Finding a pace

I rode Erwin Park in Mckinney, TX a few times over the last few weeks and since I am now blogging about riding, here's the report:

Trail: Erwin Park - Mckinney, TX

Estimated mileage: 16 miles (8 miles each time)

Trail Report: Dry as a bone and very well-cut/maintained.  Passed just four riders and two hikers.

Notes: Shoulder checked two trees on the first ride and only one on the second, so apparently I am getting better?  Loved this trail the first time I rode it and by number two, I was still having fun, but I received a glimpse into the (not so distant?) future in which I was so tired of this short little trail that I was road riding.  Heaven help me....  Overall, it is a fun trail and there are at least 3-4 places where you can actually catch air on a little rise or something.  The "drops" that are often claimed to exist on this trail by over-exhuberant mtbikenewbies are actually roll-ins into creek bottoms, none of which exceed a height of 40 feet (being generous here.)  The adrenaline rush comes purely from the potential to collide with a tree as you pick up speed and then run straight into one of the many sections of trail that are bounded by trees growing just distant enough to allow a handlebar to pass, but without a very large margin for error.  For me, this is the qunitessential Texas trail; 8 miles of trail packed into a 40 acre? park with endless bends, unnecessary (but fun) switchbacks, dropping into and climbing out of small creekbeds and generally meandering around in sweet pointlessness.  The objective is to ride - not to get somewhere.