TREES COME UP FASTER AT NIGHT

By Nancy Sorrells

EXPLORE PARK (Blue Ridge Parkway near Roanoke) - The trees come up mighty fast when the only means of seeing them is a 10-watt light mounted on your handlebars. They seem to come up even faster when your first-ever look at the trail (and I use that word lightly) is from the glow of that lamp.

But there we were at 7 p.m. one evening, a pair of novice single trackers, ready to try a sport that has become increasingly popular among mountain bikers.

At first, night riding began because winter riders had limited daylight hours to train. But now, night riding has come unto its own and some profess to prefer riding at night. And on hot summer days, it's cooler riding at night. The key to the growth of night riding comes in the form of the wonderful little lights we had strapped to our handlebars. Others in the group also had them attached to their helmets and some were equipped with helmet and handlebar lights.

My husband, Randy, and I were trying out this adventure courtesy of Explore Park, located at milepost 115 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just north of Roanoke, Va. Two and a half years ago the park installed a state-of-the-art single track trail through the forest. The 24-30-inch wide trail which follows the contours of the terrain through the woods is about seven miles long with plans for extensive additions.