3:31) and 2nd fastest time on Trail to Trail (4:00). These happened because I rode the same trail twice.

Link to photos.