I'll Take the Big Mac with the Special Sauce?

Special sauce, What is it really? Nothing yes nothing different. Its just a combination of simplier things. So why do I mention this? Well its basically the same thing when individuals talk about where they live and why one place is better than the other. Is it true that one local is superior to another? No, one place just has a different combination of the basics land, water & air. Some have more land others have more water but they all have air. So just because someone says their location has a "Special Sauce" it really doesn't mean its better.


Case in point.... I went to Bakersfield California this past weekend for

my brothers wedding and while there I was told numerous times how grand CA is. How at any given moment you could drive to the snow or to the beach. Hike, bike, swim, raft, ski and so on every day any time. I was reminded how the sun shines more days than not and rainfall is almost non existant. In fact one person even commented on the Pittsburgh area as "dingy". Well I have to disagree. We may not have sunny days all the time or magnificent mountains on the horizon but what we do have is change. Yes reality is waking up and having mother nature dictate your day with fall colors, cold temps, snow, rain, or wind that all may last hours or days. We don't have the choice for snow today and the beach tomorrow instead, we get stunningly beautiful color changes in the fall (right outside my picture window), snow and frozen ground during the winter, green green green blossoms in the spring and wonderfully sunny filled days during the summer.

I took a bike ride with a family friend Cary Mills during my visit. I must say thanks to him for taking the time to show me the local trails surrounding my brothers house. I regretfully say that they compare closely to our strip mine riding less the trees. It was fun yet I felt something missing like the unknown log around the corner of some singletrack, or the creek crossing that changes monthly with the amount of rainfall we have. We rode somewhere close to 20 miles and it was all fast flowing smooth sand trails. I loved being able to let it all out hammering in the big ring as we railed down the superfast descents. The town of Bakersfield finds itself at around 404' above sea level but offers some nice climbing in these foothills so I'll assume the local riders have some excellent fitness but it would be hard to hone any technical skills on the trails I rode. True they can travel a few hours for a variety but we have these outside our door. It was a nice change riding trails that where open and fast and I'm glad to have experianced them while there.



All in all it caused me to re-evaluate my opinion of western pa and my local trails. I thought long and hard on my return trip to the keystone state and found myself smiling as I mentally rode some of my favorite trails. Suddenly I realized that "home" wasn't ranked a lesser place, it just had a different combination in its "Special Sauce". Monday afternoon I took a ride from my basement door via trails into a local park to smell the fall air that resembles cotton candy and to hear the crunch of the crisp fallen leaves on the trail. The entire time feeling like those that I left in CA could never understand the love we have for our area and what it offers us daily.


The tempurature was barely 50 some degrees but the sun was hanging above and I could smell leaves burning as I passed thru housing areas. The trails where tight and colors where starting to brighten on the remaining leaves. This was the environment I enjoyed and what really keeps me going out.



My real purpose of this post is to help people realize that no matter where you ride its that environment that you consider your "special sauce" but its only special to you, and others may like something different but we should all respect each other and the places we enjoy. I think people overlook the PA area but with a little searching could discover something wonderful!
Happy Trails.