Triple Shot.

Yesterday I went 3 for 3 and bagged my third ride in 3 days at CJ. Wasn't feeling awesome or fast but it was a pretty good ride. Nearly made it up the climb of doom on my 3rd and 4th try. May need to drop rear tire pressure a hair. Probably a bit hard for a quick climb then rock crawl up a pretty steep grade. Did see a guy on F/S make it. Also in general I know I'm not trying with enough starting speed.

But a solid 10 miles. Clipped a small section also, but I can see where other area's are gonna need TLC by the next trail day in mid-may. The current plan is to put in a small bridge then go from there. I'm stoked.

Off day today, dealing with sick Cat. Ugh. Poor old fella's 13 and some issues can be expected I guess.

Big IMBA ride at FH with big-wigs on Friday. Thursday is no looking bueno.

Ho Ho HO!

Imagine my surprise to turn on the TV and see the Snow/School closing status bars of Fox 5 this morning. A quick look out the window to see a light dusting of the fluffy white stuff. Roads were fine, work didn't even seem to have any versus I saw a bit on the way in here and there.

Yesterday was a not bad day for Trailwork, the rain stopped by 9 or so. At 10 me and my other helper Ben went out and cleared the small section of rerouting where the creek was starting to washout a spot of the trail. That actually took an hour or more. We then planted 2 more trees on the slope we are re-claiming. We built up the primary water stop berm at the top and built 1 intermediate berm to slow the water more also. The reroute is bedding in great and handling water very well.

Then we went up north and did a bit of trimming and such. The rain picked up. I photographed where at least 1 more bridge needs to go in, really 2. Not a bad 4 hours out on the trail.

Hopefully we'll be able to ride trails on Thursday. Have to see how the water flows off.

Long Day Done

Went out a bit later than I wanted today for some Ad-Hoc Trailwork on Cabin John. When I'd visited a few weeks ago it was starting to get bad. Well the goya drive section was real bad. 1 mile of trail took me almost 3 hours alone to trim. Though I also did saw out the better part of one tree with a folding hand saw.

I got to about 1/4 of the way into the section to river rd at around 6:30 and decided to be done, rode out to River Rd and headed back. To towel down and pick the wyf up from here trip to NYC this weekend. Ran out of water crossing the powerlines near the baseball fields.

Quick rinse off in the bathroom at CJ of my head arms and torso and I was done. 13.5 miles of riding and probably walked 6 or 7 I figure in pruning/trimming. Still need to do the last .9 miles from river rd up to near uhm watchama-call it. Though the first .3 miles from river rd in doesn't need much, just one spot where there is a log down, and the ride around is in the bushes.

Maybe one day after work this week. We'll see.

I love the Sugoi RS bibs. Best money ever spent. Also traded in a recent gift and a gift card from the hols at City Sports on a posh new set of Oakley Jawbones. Sweet! Need to order some clear lenses for night riding stat.

Cabin John Return

Finally got a FULL ride of CJ end to end. About 15.5 miles currently from Goya Drive to the bridge on 7 Locks past river and all the way back. Some mud in 2 spots, that are known bad area's the rest was great. The last section from River/7Locks to the Bridge on Seven Lochs was in need of some more trimming, but it's actually a pretty fun little addition. Not sure though if it's worth the half mile road connection each way though. Still pretty cool. Trails in pretty good shape. Only 2 small trees that could be cut out.

The new area for the shed on the Sunday trail work is set behind the tennis court building. I'm stoked.

Gotta pick up tools I guess 1 day this week incase we do get to some trimming work. Hu.

Schaeffer Farms next monday for sure! If I don't have ot do finishing work on the shed that is. Pushing milage on this month. I'm at 70 so far, not bad considering I've ebeen stuck at 20 a month since the beginning of november. UGH! Legs still aren't at optimal strength. Need to spend some time suffering at accotink the next few thursdays.

New Year, More Riding I hope

I had my first ride of the year last night at WF. It was great to get out and spin a bit to clear my head, it helped me deal with a good bit of the stress that this weeks events have imparted, not all but enough to leave me feeling more clear headed. Thats why I do love cycling.

We had a TON of people out for the ride last night. I'll update with a count later but I think it was near 20 riders. I had 2 others with me in my group, a couple guys went out fast and the rest went on a large "intermediate but more casual" ride.

I looked at my log on my cycle comp and realized I'd logged about 860 miles on my bike this year (not counting various beach rides and other stuff while traveling). My question to myself is can I be 100 mile a month guy regularly and right now I just don't think so. 860 means at least i was riding about 72 miles of primarily ST a month, and thats nearly 20 a week. At this time until I can get a normal Monday thru friday work schedule I assume that I'll RARELY ever ride on Sunday's and Mondays are often spent TCB. Until I either take up road biking, can commute on bike I just don't see myself being 100 mile a month guy with any sort of regularity.

I need to get out to frickin Cabin John Trail and figure out WTF I want to try and accomplish this year, but this damn snow freeze/thaw cycle is working out badly for me making it out there on a Monday. Grrr.

Cabin John Trail Work Day - FALL

Come on out to the CJ Trailwork Day, this Sunday, Oct 4 at 9 AM.

We will be performing a wide range of tasks:
Paint blazing the new route
Moving trail head signs
Closing the old route
Trimming the corridor as necessary
Additional Possible Tasks include:
Small sections of trail work such as bench cutting several small badly slopped area's
Small reroute of trail section
Trash cleanup
And anything else that can be addressed.

As of now the weather looks not bad for Sunday as some recent rain, and a little drizzle often makes trailwork easier if dirt must be worked with. You may want to layer yourself carefully as even in slightly damp 60 degree days you can build up quite a sweat. Do make sure you wear clothes that can get dirty, and good shoes for working outside, as you might in a garden. Also suggest you bring a pair of good work gloves, and a bottle or two of water. I often carry a small pack for this as I work.

We will have probably 2 crew leaders at the event so we may be working in separate multiple area's. Some of which we may drive/shuttle to (the campground or perhaps the Goya Dr trailhead). If you are getting dropped off we will get you safely there and back. But you may want to make sure you can call for an early pickup if we finish early.

Tools - We should have most of the tools needed but as usual feel free to bring your own. I'll have my own loppers with me. No machete's or chainsaws!!!!

Teens - Welcome for work, a parent will be necessary to sign the form.

Summarization:
Cabin John TW Day
7400 Tuckerman Ln (See Google Map, Across the street from the Maint Yard).
Bethesda/Rockville, MD
9AM Start, 8:45 Suggested Arrival
1PM Finish
Bring Water, Gloves, and Good Shoes.

My Cell # is 850-443-0181
My Email is atlantis.rob@gmail.com

Links:
Sign up with MoCo Parks:

Sign Up Page

Map:
Google Map

Wakefield Thursday Night Ride hits the trails again.

Wow, for the first time in a MONTH I believe that the TNR at Wakefield actually was able to ride trails. It was a blast. I pre-rode for not quite an hour doing about 7 miles of easy spinning around the park. Did 2 repeats of the Ascent Hill and Berms in phase 3. It was a good warm up, felt pretty good but a bit tired for being at 23 miles in the past 2 days when the ride started. I lead my small casual group out to Accotink the back way so as to give my legs a chance to spin up after spending 30 mins in the lot. We rode a bunch of the trails reversed out there and damn, that was tough in a few spots. It was a nice change however, and I think the funnest part was when we did the normal entry loop at accotink in reverse, it flows even better than the normal way.

With CJ yesterday I hit nearly 33 miles for the week. NOt bad. I'm hoping to sneak out for a shorty on Saturday afterwork depending on the weather. Not sure where yet.

Also after my CJ ride yesterday I hit a new low on my weight, 190. Though last night post ride/beer/food I was back to 192. Going back thru here my previously noted weight back in January 2008 was 218! I think most of that has been in the last year and the last 10-15 has been since the end of the winter when I had plateaued at 202'ish. Now if I could add some leg muscle mass I'd be real happy.

SNOW DAY IPA rocked it last night. Nice citrus finish on it, gonna be a nice summer beer. And while it's fairly low alcohol, at not quiet 6%, it hit more like a 7%. But that may have been the dehydration :)

A bitty bit of riding.

My central Florida trip was a bust for riding. Various factors kept me from getting in some riding at Santos. I did however spend an hour or so hiking over a few bits of the northern trailhead area and I can say, WOW! Some fast and fun singletrack and some challenging area's such as ant hill and john brown pit. Some fun looking area's. Alas it was too hot and I was in a bit of a rush to go see my brother. After examining the trail I determined that most of it would be fully ridable for the wife and so next time we're down in CFL, we'll hit it together. I'm also going to try and get an old friend I reconnected with to try it too!

Monday I hit Cabin John for the first time in a LOOOOONG TIME. It was almost like riding a new trail vs the winter/spring with all the green along it now. Some sections really need some trimming and the 2 final small bridges really need to be put in. Also better ramping needs to be done for the 2 existing bridges. Need to find some solutions in the trail builder guides I have I guess.

On the up hand also the Snow Day IPA should be about ready for it's first bottle tasting perhaps this week. I'm hoping to get a hefe in production around the end of the month. Then I'll be prepping porter for the fall in August.

Also on Monday I realized I'm real close to be non-clyde now with a post activity weight in of 192. Though after my dinner that night I'm sure I'm back up the scale a bit.

Time's Flying

Wow, time's been flying this month.

Lots of reasons, really pretty busy in general. I got 3 rides in last week including Cabin John tuesday and then Thursday I hooked up for the MORE Thursday ride at Schaeffer Farms and rode with the casual group. It was a good ride. Give me a month or more and I hope to be riding sometimes with the intermediate. Got back up there this monday and rode the white then yellow trails in an hour and twenty five minutes. I was pretty stoked, as it was with very little resting while riding.

Last week was a bit frustrating as I had both tires get leaks after my Tuesday at CJ. Boy was I suprised on Wednesday evening when I went down to prep for Thursday and saw the flats. The rear was slow enough I just waited to fix it till Friday. The front tire wasn't so good. So a quick stop by German Town cycles and Adam hooked me up by boring out the stem hole to fit schraeder valves which is all he had the big tubes I needed in. I also finally picked up a sweet floor pump and a new pair of gloves. All good purchases.

And I love my new HOSS shorts for style and general comfort. Still need to get the strapping/closure system a bit better adjusted but they are very cool and fit great.