Reconnaissance

The Marine Corps is the most elite branch of the U.S. military. They have the most stringent physical standards and the longest boot camp among the armed forces. The most elite units of the Marine Corps are the Reconnaissance units. In order to be accepted to a Reconnaissance unit a Marine must have a stellar record and undergo an extreme physical indoctrination. These Marines receive specialized training, including hours of swimming and running with heavy loads.

The mission of these elite Marines may seem simple considering the intensity of their training. Their primary function is to slip undetected behind enemy lines to collect information about the opposition forces. They conduct their missions in small groups and they make every effort to not be detected. A successful reconnaissance mission is one in which a shot is never fired and the enemy never knew they were being watched.

I set out for my first ride yesterday thinking that I would try some new terrain, I live near Russian Jack Park and I figured that would be a great place to start my mission. I rode along Muldoon Road to Northern Lights Boulevard to the East High footbridge. I was able to take the footbridge over to the Russian Jack trail system. The sidewalks and trails along Northern Lights and Muldoon were mostly free of snow and ice. I was studded up so I didn't have any trouble with the icy spots. Where I ran into trouble was on the Russian Jack trails where I lost traction on the slushy snow.

It wasn't until I was past the Russian Jack Chalet that I really started having trouble. The trails seemed to have well packed snow up until then. Once past the Chalet, I hit a couple of soft spots that required me to get off my bike and walk a few feet before I could find traction. I pushed on until I got past the tunnel under Debarr, and on the other side I found a sudden and complete loss of traction. I couldn't dig up enough motivation to keep pushing along the trail so I headed home without conquering my first new trail.

The moral of the story; do your reconnaissance. I drove down the Glenn Highway a little later in the day and could see that the trail was clear and dry. I saw several people taking advantage of the trail, not struggling at all. If I had driven by at some point this past week to check the conditions at Russian Jack I would have realized the trails weren't ready yet and I could have changed my plan for a more successful ride, the Glenn Highway trail for instance.