Darkness descends early these days..

How can I sum up the first solo night rides in real darkness this fall? Simultaneously creepy, satisfying and fun seem to do the trick. As oppossed to an early morning ride, the view of the larger world was progressively winnowed down as I stayed focused on the shrinking scope of my surroundings. Cold rain had colored the once sandy light brown trail, and it know resembled a menacingly dark black ribbon punctuated by the tooth like rock tops. The weather felt right last night, cooler than it has been of late, and progressively cooler/cold as the ride went on.

Recent motorcycle activity, coupled with newly fallen leaves, made the technical sections of Foxboro more difficult than usual. But due to the mind bending effects of night riding, and the required focus, I managed not to hit the deck. Well, at least not as hard as I did in broad daylight a week earlier. At least no one was around to see it. Once I shook myself off I realized just how dark it was, and suddenly I realized how creepy it can be in the middle of the woods in the suburbs. The simple act of stopping seemed to trigger a sudden realization of when and where I was. That feeling dissapated quickly as soon as I started moving again and all focus was on staying upright.

As I neared the end of my ride I couldn't shake the feeling I was hearing voices. Sporadically I'd hear weird sounds that made me think of every movie monster I'd ever seen as a kid while glued to Creature Double Feature on channel 56. I just knew the friggin' Wolfman, Mummy Man, Frankenstein, and probably that shady bastard Dracula were all out there plotting my immenent demise. As I picked up the pace through the last few rock gardens I saw that I wasn't crazy. There were two other riders milling around, trees obscuring their lights from my view until I was right on top of them. Good to know we were the only weirdos roaming around those woods last night...