Mountain biking in Kentucky is generally called “Cross Country” riding.  The terrain is made up of undulating hills usually 150-200 feet maximum.  A good 10 mile ride will take several hours and offers a tremendous upper and lower body workout.  It’s more like cross country skiing than downhill skiing for lack of a better example.  The reward for a long climb is usually a roller coaster ride through a tunnel of vegetation, airborne some of the time, making split-second decisions on how to manage what’s coming at you.  You’ll encounter wildlife and get away from the city in a very special way.

The wooded trails require depth perception.  Things come at you and you must make a decision, react and adjust your “line”  to overcome it.  Branches can be low, rocks can be loose, and alternative paths through difficult terrain can make the difference between a thrill and a spill.  It’s definitely possible to ride with one bad eye, but you must ride slowly and carefully or choose “open” trails like the fire-roads I rode in CA.   Kentucky has very limited trails compared to most states (go figure) and most are of the wooded variety, so this is great for me.

I’d say ride wherever and however you can, good eyes or not, and adjust your pace and path.  As my surgical eye gets better and better, I crossed a “binocular” threshold where I am comfortable on cross country wooded trails again.  When I stop in the woods to enjoy a babbling creek or to watch a white-tail deer , I’ll say “thank you” again for the priceless gift that my donor gave me.

<photo by trailsource.com used under CC license>