Riding Wakefield: Like being trapped in an elevator with somebody you always assumed was an ass and discovering that they’re cool.

Wakefield was my first mountain biking experience when I started riding in June 2007. I vividly remember riding along the creek trail over and over, panicking at the top of a steep little hill because I was too afraid to roll down it, and being so excited to always come home with bruises, cuts, and legs covered in a layer of dirt.

Since I started doing the Wednesday at Wakefield series every summer, I’ve gotten really sick of the course and always associated the entire park with that one main loop. If somebody suggested riding Wakefield, I would immediately say no because it is a boring place with boring trails that are boring.

I was wrong. After riding my local loop three times last week, I drove to Wakefield for a desperately needed change of pace and found the riding to be completely chill and fun. I rode sections I hadn’t ridden in over a year, tried parts of the W@W course backwards, and conquered all of the areas that had troubled me as a new rider. After an hour of sweet riding, I headed over to Accotink and remembered why it’s my favorite NoVa trail system (although that distinction is like saying Hawaii is my favorite island state).