IF YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE DENTIST, there are worse ways to get there than by bike.

My dentist's office is not so far from home that riding to an appointment is out of the question, provided sufficient time is allowed.  With temperatures expected to reach the low to mid 50s by mid-afternoon, and already well past 40 at departure time, today's ride provided another perfect opportunity to combine multiple purposes in a ride.  There was mail to be sent, the dental appointment to be kept, and of course the ongoing, never-ending (and lately, increasingly urgent thanks to overindulgence is holiday cuisine) need for some exercise.

I had mapped out a route quite different from what's typical for me: it included segments that would take me off-road, riding a few miles of the extensive network of mountain bike trails through the many stream valleys and woodlands that surround my suburban Maryland home.  Being a longtime "roadie" I've largely disregarded these resources, to my detriment.  They're really deserving of much greater attention and use and are a great way to break habits and routines by providing fresh (to me) places to ride.

But first, I had to get to the Chair of Doom.  The first few miles covered the same utilitarian, well-worn streets, paths, and sidewalks I follow regularly but even that prosaic, mundane task soon afforded opportunities to depart from the routes I generally follow and made me aware of some pleasant paths through subdivisions I've had no previous reason to traverse.

Once I'd escaped the dentist's office my route carried me north and west into Seneca Creek State Park.  The park is part of a larger network of parks and preserved lands that straddle and surround Seneca Creek and surrounds Clopper Lake, a manmade lake behind an earthen dam.  There are several miles of offroad trails in the park, shared by walkers and mountain bikers; they're probably best for riders with at least an intermediate skill level but what the heck, as a rank beginner I'll try them anyhow.

The balance, timing, reactions, and instincts that I never developed in my youth would have served me well.  As it was, I dismounted often rather than risk crashing when confronted by even minor obstacles that any experienced, moderately capable off-roader would have surmounted without a moment's thought or hesitation.  But I still enjoyed it and got a good workout as well as appreciating the opportunity to start developing the skills I'll need if there are to be future forays into the world of off-road riding.

Thanks to recent cold weather and the shade of the woods, the ground was still mostly frozen and firm.  The tires on my mountain bike are a design intended for urban commuting more than serious off-road riding (they're fine on reasonably flat surfaces like the C&O Canal towpath but aren't true knobbies of the sort needed for gnarly singletrack or heavy, slick mud) and are heavily worn from the days when I used that bike as my commuter rig.

I emerged from the woods and elected to follow a road for a couple miles rather than plunge back in along another section of challenging trail.  The road took me to the next offroad segment, a much more open, less technically challenging section that utilizes the open land in the right of way of a high-tension powerline.  Although plenty grassy, the open setting combined with strong sun and warming temperatures made the ground rather slick as the thaw created a thin layer of moisture-laden slippery mud at the surface, above the impermeable frozen material a few millimeters deeper.

In a number of instances I could feel the rear wheel slipping and skidding on uphill segments.  Happily for me I never crashed or even quite stalled, but the lesson was learned: it's time to mount the new tires I already have on hand, before attempting further forays into this area.  And I may want to wait for the ground to re-freeze so that traction is better, too.

Rather than continue slipping, sliding, and slogging through the trail, I got back on the road when it crossed the line of the trail and took the easy way back home.  I'm entirely satisfied with the route I ended up riding but can see opportunities for greatly expanded use of the off-road network in future outings.