Yesterday I must have been cursed with slightly bad luck. It was almost a comedy of errors, but in the end I made it thru.
In order of appearance
A) - Missing shims/cones for Rear D - TBL hooked me up with a pair stripped of an old cantilever brake set.
B) - Had 2 people on the 2nd shift call out, 1 guy from my shift stepped up and another on 3rd came in early. Didn't have to miss the WF ride.
C) - Left bladder and brews at work only realized while at TBL. Made it back and to WF by 6:20. LUCKY! Bad traffic on 28 and other spots due to construction on 28 at willard/etc.
D) - Mechanicals Mechanicals Mechanicals on the ride. 1 Major, 2 minor. Still did 10 miles. The others probably got 11 while I fixed a new to the area riders chainline.
E) - Removed to protect the uh...well innocent.
F) - Ooops locked out the wyf last night with the security bolt...my bad.
To end this run of cursed luck I've taken the step of signing up for Curse of Dark Hollow. Relative tight budget has dictated that I pinch my pennies and keep my sanity and I opted to only sign up for the 10 miler after talk to Liz after WF last night. If it doesn't crush me or I feel I need more punishment I can go bigger for Teaberry. I'm strangely excited at the prospect of going somewhere new. To race. Thats apparently hard. Odd. And wow...the weather looks not bad for then. Keeping appropriate digits crossed.
Anyone heading up there thinking of camping Saturday to Sunday???
I'm debating hitting Raystown Lake on Monday if anyone is free.
Showing posts with label Moutain Biking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moutain Biking. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Maintenance Success
Well I got some of the maintenance I wanted to done on the bike this week. However it has made several things very clear. The bottom bracket is DIEING. Over the last 2 months its gone from say maybe 1/16 inch in play to nearly 1/4. I may have to break down and do an emergency upgrade over the next month, though I'd prefer to avoid that with the upcoming moving/housing expenses. ugh.
I did tear down and re-grease my headset and it seems smoother and better adjusted...I think. Also did swapped out the jockey pulleys on the rear d with newly greased slightly less used ones.
And I finally found a successful method to changing out the pads on my J7's. Unfortunetely while removing the rear brake at WF last week apparently I forgot to put 1 set of the shims/washers/cupcone doo-dads into the plastic baggy and need to pickup a set tonight if possible so I can have rear brake again. It was a bit hairy for sure last week riding without them in the slightly damp conditions. Really made me get back off the saddle for sure!
Looking forward to riding a good bit tonight. Also picked up the Sierra Nevada Kellerweisse - an open fermented wheat beer that was REALLY damn good with my chili-potato last night.
I did tear down and re-grease my headset and it seems smoother and better adjusted...I think. Also did swapped out the jockey pulleys on the rear d with newly greased slightly less used ones.
And I finally found a successful method to changing out the pads on my J7's. Unfortunetely while removing the rear brake at WF last week apparently I forgot to put 1 set of the shims/washers/cupcone doo-dads into the plastic baggy and need to pickup a set tonight if possible so I can have rear brake again. It was a bit hairy for sure last week riding without them in the slightly damp conditions. Really made me get back off the saddle for sure!
Looking forward to riding a good bit tonight. Also picked up the Sierra Nevada Kellerweisse - an open fermented wheat beer that was REALLY damn good with my chili-potato last night.
Friday, July 03, 2009
3x the Fun
So last night was my third ride of the week, pushing me into the mid 30 mile range again, which for me is pretty good. As we were getting ready to roll out of the Wakefield lot a light sprinkle started and I booted the groups out of the lot 5 minutes early. The rain continued for about 20 mins lightly and by 7:30 most of it had already dried back up. I had to pass my ride over to Tom and go pick my wife up at DCA, she got back from NY a bit early.
Had a bit of an emergency in the lot prior to the ride. I went to clean and lube the chain at about 5:30'ish and when I went to spin the rear wheel.....Horrible clicking and sticking were present. WTF?!??! A quick investigation showed the issue was being caused by the rear brake. So I rip rear wheel off and unmount the caliper. Viola! Bent tension spring. Out come the pads and the spring, a few minutes of bending then the real battle begins. Re-inserting the pad. 10 Minutes later they are back in. Remount the caliper. Put the wheel back in. And after a few spins its back to not working. Time to implement my final fix for the evening. Off comes the whole rear brake system.
Wow! It was a bit hairy riding in the slightly wet conditions with no rear brake but I survived while I was out. But I definitely kept my speed down a bit.
After picking up the wife we hit Kendal Park Tavern on MacArthur Blvd and it was very good! Had a Sam Summer Ale with a lemon slice garnish and it was excellent. Gotta get a case before it's gone!
REI tomorrow to get a new set or two of organics for the rear brake.
Probably won't ride again till Thursday as my hand is bugging me a bit more than I'm comfortable with.
Had a bit of an emergency in the lot prior to the ride. I went to clean and lube the chain at about 5:30'ish and when I went to spin the rear wheel.....Horrible clicking and sticking were present. WTF?!??! A quick investigation showed the issue was being caused by the rear brake. So I rip rear wheel off and unmount the caliper. Viola! Bent tension spring. Out come the pads and the spring, a few minutes of bending then the real battle begins. Re-inserting the pad. 10 Minutes later they are back in. Remount the caliper. Put the wheel back in. And after a few spins its back to not working. Time to implement my final fix for the evening. Off comes the whole rear brake system.
Wow! It was a bit hairy riding in the slightly wet conditions with no rear brake but I survived while I was out. But I definitely kept my speed down a bit.
After picking up the wife we hit Kendal Park Tavern on MacArthur Blvd and it was very good! Had a Sam Summer Ale with a lemon slice garnish and it was excellent. Gotta get a case before it's gone!
REI tomorrow to get a new set or two of organics for the rear brake.
Probably won't ride again till Thursday as my hand is bugging me a bit more than I'm comfortable with.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
6 Points of Contact.
No, I'm not really talking about my technology slavish-ness (2 Work Emails, 2 Personal, Facebook, Twitter, LJ, MORE Forums, etC.
I'm actually talking about my fun little wreck at Schaeffer yesterday. Near the end of my ride I was fooling around on the stunts at the top of the white loop when I biffed and took a dumb/bad fall off the 2nd skinny set. I was riding it towards the lot and got to the logs at the end of it and whoops off I went and the bike took me for a final ride. I think I ended up getting very personal with the handle bars based on the locations of the contusions. About the 2 worst are where my thumbnail bent back about half way and my wrist took some sort of abuse, though I can't find any real marks.
I find it amusing I've managed 2 fairly good wrecks in 2 week'ish after going a long time with nothing worse than an emergency hop-off. Thats riding I guess and yesterday at least I was challenging myself. Skills riding is fun, I was just un-prepared mentally on that run. Oh well. I still got in a kick ass ride of about 15 miles around the farm. Even got to hang a bit the Yeuq, Chris, and Dennis. hahah I probably should have hung with them for the rest of the ride, but I couldn't have probably held the pace after already spending an hour and change out there already. Jeez I need to build the endurance so 20 miles isn't pushing it at all!
Afterwards I spent 45 minutes waiting to buy a power adapter for my phone at the verizon store near Agrodolce in G-town. I was ready to flip out! I will never own another phone that doesn't use mini-usb to charge!
I'm actually talking about my fun little wreck at Schaeffer yesterday. Near the end of my ride I was fooling around on the stunts at the top of the white loop when I biffed and took a dumb/bad fall off the 2nd skinny set. I was riding it towards the lot and got to the logs at the end of it and whoops off I went and the bike took me for a final ride. I think I ended up getting very personal with the handle bars based on the locations of the contusions. About the 2 worst are where my thumbnail bent back about half way and my wrist took some sort of abuse, though I can't find any real marks.
I find it amusing I've managed 2 fairly good wrecks in 2 week'ish after going a long time with nothing worse than an emergency hop-off. Thats riding I guess and yesterday at least I was challenging myself. Skills riding is fun, I was just un-prepared mentally on that run. Oh well. I still got in a kick ass ride of about 15 miles around the farm. Even got to hang a bit the Yeuq, Chris, and Dennis. hahah I probably should have hung with them for the rest of the ride, but I couldn't have probably held the pace after already spending an hour and change out there already. Jeez I need to build the endurance so 20 miles isn't pushing it at all!
Afterwards I spent 45 minutes waiting to buy a power adapter for my phone at the verizon store near Agrodolce in G-town. I was ready to flip out! I will never own another phone that doesn't use mini-usb to charge!
Friday, June 26, 2009
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 :)
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 :)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Pratfall.
That should be the title of the ride I led last night at Wakefield. I went out with 3 others and did the CCT. On the first bridge out of the main WF parking lot our new group member lost it and fell on the bridge, while trying to turn a bit. And I grumbled that I should have warned everyone about that before we left. We all laughed. We ended up heading south on the CCT to 7100 and 640. About 7.8 miles out. Coming back down the big hill on the path I hit the first TINY wooden bridge and next thing I know I'm laying on my side on the ground! Ouch! A bit of an arm scrape and a sore hip later we were back on the trail. We cranked back and I was simply laughing at the absurdity of it. I think I was riding my front brake from coming down the hill when I hit the bridge. A bunch of the regulars did the PPTC road ride we chatted for a few minutes before retiring for some post ride beverage consumption while loading up the gear.
I'm pretty happy with this week of riding, a bit of 30 miles. Thats my best week in a while. Going to try and punch out some good distance on Monday. We'll see how the weather treats us.
I'm pretty happy with this week of riding, a bit of 30 miles. Thats my best week in a while. Going to try and punch out some good distance on Monday. We'll see how the weather treats us.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, May 29, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, May 15, 2009
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!
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!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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!
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.
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.
Friday, May 01, 2009
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. :)
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. :)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thursday Wakefield. Semi Epic
It was a damn fine Thursday out for all cyclists I think! One of the best in a while for sure. I got out of work a bit later than I wanted but still made it to Wakefield right around 5. A slow gear up and I headed out 15 minutes later. Took a nice spin out by the rusted truck section as a short warm up. Then headed out for an equivalency lap of race course. Barely pushing I turned in a solid 20-21 minute lap. I think with a little more riding I may be able to turn in some solid sub 20 minute laps by race time in June. A quick visit over to Accotink followed that for some additional exploring. The Accotink workday had cleared up a lot of leaf covered trail and had 1 good reroute! Very nice work.
Back to the lot a bit before 6:30 to organize the group Night Ride. Had a pretty good turn out of 15 other riders. We headed out in 2 big groups of 8. Both groups stayed together till the first trail in Accotink where I had a rally point and offered quick thoughts on the trails. And we rode on, taking several legs I havent' before. Eventually I let Mike and Joel lead a bit including the section out of the park and back to the CCT as I don't know that way at all.
We rolled back into Wakefield at around 8 and after a time check and reorg we decided to ride till 8:30. We blasted off, doing the creek trail to phase 1, the creek trail race section and up and out on the high section of phase 1. We then did the climb up to the berms and rode down. And headed back to the lots. 12 miles in about 2 hours for our group and 22 total for me. I was stoked. A great night of riding, I was bummed out that I couldn't hang out afterwards. The wyf was having an existential crisis and I was late getting out due to session the berms. Oops. But an excellent night ride!
Back to the lot a bit before 6:30 to organize the group Night Ride. Had a pretty good turn out of 15 other riders. We headed out in 2 big groups of 8. Both groups stayed together till the first trail in Accotink where I had a rally point and offered quick thoughts on the trails. And we rode on, taking several legs I havent' before. Eventually I let Mike and Joel lead a bit including the section out of the park and back to the CCT as I don't know that way at all.
We rolled back into Wakefield at around 8 and after a time check and reorg we decided to ride till 8:30. We blasted off, doing the creek trail to phase 1, the creek trail race section and up and out on the high section of phase 1. We then did the climb up to the berms and rode down. And headed back to the lots. 12 miles in about 2 hours for our group and 22 total for me. I was stoked. A great night of riding, I was bummed out that I couldn't hang out afterwards. The wyf was having an existential crisis and I was late getting out due to session the berms. Oops. But an excellent night ride!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
100 Miles and Riding
Wow, its been a LONG while I think since I actually had a 100+ mile month. This month I hit 115 I think based on my cyclecomps starting mileage and ending today. Adjusting for a minor snafu that kept 3 miles off the record.
My GPS today decided it was too nice out to stay on and cut off all the time, after the 4th time I gave up. Gonna flash the mem/bios again and see if that helps.
For many guys out there 115 is nothing, a weekend maybe or a regular week. For me it's pretty spiffy. I average out probably between 40-60 miles a month. With the occasionally slightly higher month. My new goal is to push that number a bit more over the course of april....Maybe 150. We'll see I guess.
Today was a great day out at Wakefield. Didn't have time to hit Accotink, but wake was pretty good. Some wet spots but over all very ridable. Though I did see 1 or 2 spots that made me go Huh?
I'm off to finish digesting some good Thai food.
My GPS today decided it was too nice out to stay on and cut off all the time, after the 4th time I gave up. Gonna flash the mem/bios again and see if that helps.
For many guys out there 115 is nothing, a weekend maybe or a regular week. For me it's pretty spiffy. I average out probably between 40-60 miles a month. With the occasionally slightly higher month. My new goal is to push that number a bit more over the course of april....Maybe 150. We'll see I guess.
Today was a great day out at Wakefield. Didn't have time to hit Accotink, but wake was pretty good. Some wet spots but over all very ridable. Though I did see 1 or 2 spots that made me go Huh?
I'm off to finish digesting some good Thai food.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Double Dip?
Inspired by riderx's triple dipple post of Monday I wanted to write up a decent post about my big Monday of riding. So on with the tale!
Monday we had weather indications that it would be a beautiful sunny day, and I had a newly re-tuned bike to put through the grinder. And the itch to ride somewhere different. Sure Schaeffer Farm is open again, but I wanted something tougher, to push myself. So I went back to Gambrills SP for a second tour of the yellow loop.
So after a late start I made it to Gambrills around noon, unpacked and got on the trail with a quick warm up spin up the parking lot side of yellow to near the top and back down, to cross the road and start the clockwise loop of yellow with extension. The first climb wasn't bad and I almost made it up the first climb with only a minor bump off. Alas the stairs kicked my ass, with pushing several sections, though I did make the last climb and damn that was a grind. Some nice flowing descents back down to the extension trail. The extension trail is really interesting. At the major rock outcrop I played around finding a nice line away from the trail on what looks to be a pretty fun play area, alas I minorly ditched on one try, the 2nd time I made it a simpler quick drop rather than trying to ride a line. Back on the trail it was a slow grind around the loop, with some climbing after crossing the road, coming down after the t section on a soft/loamy section I cut it to tight and dumped over real good. Banged my knee real good on a damn rock that was in the perfect place. Murphy's law. I quickly hopped on the bike swearing at myself and whatever diety placed that rock. I rode on with good climbs/etc until I hit the CRAZY climb at about 1:30'ish in my ride. It is rocky as hell. I dunno how to hit any of it honestly, except maybe on a dirt bike :) After that I made good on the climbs back to the road crossing and had fun on the bike rock formation descent. Then it was a grind back along the road till the blast down to the lot, I was too tired to really let go alas. Maybe next time. I did session several good climbs, and rocky area's finding better lines and trying to make some climbs.
Gambrills Ride
On the way back down out of the mountains, I had a crazy notion. Why not stop for a quick loop at Schaeffer Farm??? It's too nice a day and the riding should be good. So a drive down to the farm and a quick load out and I was ready to go.
It was an excellent day out at SF. The trail had a good bit of rogue branches down, but thanks to DKEG and Wrench's efforts the trail was clear of all major trees. So I went out the stunt section of white to yellow. The trail faeries have been hard at work building a few dirt jumps it appears. I skipped em due to being a bit tired. Out the yellow to the blue bypasses and back out on the far yellow loop. Trail definetely has some growth issues, the thorny stuff is already growing into the trail. In a feat of silly-assed-ness I rode the orange offshoot trail and it was fun, once I made the initial climb in, that was rough. Nice and flowing once I got going, and out back to the yellow loop. The field trails were fine by then. Probably 3 PM. It was a bit of a slog for sure coming back up the final climb to the big intersection. I met up with a rider I'd been chasing for a while, we both recovered and I took off first, he held pretty close the entire way back with me pulling away a bit on the descents. The armored stream crossing KICKS ASS! I was stoked, we both commented on how nice it was now. The final slog back up that yellow section to the white/orange meet up was hellish at that point. I just kept pushing the pedals. The final ride in was a bit slow. At first I was pulling a nice 9.1 MPH pace, but by the end I had dropped back to a 8.1. Oh well, not bad.
It was a excellent day out. It was not perhaps my best 16/17 miles. But it was better than any day at work, and a lot of fun. Now I just need to find a riding cohort who is off Mondays and wants to explore. Or else someone to lead me around the shed a bit, who doesn't mind slow riding, on one of my rare free Sundays or on a Monday.
Monday we had weather indications that it would be a beautiful sunny day, and I had a newly re-tuned bike to put through the grinder. And the itch to ride somewhere different. Sure Schaeffer Farm is open again, but I wanted something tougher, to push myself. So I went back to Gambrills SP for a second tour of the yellow loop.
So after a late start I made it to Gambrills around noon, unpacked and got on the trail with a quick warm up spin up the parking lot side of yellow to near the top and back down, to cross the road and start the clockwise loop of yellow with extension. The first climb wasn't bad and I almost made it up the first climb with only a minor bump off. Alas the stairs kicked my ass, with pushing several sections, though I did make the last climb and damn that was a grind. Some nice flowing descents back down to the extension trail. The extension trail is really interesting. At the major rock outcrop I played around finding a nice line away from the trail on what looks to be a pretty fun play area, alas I minorly ditched on one try, the 2nd time I made it a simpler quick drop rather than trying to ride a line. Back on the trail it was a slow grind around the loop, with some climbing after crossing the road, coming down after the t section on a soft/loamy section I cut it to tight and dumped over real good. Banged my knee real good on a damn rock that was in the perfect place. Murphy's law. I quickly hopped on the bike swearing at myself and whatever diety placed that rock. I rode on with good climbs/etc until I hit the CRAZY climb at about 1:30'ish in my ride. It is rocky as hell. I dunno how to hit any of it honestly, except maybe on a dirt bike :) After that I made good on the climbs back to the road crossing and had fun on the bike rock formation descent. Then it was a grind back along the road till the blast down to the lot, I was too tired to really let go alas. Maybe next time. I did session several good climbs, and rocky area's finding better lines and trying to make some climbs.
Gambrills Ride
On the way back down out of the mountains, I had a crazy notion. Why not stop for a quick loop at Schaeffer Farm??? It's too nice a day and the riding should be good. So a drive down to the farm and a quick load out and I was ready to go.
It was an excellent day out at SF. The trail had a good bit of rogue branches down, but thanks to DKEG and Wrench's efforts the trail was clear of all major trees. So I went out the stunt section of white to yellow. The trail faeries have been hard at work building a few dirt jumps it appears. I skipped em due to being a bit tired. Out the yellow to the blue bypasses and back out on the far yellow loop. Trail definetely has some growth issues, the thorny stuff is already growing into the trail. In a feat of silly-assed-ness I rode the orange offshoot trail and it was fun, once I made the initial climb in, that was rough. Nice and flowing once I got going, and out back to the yellow loop. The field trails were fine by then. Probably 3 PM. It was a bit of a slog for sure coming back up the final climb to the big intersection. I met up with a rider I'd been chasing for a while, we both recovered and I took off first, he held pretty close the entire way back with me pulling away a bit on the descents. The armored stream crossing KICKS ASS! I was stoked, we both commented on how nice it was now. The final slog back up that yellow section to the white/orange meet up was hellish at that point. I just kept pushing the pedals. The final ride in was a bit slow. At first I was pulling a nice 9.1 MPH pace, but by the end I had dropped back to a 8.1. Oh well, not bad.
It was a excellent day out. It was not perhaps my best 16/17 miles. But it was better than any day at work, and a lot of fun. Now I just need to find a riding cohort who is off Mondays and wants to explore. Or else someone to lead me around the shed a bit, who doesn't mind slow riding, on one of my rare free Sundays or on a Monday.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Trail Building School
Had a good trail building/maintenance class at Wakefield for MORE trail liaisons on Saturday. Lots of good info for sure. Got to do some fun field work, play with Cannycom mechinized wheelbarrow/dump system. I'm now certified to borrow it for use on my trail work days. We also got to play clinometer's to measure the grade of slopes and to try our hand at planning good trail. I learned the 3 big rules, the 15% rule (trail grade). the half rule (of which your trail grade should be half what your actual grade is). And the 10% rule for the averaging of your trail grade over all.
After wards we did a ride of Wakefield, but i had to bail after 40 mins due to a late start on the ride. But got in about 6.5 miles anyways. We were flying, I was wondering why I was dieing. We avg'd out like 9.7 mph. On main trails at wake I usually run fro 7-8 depending on if I'm leading the casual rider group.
Hoping to hit gambrills tomorrow. I redid both derailer's cables this weekend and it needs a bit of tweaking in the morning on the rear d. Gotta pack the stand and cable adjustment tools I guess.
Finally moved Snow Day IPA to secondary. Tastes pretty good so far. Hopefully bottle at the end of next week or so. Rock Bottom beer isn't bad, the stout is got a good bit of coffee'ness and the brown is pretty good. Didn't try anything else.
After wards we did a ride of Wakefield, but i had to bail after 40 mins due to a late start on the ride. But got in about 6.5 miles anyways. We were flying, I was wondering why I was dieing. We avg'd out like 9.7 mph. On main trails at wake I usually run fro 7-8 depending on if I'm leading the casual rider group.
Hoping to hit gambrills tomorrow. I redid both derailer's cables this weekend and it needs a bit of tweaking in the morning on the rear d. Gotta pack the stand and cable adjustment tools I guess.
Finally moved Snow Day IPA to secondary. Tastes pretty good so far. Hopefully bottle at the end of next week or so. Rock Bottom beer isn't bad, the stout is got a good bit of coffee'ness and the brown is pretty good. Didn't try anything else.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
I need to ride more.
The title says it all. I have been hitting the gym much more regularly than since last spring and I know my core/shoulders are definitely getting stronger, I need to start doing more leg work. My power I think is increasing but the endurance boost just ain't happening.
Case in point, I rode about 30 on Thursday night around the CCT with a tiny bit of Wakefield (less than a mile i'd say). And I went out this morning for a snow ride. Damn my legs were still acting stupid. Now I admit i haven't been eating great and that was on a pretty light breakfast, so I will head out again later once it starts snowing hopefully later this afternoon, or tomorrow I will definitely try and do 10-15.
Ultimately I think to build my endurance it's going to require my getting a road bike. Well I've been looking at some budget SS/Cross rides and i hope maybe after taxes next month I might be able to pony down. Probably something like a Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno or Mercier.
Back to cleaning for me....Brunch break in an 45 mins.
Hope everyone out there is getting in some rides.
Also this afternoon or tomorrow I believe I will finally start what will be called Snow Day Ale, a hoppy little number. Almost an IPA but not quite.
Case in point, I rode about 30 on Thursday night around the CCT with a tiny bit of Wakefield (less than a mile i'd say). And I went out this morning for a snow ride. Damn my legs were still acting stupid. Now I admit i haven't been eating great and that was on a pretty light breakfast, so I will head out again later once it starts snowing hopefully later this afternoon, or tomorrow I will definitely try and do 10-15.
Ultimately I think to build my endurance it's going to require my getting a road bike. Well I've been looking at some budget SS/Cross rides and i hope maybe after taxes next month I might be able to pony down. Probably something like a Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno or Mercier.
Back to cleaning for me....Brunch break in an 45 mins.
Hope everyone out there is getting in some rides.
Also this afternoon or tomorrow I believe I will finally start what will be called Snow Day Ale, a hoppy little number. Almost an IPA but not quite.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wakefield Thursday Night Ride
Last night was another WF TNR. Alas, it was too soft at the normal start time for any trail riding so we spun out for 50 on the CCT. It was a good ride, though small only 4 of us for most of it. We kept a pretty stead but slow pace due to moderate headwind on the way out. The way back we stopped to do a hill that was a pretty good spin up and busted my lungs WAY Tooo Much. I gotta build more base miles!
On the way back we hit the Creek Trail, the lower half of phase 4 to the lower half of phase 1 and out Salamander. Good times.
It was sooo windy. PLB's and PLBE's were enjoyed before we departed for kilroy's.
One of the guys on the ride who is home brewer is going to hopefully hook me up with the plans for a simple cheap chiller for lagering/summertime brewing.
On the way back we hit the Creek Trail, the lower half of phase 4 to the lower half of phase 1 and out Salamander. Good times.
It was sooo windy. PLB's and PLBE's were enjoyed before we departed for kilroy's.
One of the guys on the ride who is home brewer is going to hopefully hook me up with the plans for a simple cheap chiller for lagering/summertime brewing.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Lotso Beer and a bit of Biking
Beer first I must say. Lots of recent trials and a few acquisitions.
At Whole Foods Lake Fairfax I finally tried Dale's. Nice! Smooth and crisp with nice hop balance. Not overly hopped and a nice bit of malt. Good head also. Excellent with the BBQ. Though I refuse to pay the $10 or whatever a 6 pack in cans. F-That.
Saturday - Brasserie Beck - Vday dinner sponsored by El Wyf! She hooked me up with an excellent dinner and we each drank 2 big belgians. Super nice!
I drank -
Rochefort 10 - Wow nice and dark and smooth. Super malty with nice hints of raisins plums and such. Bottled.
GuldenDraak - Damn nice. Draft from Keg. - Dark and malty also but less fruit than the Rochefort, a bit sweeter though it went very well with dessert. Hints of hops also cut the sweet at the finish, a bit. Pleasant long finish.
Wife had
Kwak - Bottled to interesting wooden handled glass thing. This earns points alone. Smooth and dark, with light fruit hints. Not as heavy as my 2 beers.
Damn can't remember her 2nd. But it was good. Edit later....:)
Check out there website at Brasserie Beck
Sunday - The Gordon for some crazy high end super nice cocktails. Then we hit Ulah for dinner and I had a Leffe Brune and it was super good with everything. Smooth and tasty.
I picked up a big bottle of Troegs Nugget Necktar and am looking forward to trying that and a big bottle of Weyerback Slam Dunkel, a double dunkelweizen to share with the wyf.
LAst week was a total fitness BUST. However I'm back on the bike, Sunday I hit black hills and suffered horribly. It's really embarrassing. A week of the bike and my legs went into total rebellion. So I punished them at the gym on monday doing a mix of box jumps, upper body and then road the upright cycle doing intervals for 40 mins. Today I got back out and rode Cabin John between Democracy and Tuckerman Ln. It was better than Sunday fro sure and my legs felt better, but I need to keep pushing more, and get out and just do some stupid mileage on the canal on Mondays. Alas I'm working next monday it appears.
Part of me is suicidally tempted to prep for riding up in Fredrock tommorow. We'll see, depends on weather and if I can entice any pokey riders out. Time to shower and make some dinner.
At Whole Foods Lake Fairfax I finally tried Dale's. Nice! Smooth and crisp with nice hop balance. Not overly hopped and a nice bit of malt. Good head also. Excellent with the BBQ. Though I refuse to pay the $10 or whatever a 6 pack in cans. F-That.
Saturday - Brasserie Beck - Vday dinner sponsored by El Wyf! She hooked me up with an excellent dinner and we each drank 2 big belgians. Super nice!
I drank -
Rochefort 10 - Wow nice and dark and smooth. Super malty with nice hints of raisins plums and such. Bottled.
GuldenDraak - Damn nice. Draft from Keg. - Dark and malty also but less fruit than the Rochefort, a bit sweeter though it went very well with dessert. Hints of hops also cut the sweet at the finish, a bit. Pleasant long finish.
Wife had
Kwak - Bottled to interesting wooden handled glass thing. This earns points alone. Smooth and dark, with light fruit hints. Not as heavy as my 2 beers.
Damn can't remember her 2nd. But it was good. Edit later....:)
Check out there website at Brasserie Beck
Sunday - The Gordon for some crazy high end super nice cocktails. Then we hit Ulah for dinner and I had a Leffe Brune and it was super good with everything. Smooth and tasty.
I picked up a big bottle of Troegs Nugget Necktar and am looking forward to trying that and a big bottle of Weyerback Slam Dunkel, a double dunkelweizen to share with the wyf.
LAst week was a total fitness BUST. However I'm back on the bike, Sunday I hit black hills and suffered horribly. It's really embarrassing. A week of the bike and my legs went into total rebellion. So I punished them at the gym on monday doing a mix of box jumps, upper body and then road the upright cycle doing intervals for 40 mins. Today I got back out and rode Cabin John between Democracy and Tuckerman Ln. It was better than Sunday fro sure and my legs felt better, but I need to keep pushing more, and get out and just do some stupid mileage on the canal on Mondays. Alas I'm working next monday it appears.
Part of me is suicidally tempted to prep for riding up in Fredrock tommorow. We'll see, depends on weather and if I can entice any pokey riders out. Time to shower and make some dinner.
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