Douthat Finally, Part 1

Finally after 2 previous years of trying to make this event I finally made it this year. And it was a blast. But really for me Douthat started Thursday as I left work for the WF Night ride. Got out moderately early and put a 6 mile warmup in, then intending for a pretty mellow group ride we laid down at 12 mile casual ride. OOps. Unfortunately we had a rider on the un-sanctioned fast group go down with a compound fractured arm in the early part of the Boy Scout trail in Accotink. He's doing well now but will be off the bike for 3 months.

I bailed from WF Early to go home and prep food/gear for an early'ish departure to meet my ride to Douthat in Man-ass-ass. I got my potluck dish ready and hit the sack a bit late around midnight. Woke up at 7:15 ate some breakfast purchased a few final items, packed the cooler, loaded the car and headed to meet about 15 minutes late. We ended up leaving Manassas at a bit past 9:30 and we rolled solidly arriving just over 3 hours later in Douthat State Park. Hit the campground setup the tents and as we were putting our sleeping bags in El Jefe rolled up. We helped him setup and by 3 we were bored and decided to hit a quick ride even though it was stoopid hot (93'ish). So we climbed up out of the campground up to the trail head for mountain top/mountain side. After a quick discussion we hit mountain side! A bit in and I mishit a gullied turn and fell back/down a gully. Suck. Got back on and caught up with Dave and Jason who were waiting and wondering where I was. We finally crest mountain side and have a nice view. Off we go to brush hollow. Descend a bit then blam! Flat on the rear. Ugh. I change the tire and right as I get the new tube in and start to pump the guys ride back up.

And Mr.Murphy shows up - My new spare tube apparently has a pin hole leak to start with. Jason loans me his spare. In it goes. Pump it up. Way up. And off we go. A bit of a switchback climb to the overlook. Another Great view northwards. We roll on and start the quick and epic brushy hollow descent. Damn fun! Meet up with the guys at the bottom and start rolling some little rocky stuff, stream crossings mostly. Blam! ARGH! Outa tubes and don't feel like patching. Start pushing the bike. Catch up to Jason and Dave near the swinging bridge near the road. I send em on and push back to camp. 2 miles later MOBL rolls by and sag wagons me the last half mile back to camp! My garmin track till my 2nd flat, Here!


Turns out lots of people had problems on Friday with flats. I know I talked with several other people during the weekend who had 2 on either Friday or Saturday. I used up all my patches and had to borrow some from Jen B to finish patching Ssturday morning.

Camp that night was a blast, we hung out, talked bikes, riding places, and had a good time. I passed out in my tent around 11:30 or so. Put my headphones in and was asleep even with being in one of the central camps in 20 mins or so!

Saturday was a better day :)

A few Tweaks and it will be ready

Shakedown was last night. It was a damn good first ride. The beast climbs like a mountain goat, and it does roll over stuff that slowed the old bike a lot, I rolled right across a rock garden in Accotink that had frustrated me for a Very Very Long time. (well a few weeks of trying and failing). Descending is a blast, and as I make a few small adjustments it will get better. And the 3x10 is actually pretty cool. I think I spent more time in the 2nd ring than I have in a while as I did end up in 2x2 (32x34) a few times to make climbs I'd previously granny'd on.

Blasting around Wakefield was a riot, I was really letting the bike go on the powerlines and it blazed thru.

I'm feeling very happy about the new bike. Picture soon.

Issues -
Brakes and shifters need to be moved in on the bar. To grip the brakes the way I like my damn hands were almost halfway off the bar!
Gotta drop some air out of the tires and see if they're a bit more stable. So far I'm holding my opinion on the Bonty XR's.
Seat - I like the seat in some ways but it feels too wide.

Gambrill First Ride Today

Man, what a day to ride frickin Gambrill for the first time! It was a great drive up with on and off flurries of snow. By the time I hit Fredrock it had slowed a bit, vs the MoCo-270 corridor.

Parked in the lot at around 10:15, 1 other car there but obviously a pedestrian as no bike tracks were visible. Finished changing gear and headed out a bit before 11.

Since I read a recent thread on the MORE forums about best routes, I knew I was going yellow and decided to do the clockwise from the lot loop, going across the street first and up to the Upper loop, then back down the other side.

Wow! It was fun, but damn sketchy in a LOT of places, some nasty black ice for sure under a fine layer of snow. Had the bike slip out from under me 3-4 times but caught myself each time. Had to push a few more hills than I would have liked but with the ice on some sides seeming worse I preferred that to a bad/dumb fall. I did make a few climbs with single dabs that I was proud of as well as 2 descents.

Lots of fun stuff to play with, I session a couple small sections trying to find best lines/etc. Some of the BIG formations were definitely a bit sketch but fun. It was a beautiful and empty day out on the trails with the snow and myself. Didn't see a single soul until I returned to the lot just in time to donate money infront of the very nice ranger. :) The envelope box was smashed and so I hadn't earlier. Oh well she was very nice about it.

Looking forward to trying again when less ice is present. A bit more snow would have made it funner also. I'll be back for sure now. I just have to get faster. Though a bit of that was due to creeping around turns/down straight sets where the ice tended to like to hide at a slow pace. :)

Post ride stop at Hard Times REALLY hit the spot.

Riding, Ride Like the, uh nevermind

Sorry, attack of those that shall not be named, this nice weather makes me want to drive a car with a convertible top, any car really.

Such nice weather here the past few days, so I've been outside a bunch and intend to the remainder of the week.

Sunday the wyf and I went out to wakefield to break my wife into riding clipless. It was quite an afternoon. She did great for the issues she was having. We need to adjust the tension on the pedals some more. She trouped through even after 3 different falls. Her 2nd lap was much better than the first. I'll try and get her back out there in the next week or two to solidify the course/area in her head.

Yesterday since I was off I snuck off for an hour and half of play on Cabin John in the beautiful weather. Nice day to be out rolling. Went from the Democracy Tennis center all the way up to goya drive and back. Took a non-direct way home and it totalled out nearly 15 miles, giving me 25 miles ish for the week already.

And suprise suprise, I weighted in later this evening and saw a new number I long thought gone, 205. EESH!