Wet and Wild

Despite the naysayers doubts I went to WF to ride last night on the CCT. Very light off and on sprinkles once I arrived at 6:20. Geared up, put the fenders on the bike (+1 only my legs and a bit of my pack got muddy this time), and headed out with another guy at 6:50'ish. We rode all the way out to 7100 and Rolling Rd area on CCT doing just over 14 miles.

Doing one of the stream crossings on the way back, I miss judged the 2nd half/up slope side and nearly endo'd barely pulling up enough to roll up the hill and get my feet down. My shoulders and hands were aching for sure after that for about 5 mins. Rob was laughing his ass off at me for so badly misjudging and nearly biting it. Next time I'm going to session that a bit.

Nice ride over all. The weather even cleared pretty nicely by about 30 mins in and we had few rain drops at all. It was nice to get out and blast out a bit of the cobwebs, haven't been going to the gym at all. I may just cancel it next month. We'll see.

Nice Weather

With this awesome week of weather, I hope folks are getting out and doing SOMETHING. I wish I had gotten in some rides this week, but due to insane commutes home the last 2 days I've had to skip sneak-rides.

Today i'm jetting from work On-time as possible, heading for WF and gonna pre-ride the hell outa accotink! Then I've got at least 1 relative noob to break in tonight at Wakefield. I'm looking forward to session some stuff with her and whatever group I take out. Might end up being like Delmar's ride last week.

Hoping to maybe sneak in the First FNL in a LOOOOOONG time maybe friday. We'll see if I can secure the night pass.

Took an hour'ish walk around the neighborhood with the wyf. Each time we do this we find a new section, last night it was some hidden little park I've never seen before.

Nice Friday

Nice night out last night if not a bit humid. Had a casual pre-ride and a later regular ride. We had a nice turn out for how questionable the weather was pretty good with the rain holding off till near 8:30 out at Wakefield.

I had a small casual ride group of 1 other person, another guy led a Casual+ of 3. It was nice and just what I needed for recovery reasons. Ended up with just about 12 miles for the night with a 7.4mph avg.

This morning I noticed my right knee was a bit sore. By the end of work it was VERY sore. 3 Motrin seem to have helped and now I'm hitting it with freezer packs.

Time to make some dinner. I'm thinking steak. Or maybe chili. HUNGRY!

PR +2

Today was a pretty good day, even after dealing with brake issues this morning. I hit FH at around 4:30 and by 4:45 was ready to go. I was stoked and took off. The lap felt a bit rough, as it's been since like maybe the FALL since I rode there, I couldn't remember all the best lines for the runs, and climbs, though suprisingly off the bat I made 2 climbs that have kicked my ass usually. Yah! I was stoked. I still couldn't beat woodpecker. And I still won't ride down shock-a-billy. I need to watch some peeps do it who I trust. But other than that good first lap, and I turned in a new lower time for me. 1:14 Riding, about 1:20 total! Yah that was pretty sweet. And so I went nuts from there and did something I've never done.

2nd Lap. I blasted away at first maintaining a avg pace of 6.7-7 on and off. Well I should fueled up more at the car and I knew I wasn't drinking enough and low and behold by mile 5 the cramps were showing up. Damn it! I actually had to stop at shock-a-billy and eat and take some potassium supplements and drink a ton of water to finish out but I was already cooked and had to push a few hillier sections. I made the last half of the final climb out. Ugh, but still a pretty fast time for me. !:17 moving. Though time was was my more normal 1:35'ish.

Not blazingly fast but a HUGE step up for me. I made all the climbs but Woodpecker. And had a damn good time even when my legs were protesting. I had a huge smile all the way home.

Wish the GPS was working it would be nice to have a track of both laps. Alas it's dead Jim and needs a reman/replace. Should run $100 through garmin but it's just not on my list now. Especially considering when I got home, put the bike in the stand and looked at the rear d and noticed the high gear adjustment screw was gone! WTF??!?!? I know it wasn't that loose. And the black plastic clip that holds it in/bolts to it was gone! UGh. Stripped one off and old X9 and tried getting it in...no dice. Gonna calll TBL tomorrow and see what they think. Probably gonna have to replace it. FURK! Oh well. I gotta a PILE of shit that I need to do on the bike really. Brake Pads front and rear, bottom bracket - Temp fix till new BB/Cogset/Chain can be replaced. Now a new D. And add in a few other things like the garmin. My L&M light needs some love also, the battery is getting wimpy. Argh. Maybe I can ifnd a surplus NIMH battery only.

But it was a damn good day to ride!

Extra Special. Really.

So this morning, as I was preparing to leave for work and riding after work, I decided to take a quick spin on the re-tuned bike, I noticed a HORRIBLE clicking from the rear whenever breaking. Insta-Panic. Check the rear roter, triangle....No breakage. Retry brakes...hmmm only happens when my weight is on the bike and breaking. I knew the pads were a bit close to worn out.

Off comes the caliper. Jackpot. One side is nearly truly gone and the other is almost fully gone. The organic pads are real nice most of the time but they seem to wear a bit quicker. Quick Time Check 6:25...shit.

Old pads out...Yep bad....And 1 side of the retainer spring is bent. Set aside. Try putting in set of new standard avid pads. Ugh...no way. Adjust out pad contact point....try again. Nope. Old pads back in. Apply screwdriver to spread/push in the damn pistons back in. This never seems to work...argh. Try again. Argh. Alright pull out the old original pads, they have a bit of life left. Cleam em with some rubbing alcohol, use the old spring from the organics. Ahhh and back in.

Put the junk back together....Argh 1 missing adjustment washer. 5 minutes later found it and it's all back on. Time check 6:48. Damn late late late. Quick test after adjusting. Better, braking is a bit off but no real noise/click. Take 15 minutes at lunch today to re-break in the brakes.

New pads on Friday I think I'm going to stick with the Organics.

The drive train readjustment was pretty easy excluding the cabling on the front. I assume it's due to the mix of Shimano Derailuer, and SRAM shifter. The front D is soon for replacement, its definitely a bit worn out on inspection of springs/etc.

Less Riding, More Learning.

With the rains the last week or two my riding has been pretty greatly curtailed. I got out last Thursday for perhaps the wettest, muddiest ride on the CCT south that I've been on since my teens. Including riding through a nearly foot deep crossing at one point.

So I've been taking the park tools bike school and it's been awesome so far. Like this week we learned how to properly tune shifting systems. Tomorrow I'm going to re-tune both my front and rear d from scratch. The front D needs height adjustment, and high/low adjustment for sure. The alignment is ok, but I imagine I'll be fiddling a good bit with it tomorrow. The rear isn't too bad but I think the B-Screw and the hi and low also need adjustment. Not to mention the damn cable itself. eesh.

Wednesday I'm going to shoot to re-ride Laurel Hill. Or maybe I'll go psycho and try Fountain Head out again. I hurt already at the thought. :) Something other than Wake, or Accotink. Maybe I'll shoot out to Rosaryville. I haven't been there in forever. I'd like to do Quantico but that's a bit further a field, saving that for a Monday trip soon. Along with another visit to Gambrills or maybe finally a shed trip.

Time to put a few beers in the fridge for tomorrow.

Suprisingly Dry

Last night at Wakefield I recieved what was almost the best present in a long time.

Suitably dry singletrack ready for riding. Especially since we had such a small turnout (Larry, Liz, Ernie, Lynn, Steve(late), and a new guy Bryan). I took the new guy on a casual tour of Accotink and then we hit a bit of Wakefield before it got too dark for Bryan who didn't have his lights. The final climb up the racecourse finish was in almost near darkness. Back at the lot Steve was waiting around for the intermediate group but with no sign of them he headed out. After letting bryan out I head back in and found Steve in Phase 1 working to put his tire back on. He'd knocked it off the rim on some root. We toured around Phase 1, the creek trail and phase 4 looking for the intermediate group. We ultimately determined they weren't in Wakefield at all. Back at the lot around 8:40 we found out they rode the Counter Clockwise Trail south and had a good time doing something different.

Post ride food and bev at Kilroys made for a darn good night of cycling. Also enjoyed a bit of Ernesto's remaining Porter I think it was as a PLB.

Though I couldn't get up at 6 this morning and slept till 6:30. Bad bad bad. :)