Blast Away!

Damn good night out on the trails yesterday after work. Got to WF just before 5, geared up and rolled out. I did a quick tour of WF then trucked over to hit Accotink quick before the main ride, and surprisingly made it back in good time! Felt pretty good that first lap. Did it somewhat in reverse for the main ride where we went to Accotink first, did only the front half, then we back-tracked to WF, and rode more trails. General most things were in pretty good shape excluding 495 after the berms and 495 before the berms due to construction. The lower entrance to Phase 4 was a mess, till you got the the 1st rock garden.

Great weather, warm and dry with a nice breeze at first, but a bit chilly when I left the lot just after 9:45. No 'roys for me I was a tired buck-a-roo. GPS logged 19.3 so I figure close to 22 actual miles.

Big ole group after wards as it was Steve-O's birthday for Cinco-de-Steve-O. We enjoyed cupcakes and a wide variety of PLB's. My wimpy dinner of Muscle MIlk and the cupcakes went very well, but having 2 cupcakes was a bit counter productive. GRRRR.

Right now the plan is to brew again tomorrow, then hopefully get in a solid ride at Patapsco on Sunday. However if it's looking rainy I may sneak of to Gambril's/The Shed and see if I can find anyone up there. If I don't brew Saturday then definetely Monday.

Beer, Glorius Beer!

Finally bottled my Hefe I brewed 2 weeks ago last night. It went super well with help from a buddy, and I think I had my most efficient EVER bottling with the least loss. I ended up with 54 bottles, and I could have done 1 more of Devil Brew with what was in the Final Gravity meter tube, the drip cup and the remains. But I was short bottles, and I was extremely stoked to get even 54. Previous best was I think 49 or 50 (or equivalent as I use 20's a LOT typically). To get my final 2 bottles I used the beer I drank while setting up and then I poured another beer for dinner that was the final bottle, that really wasn't sanitized much at all. So for now I'll call that one the DB.

Estimated ABV - 5.9% at the high end of a Hefeweisse. The yeast and temps have yeilded a more complex beer I think than my first one with a solid balance of fruit and spicy-ness.

Got it all cleaned up except the fermenter, which I need to pick up some brushes to clean fully. ugh!

Biking looks a bit iffy again this week due to the Whack Weather of DC we are suffering. 80 today with t'storms possible, rain tomorrow am, nice Thursday, rain Friday and possible.

Hopefully ride some dirt on Thursday. May try and sneak in another 'round the hood ride tonight, if the storms don't show or come in early.

Oh and following my hero, The Dark Lord of Single Speed Rich D, I've picked up some Ergon GX1's to replace my current grips that seem to think they are for motorcycle twist throttles.

Also picked up a new pair of gloves, as I seem to have lost one of my current fox gloves. Time for a trip to Cycle Powersports in Falls Church soon to get some summer gloves, etc.

The great mail cleanup

Sometimes you just have go thru all the damn email. My work primary email was up over 500 messages. The 2nd'ary was pushing 150. Gmail was getting bloated. It was time to take out the trash, handle the important and kick back the crap.

4 Hours later my inbox's combined have about 100 messages. 30 in each of my work emails, and about 40 in gmail. God what a hassle but I did take care of about 20 billion little things.

Yesterday was the IMBA Laurel Hill .GOV ride with local movers/shakers in policy positions in DC. It was pretty good, 40 or so riders out with 5 newbie's, 10-15 non regular riders (at least of mTB) and another 20 regular riders or such. Good spin for our casual group doing Slaughter house and a bunch of the perimeter trails at LH. 8 miles from our start in the Occaquan Park. Nice

GPS should be in the side bar. Maybe pics to come from the after part. I need a camera bag for mounting on the bike.

Tomorrow will may be a self trip up to Gambril/shed or a ride at Schaeffer with Jen. We'll see.

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.

Press-fit is Silly.

Yep, thanks Trek and Gary Fisher and Shit-mano for introducing another semi-useless, more annoying technology to "improve" our bikes.

You call it BB90 with Press-fit bearings! I get how wider is better for bottom brackets. 2 Semesters of college physics plus tons of auto work as a kid helping my old man repack bearings during the summers when bored at his work. So I do get why this is a somewhat improvement. What I don't get is what MORON said hey lets put in non serviceable, not easily replace bearings that must be pressed in!

On my old bike with external bb I could pull the cranks and full clean each cup/cap set in about 30 minutes and re-install. If I had the interest with the right tools I could even open the bearings and re-grease them. (Or if pimped out with CK BB I could use the Fittings and do it very quickly).

I did my best to "service" the bb short of breaking out a chisel and investigating how REALLY dumb this design is. I wiped all the accumulated crap off the shell, the bearing faces the interior area's. I re-greased the back of the bearings that had some REALLY crappy grease. I couldn't find my high grade synthetic so I used good ole polypro from Park Tools. Re-ass-embled, and went out for a 40 minute test ride. No signs of creaking from the BB Area. Lots of bugs in my eyes though, gotta remember to wear glasses if going out anywhere near water near dark these days. UGH.

Hmmm might have to spend some money with Park Tools again in the near future

http://www.parktool.com/product/p/pressfit-bottom-bracket-bearing-tool-set-bbt-90-3

http://www.parktool.com/product/bearing-cup-press-hhp-2

Don't believe the Hype!

Clip and Ride and Walk

Did my good deed part 2 for April. After riding a fun lap at Laurel Hill yesterday I retrieved the trusty hand clippers and went out and clipped back the Giles Run trail from say Too Cool Hipster Length to more like slightly Shaggy Pretty Boy Length. Took a couple of hours, but when I re-rode it after wards it made a huge difference in not having to twist myself like a pretzel to avoid thorns, leaves, etc. Though I did see 2 spots that needed improved trimming. However I was done. 15.24 miles of Riding and probably 3 miles of walking with back and forth trimming on the trail.

Thursday was a good ride in Accotink land with a good pre-ride and a solid regular ride. 15.63 miles. So probably about 34/35 miles last week plus the clipping. I'm down with that.

Gonna have to sneak and peak rides in this week as we have lots of storms/rain. Thursday isn't looking good at all.

And taking the un-frickin believable award for the month? Dicky ate found shot blocks while riding down at Amelia Island. Scroll down about 2/3'rds of the way.
Dicky loves found food!

Beer fermentation has slowed to a couple of bubbles a minute from its rapid ferment Thursday. But it's still going.

Tonight I disassemble the cranks and see just how annoying these new press-fit bottom brackets are going to be. The guys at the bike lane (At least burke) haven't had to service one yet. Hopefully mine won't be first. But I'm not counting on it. Grrr. Best case scenario is that I can clean the grime/stuff out, re-grease the crankshaft and it will be G2G.

Bring that Beer Back

Well for the first time in over 2 years I brought out the brew gear tonight and performed mad science on malts, green goodness and yeast. I think the batch may turn out pretty good, it had aI' super quick chill thanks to cold ass water still in the lines/ground maybe 5-6 minutes to sub 100 and 8 or 9 total to near 70.

2 3.3lb Briess Wheat LME
1 Oz MT Hood 6.1% Hops for bittering
1/2 oz Mt Hood 6.1 for Aroma
Wyeast 3333 German Hefe Yeast in a smack pack.

I'll check it's fermentation in the morning.

Names Options are so far:
Summer Day Wheat
82Deg Day Hefe
Hefe #Duex
Glorius Weizen.

Damn warm today wish it would be that temp tomorrow for the ride really.

I'm off to bed, brewing is a ton of work!

My work week so far.

Back to Normal here in DC

Well it's raining so things seem back to normal. Legs are almost fully recovered from being miserable Monday and Tuesday. My shoulder is still frickin weird, though trying to do push ups yesterday did not help. D'oh.

I was right in my estimate of our position in the Bakers Dozen results, in that we finished 27th of 39 teams with 8 laps in 11H:10M. 2 More laps would have moved us up to probably only 20. Top team had 17 laps duo, then 4 16 Lap teams, then 2 14 Lap Teams. Ugh! It was still a fun time and I'm hoping to try it again next year.

Looks like stuff clears up late today then we have a couple decent days then rain again Saturday. Awesome. Not.

Works blowing the up and I may be skipping a trip this weekend I've been looking forward to since the winter. Damn it.

Bakers Dozen Links
The Start - Youtube Video With yours truly cruising along near the end 30 to 32 seconds.

Carl Bruce - Photos

JCS48 - Flickr Photos

Mud Racin is Rubbin.,,

Left here a bit late on Saturday morning at 6:15 with a quick stop for Ice and hit the Race Course a bit before 6:50 AM.

Nearly got stuck pulling in, but managed to escape the muck. Found an okay parking spot away from the existing crowd and started scoping for a good camping spot! Picked one up near the trees/rocky hill in the center but it was the cows favorite spot to poo apparently. Found a mostly patty free area to put my tent then used a tarp up front to give me a safe entrance.

Barely used the damn tent. Changed/lived in the car mostly. Next year I need to bring some spare gloves, and more headbands especially if I'm doing laps. More/easy food to eat early when finishing laps. Maybe post lap kits, having longer down times would help so with getting food in easier.

1st lap was a bitch with how muddy it was. Traffic was pretty well split up 2 miles in. Pushed a bit to hard on the lap. 2nd lap the course was pretty wet still the new section was really rough and stayed/got worse the whole race. Rode a better pace I think. 3rd lap was really rough cramps and stiff on the way out. If I had not been starving I should have doubled that lap, then gotten a final 5th. Oh well. 4 was good really except being tired and nearly falling near the end of the pine forest. Ugh.

Adjusting for GPS lost time I think I had around a 7.4 to 7.8 mph average. I'm pretty happy ATC.

Ate 2 sausage links after, then later 2 slices of peporoni pizza, then crashed early. Woke up a few times with cars leaving and a few loud neighbors. I was wiped out. Going out to the porto-let blew it was miserable getting out the sleeping bag. Terrible.

Woke up and gathered gear, helped pack the XXL area then packed up my camp site.

Back at home doing laundry, ate a bunch of pancakes and eggs. Relaxing.

Ready, Set, Rain then Go

25 Hours from the big race start and the nerves are starting to flare just a bit but I'm practicing mindfullness of The Force(TM)(R)(C), and keeping all thoughts positive.

Had a good but pretty short ride at WF of a logged 7.5 miles so I'll round up to 8. Kept the HR out of Zone 10 and my legs only feel lightly spun right now and thats good. We made a good pace and it felt pretty frickin easy. TONS of riders out I think we had 28 or 29 sign in and with a few late folk who didn't. And a ton of non-group riders. It was a blast! Conditions over all were good on the trails.

Good weather thoughts....Only minimal sprinkly rain today. Good weather thoughts!!!

Gear is mostly assembled for the morning. Have to pick up some snack supplies and some post ride chow to grill/donate. Water is purchased and in the car already. Gotta pull together the newt-trition gear though I realize (Gu's, Supplements, Hammer products, etc). As usual potassium loss will be my big enemy, and since I can't eat @#$@#$@ banana's its all on the supplements/additives. SUCK!

Crushed like a beer can at a Frat Party in 85.

Subject sums up how I'm feeling physically. 4 rides in last 6 days is awesome but I'm wiped out. Gotta relax the rest of the week for Bakers. Do a light ride on Thursday. Gotta remember to carbo load a bit extra this week though.

Rode Cabin John today and it was in great shape. Schaeffer was pretty damn good yesterday.

We'll see how things go. Better update tomorrow. Today's weather was unreal. Saw 86 Degrees on the way home.

Nice, Nice, Naughty?

WEIRD Frickin weather the last few weeks. The best way I can some it up is that if you are prepared to ride, you may be able to. For me to get in 3 rides in the last week was nearly unheard of since maybe the fall. Yesterday turned out really nice, thursday blew kinda but tuesday was nice.

At Schaeffer Farm yesterday we had the first Ride Leader Clinic. Only had 3 people attend but I feel that any of the 3 now do feel able to lead/organize rides, where I don't think they would have felt comfortable setting up rides on their own before.

Good people.

We then rode the farm doing Yellow, blue, yellow field loop to the cell tower then back up that to yellow then did the orange bypass then back on the blue bypass and back to the lot. FElt good. My 2nd ride up their on the new bike and when it wasn't wet it rode REAL nice compared to the first time when I was slipping around on everything that was wet.

Gonna slip in another good ride today, we're supposed to hit mid to high 70's!!! Gotta decide if I'm going to punish myself and do a Fountain hell visit or go maybe lake ffx. Hmmm.

Stoked for the race coming this weekend, but also kinda scared of the weather, calling for scattered T-storms. Tents/popups are bad things along with being on bikes during t-storms.

Nice, Nice, Naughty?

New Sponsors

New Sponsor - Derma-GU

And my new favorite thing Here!

It was quite moist down there...really.

Went for a solo CCT south bound tour tonight. Everyone else had better sense than I and stayed home and warm. The way out it wasn't bad light mist in the air. Some sections were really pretty dry. Got to the top of the exit for Gambrill road off 7100. The way back wasn't too bad till I got down off Hunter Village Dr. Then the sprinkle/misting picked up to a light rain I guess. By the time I hit the lake I was pretty wet on top but dry underneath. After the long grind back up Queensbury to Wakefield Parking lot I was really moist, thru most of my top layer. The endura's kept me mostly dry along with the pearl over pants.

It was kind of a light weight test run for rain/water management for Bakers Dozen. I think I'll be in okay shape but i have to bring some extra junky towels along. Time for a trip to homewarez depot for cheap dirt brown towels.

No gps route again as I thought I forgot it but it was just buried in my clean cloths. Oh well a similar route looked to be about 15 miles.

tuBLESS? tuBLISS!

Sitting at work counting my penny's today I thought about a conversation I had earlier in the week with Christopher and the guys at the bike lane, in burke post LH ride. And I realized that while converting the whole bike to tubeless is a bit costly, converting just the rear wheel costs half as much! Hurrah! Viola! Eureka!

This was spurred on knowing that in just over 2 weeks I'll be facing my arch-tube-nemesis, Douthat State Park where I once had 3 pinch flats in 1 day till I went to almost 45lbs in my rear tire!

Not very fun that! Plus I should be able to get this in and installed in-time for Bakers Mudfest, err Dozen. While yes I'm being a bit alarmist, the pattern seems to indicate we may be in for a rainy day that Saturday. I've had I guess one other flat than that also so I'm hoping that the conversion alleviates the flat problem before and it's a blissful long weekend of riding at Douthat.

It is not looking to good for a ride tonight as of right now. Though we are seeing a GAP in the weather I'm tempted to do a messy CCT ride right now. Just wish the backup wasn't popping gears.

Catchup

Been a weird/busy March I've realized. Between relatives passing away, work, trips and bad weather my riding this month has been in the crapper. And I've got a major enduro race thats 10 days away. Lovely. I had a good start to the month but where I rode in like a Lion with some big rides (Even just paved trail). I've gone out like a lamb really. I've logged 30 miles in the last calendar week (Tues -> Tuesday) with 15 miles on the WO&D last thurs and 15'ish out at LH last night.

So I rode the 3rd at Wakefield/Accotink (Preride). the 4th thru the the 16th I was totally slack in Whor-lando. The 17th was the first accotink evening ride/St.Patty's ride. The 24th I did WOD and yesterday the 29th. Maybe the rain will end early and I'll slip in another quick ride thursday. So maybe I'm between 40 and 45 miles for the month. The last week of Feb I had 60 and the whole month I had i think 130 miles. Eeesh. I need a road bike in Orlando I think. And here honestly.

So looking forward I'm gonna try and sneak in a ride Thursday or definitely Friday after work. Then hopefully a good ride on Sunday at Schaeffer after the Ride Leadership Clinic. Then Joy! Another very wet week leading up to Bakers Dozen. Can anyone say MUD FEST! If they delay it a week I don't know what I'll do as right now I'm set to go down to douthat that weekend following.

Tired tired tire....

Damn good ride last night. We had amazing weather, trails were in moderate to good condition (Accotink was good, WF was moderate). With near 70degree starting temps and finishing in the mid-low 60's with a nearly full moon we had amazing riding. And being back in Accotink on the regular ride was excellent.

I arrived early and pre-rode Wakefield. The lower area of the bowl is a mess. The new drainage covert under 495 pushes a LOT of water in big rains apparently. The stream crossing near 495 is nearly not ridable in one direction. TONS of errosion even on the access trail. Creek trails weren't bad in any unexpected way. Powerlines were surprisingly good.

For the main ride we went over to Accotink. I separated the casual into Casual and a plus group. The plus group had some issues with flats while leaving Accotink and I think we out rode them :) Accotink's first section was great though I did slip and fall on the new trail at the tight turn on the hill. Oh well too much breaking, it was an easy fall. A ways in we picked up Howard also who was riding very easy on his recovering broken hand. He rode the rest of the night with me and JoJo. We only did the first third of accotink as we started a bit late and darkness set in pretty quick and we kept the pace pretty casual. We rolled back to WF and rode the creek trail to phase 1 to the race course to powerlines the upper half of phase 1 back out salemander and were done. We rolled 9 miles I think on GPS so probably close to 10 total. My preride was 7 measured so probably near 18 miles total yesterday.

Post ride was a good time to. Enjoyed some Black Magic's, and other fine PLB's before we went to Kilroys. Good times.

TRAILS!

WOW! I rode perfectly mostly acceptable trails yesterday. Accotink was 98% ok and Wakefield probably 95%. It was damn good. The WF portion was a bit short at 7.5 miles but the Accotink was probably around 8 with the over and back. It was really nice for accotink but by the time the sun went down and we rode wakefield it had REALLY cooled down. Brrr. Spoiled by the weather last weekend.

OOOO and my cyclepassion calendar/video just came in. Nice.

Bikes going in for replacement spoke on the rear wheel, truing, adjusting and brake check.

GPS is on the fritz. GRrrrr.

New Hauler

Had to upgrade the bike transport system due to ongoing failure of the power train. Weird bad engine sounds indicating pending failure of major component. Probably either a main bearing or something. 181k miles on the ole 1999 Altima. It was a damn good car. I got it almost 11 years ago and put 150K of those miles on it.



The new ride is a new Rogue SV. Nice. Comfy. Decent mileage. I was thinking truck (Tacoma or Frontier 4x4 with Crew Cab) but the mileage was just too bad and with gas prices going the way they are this is a good middle ground I think. Should be about the same mileage I was getting out of the Altima as I traded it.

Now I just need to scrape together some cash next payday to get a hitch and rack for it.

Rolling Around Town

Got in a great ride with a bunch of folks from LORO on Sunday. Chris and I rode from Spokes in Vienna to the East Falls Church metro station and met up with them. We then rode down to National Harbor in MD using the WO&D, 4 Mile Run Trail, and the Mt. Vernon. 42 miles for me. My legs were cooked when I was done. Random cramps last night while relaxing if I overly stretched my legs in one specific way. No night cramps though so that's cool.

Weather is looking better this week, might be able to ride trails by Thursday again. Hmmm.

I was planning on a Sunday Fountain Head Casual but it seems no joy rain in the forecast. Maybe I can slip in a morning one or the weather will shift out another day. hahahah.

Need to take some TLC on the giant tonight. its a frickin rusted mess. I feel terrible.

Toast....Milktoast.... Expanded

3 Days in a row success. 25 miles tonight. that puts me at 45 this week. Might try a commute in tomorrow or saturday. Felt good up till the last 20 mins tonight when my ass started complaining. But with 2.5 hours of saddle time I'm not surprised.

Wakefield was not in good shape for riding in most area's. Maybe Saturday. Probably Sunday.

It was a beautiful night for riding, I think the entire ride it averaged around 57 degrees. We had several sections where we had to run dark and it was a blast. Can't beat weather like this, a nice taste of spring. This next week we have a bit of a roll back towards normal of 30-50 range stuff. But still better than the crap in January/Dec of 15 to 30.

Updated - I was falling down tired when I first posted this last night. Or perhaps a better analogy was the lawn mower, my ass and grass. Regardless I was a zombie almost.

Today the legs are a bit tired, I didn't ride in as I woke up late and had to drop a friends extra key set off at his work. But with the weather on tap tonight I am going to get out and do a few miles just to loosen the legs up. And I'm hoping to commute in tomorrow morning.

Also in my Blame Rich Dillen segment I'm blaming RD for ruining America by providing me with the link to:

The Fucking Weather

Thanks Rich!

BBQ with a side of Mud

Tuesday I did another out and back on the WO&D this time managing to LOG the whole thing on the gps. We also did the single track at the area, but really shouldn't have in retrospect. Large sections of ice and mud were present. As it was all on northern facing slopes that's not too surprising. On the way back we hit Carolina Brothers BBQ and picked up some smoked goodness to go. Both the beef and pork are top notch! No sauce required.

Last night was my first MORE BOD meeting as staff. Went a bit long but we had a lot of ground to cover and got most things done. Some good points, and some points requiring thought. Accidentally semi-volunteered to co-organize the MORE Summer Party. Fortunately venue is already mostly set and organized for a great price (FREE). Some where in MD is all I will say for this year.

I need some idea's for kid friendly stuff. That seems to be one of the BIG Complaints from previous years. Some people were saying a moon bounce would be good, others were saying bike stuff for the kids, cause we might as well start brainwashing, errr reinforcing good things like cycling early. Putting together some short loops, or maybe an unofficial kids race or two were mentioned. Or skills stuff.

Pre meeting I worked out work frustration at Accotink. Quiet a bit was ok, but also some was walking only. Say 60 good/40 bad. El Jefe reported the bowl was not very good. I'm thinking today may be a mix of CCT/etc. I think by Saturday trails may be ok. We'll see.

Ice-Field-o-Tink

Well I got out of the slave labor camp at work at a decent time considering the full on CF that was work. I want to send out a special FU to all the script kiddies and makers of various malware.

Hit Accotink around 5pm or so, the entrance from Danbury Forrest to Boy Scout was a half inch to inch of compressed sheet ice. With a frosting of snow. No way I made it up that. Rode up a ways on a side road and entered and nearly ate it twice. After figuring out the sides of the trail were safe I scooted into Accotink trails proper. Gas CO had been out in force sawing out some trees obviously. But still tons of little shit and non main trail stuff down, just in the front half. co,ldn't make it to the 2nd half due to ice on shaded south/easterly trail side stuff. Saw flags for the new section of trail. The part put in last fall is starting to burn in a bit.

After wards went to Wakefield and slipped in a nice preride before the main ride. Late start due to a few late arrivals..cough..Steve...cough.... Small group in casual but I bet we may have covered almost as much distance as intermediate. We did 7 miles. Rocked out most of the bowl. Rusted Truck. Race Course in reverse 495 section to the ascent hill. Phase 2, Berms, top half of phase 1. Part of phase 4. Race course creek trail. Creek Trail to half way and out. And more stick removal than I've even seen. Mike pulled out 4 sticks from his drive train in 100 yards at one point.

A Wee Breeze

Got out and road with Chris after work up the WO&D for about 6 miles. Crazy mix of wind on the way out. Slogging along on the fat tires was a hard bit of work. Especially being off the bike for almost 3 weeks. UGH. The way back was fun though. We rolled back in a LOT less time. Saw a few joggers and a few commuters out. Maybe 6. Sure it wasn't single track, but you take what you can get. I wish this damn snow would finish melting.

Next time I plan to hit that BBQ place along the way for sure!

Uh...yah.. I know all about this one.

LateLateLateLate

Whats a bike?

I sure as hell don't know at this point. I really need to plan out a purchase of a road bike for times like now.

The giant has been living on the back of the car for the last week and it shows. The chain is orange. The rear rotor is showing a bit of orange. Ugh.

Damn rust.

Plenty of beer going around lately. Went to the Whole Foods Beer Class last night. Big Beers for the big game. 12 Big Beers. 5 IPA's. 2 Barley Wines, and 5 other beers. Damn good but damn I was a bit hammered by the time I got home. Realized I drank around 24 to 30 OZ. I would say 2 to 3 Oz pours. With ABV's ranging from 6 to 10 and change I calculated I drank around 2 to 2.5 7% beers which is like 4 or 5 crap beers. In about an hour and change.

Afterwords I glorped up 2 more bottles of Terrapin Side Project 13 - Big Daddy Vlady's Russian Imperial Stout, and another bottle of New Hollands Night Tripper! Hell ya!

2 Amy's Review

Went to 2 Amy's last night and had some AWESOME pizza, appetizers, and ice cream and beer!

The wait was 45 minutes when we got there around 8. We went to the bar in the back which was moderately full, but not packed. We surveyed the tasty brews on tap. I opened with Rogue Oatmeal Stout, J had Verdi Imperial Stout. The rogue was good with a nice level of bitter. The verdi was very smooth and complex. I only caught hints of the chili in it.

Verdi Imperial Stout from Birrificio Del Ducato

In about 25 minutes we got sat down up stairs and went on the food offensive. I was starving. We opened with the braised duck and polenta. The duck was a little underwhelming flavor wise. Then a goat cheese and fig jam side plate. Tasty.

We also order a bottle of Demon Hunter. Damn interesting. Smooth, very complex. Not as dark as they made it sound. But it went really well with the App's and the pizza.

Demon Hunter from Birrificio Montegioco

For Pie's we had a traditional Margherita Extra Tomato with mozzarella di bufala, cherry tomatoes and arugula on top, and a Norcia Tomato with salami, grilled peppers, fresh mozzarella, grana. Ahhhh heaven. I wish the crusts were a little firmer/but the edge was excellent.

We finished up with an excellent bowl of Honey ice cream. Super smooth and rich.

Excellent food, interesting beer, tasty small plates. I rate 2 Amy's very highly.

I'll be back!

Snow Ride Fail - Sled Ride Win

The snow at WF last night was just still to deep with a semi-hard crust to make riding possible (even with an endomorph up front). So after some mild grumbling by the assembled misfit cyclists we proceeded from the regular parking lot to the high side of the ball field lots. After getting the rear of the big red truck set as our Weigh Station for Warming Beverages, we started sledding down the short but steep hill. I think the last time I went actually sledding may have been either 1990 or 1991. unless you count sliding down a hill with a snowboard on your feet on your butt.

After some warm up runs we started going for distance. This required navigating a moderately difficult path between the big red truck, a water fountain and a parking lot divider to maximize your distance. I put on the first record run not trying very hard. Dumb luck. Liz soon beat me, then Larry surpassed that. Eventually Scud stepped up and put in a MUCH longer distance and things got more serious. People started trying. Unfortunately the track was starting to wear and it took solid control to not end up on the divider or hitting the truck. Eventually after a couple back and forth lead changes El Jefe put in the biggest run getting almost to the street. Next year we bring a tape measure! And more shovels to build a ramp.

Hopefully we are done with the semi-annual MORE Sled Ride at Wakefield for the year. I keep hearing SNOW in the forecasts though.

Ordered a SWEET Ahearne flask and holder today.

And some evil genius at Plum Grove/Rockland MTB has added 1.2 miles to tomorrow's snot cycle course to re-route around a downed tree. Fun for racing in Saturday's hell.

Time to go medicate my aching body.

More BEER than Bike and more Work than ever

What a weekend. An all call for something led to a long busy weekend of work and missing the first MORE board meeting. Sure I'm only staff but I wanted to be there but work owes me big now. Oh well. Not that I'm feeling sad for not riding in the hella-cold that was Sunday.

Lots of beer enjoyed recently, notables include

Sierra Nevada 2008 Wet Hop - very nice and smooth adn super well balanced. I wouldn't call it an IPA, it's more of an amber ale almost. Very nice regardless.

New Holland - Night Tripper Imperial Stout - Super nice and smooth a bunch of the fellas enjoyed Friday at work with Deep Fried Turkey. Almost as good as Terrapin Side Project - Dark Side Stout. Maybe one step down on complexity but very rich, malty and tasty.

Exit 4 - Not sure the brewery but a very nice IPA.

Mudfest

Wakefield was soaked and like peanut butter in a lot of area's so we did the CCT which was pretty wet and muddy too.

I'll link up some pictures later.

It was a good ride of chatting with folks like Jason, Sarah, Todd and the others. We had 14 riders out.

We finsihed pretty early and were done a roy's by a bit after 10.

Snow Party 2011

We actually had a REAL good ride last night with about 20 some riders out grinding around Wakefield in a real thin coat of crunchy snow remains from Tuesdays snow. I thought it would be icy underneath but it was actually fine. The only bad ICE was the creek crossing on the bowl near the entrance road, it was frozen nearly solid and 3 of the 5 of us fell down. I warned em. Rolled a solid 9 miles maybe 10 with the group, then did 4 by myself before hand.

When that wind hit you though, damn it was KILLER!

Afterwards I enjoyed a REALLY good beer that I've gotta hit Jason up for.

Also the other day I had a River Horse Amber - REALLY good I'm going to pick up a few River Horse 6's at Total Wine this weekend.

Fun and Freezin Rain!

After getting done late today I scooted directly over to the Cub Run Rec Area and noodled around on the trails. It's a bit of paved, a bit of single track, and mostly double track. But it's quick and close and fun. At least this time I didn't prat fall on a stupid tiny rock, like in the summer. Tried to get a bit of video but that didn't work out it appears my glove was all over it and it ended too soon. Oh well. Got a few fun pictures. A few big flakes visible falling.

Near the end it start raining/snowing a bit. Then it went serious. Freezing rain. I carefully rode my way home along the paved trails. By the time I was getting to the house the sidewalks were also getting slick. My fleece and helmet had a coat of ice :) Pics to follow.

Slackin

You know when your still in your ride kit after 3 hours at work your:
A) Busy, B) Slack, C) Both

Today I can legitimately claim C.

The early commute in was actually pretty nice with less cars. I made it in about 20 minutes total time and 15:45 rolling. Felt better in general and was able to push in the big ring the whole way. Hopefully a snow ride thru Cub Run on the way back. Debated heading down to Wake-o-tink but I don't want to mess with prime snow traffic. Snow ride my way home and relax with a beer and a big bowl of chili.

Watched Scott Pilgrim vs the world last night - FUNNY AS HELL!

Why so tired.

Went to Conway Robinson with Tuba yesterday and I started out actually feeling pretty good but a bit in my legs gave up and never recovered. I was grinding hard and WAY more in granny than I should have been. It blew. Ended up with 10 miles and a decent amount of climbing from doing the orange section twice.

Tuba posed his bike in the massive boulder field on a limb and took pictures ending up with him scrambling to the top of a boulder.



So in 9 days of riding this year I've hit 3 parks, and racked up about 40 miles. Not bad but I'm going to push more. This week I'll get Accotink on Thursday, and maybe I'll supplement with Cub Run (non official) on the way home tomorrow. On the nearby radar I've got gambrill's and Bakers Dozen coming up very soon.

Terrapin Side Project #13 - Big Vladyz Russian Imperial Stout - Excellent very smooth/rich on the mouth. Nice big RIS. Forgot to check the ABV. I'm gonna try and find 2 more bottles. 1 to save for a year or more and 1 for whenever.

Fro-zone and Where's the Snow?

I was lead to believe we would have some snow on the ground today.

Alas there was no fluffy white stuff on the ground out in Chantilly-ville. It was still a fun change to ride in and surprisingly I had my layers almost perfect. Nice 3.5 miles. So with 14 yesterday at Wake and 9 at Greenbriar Sunday I'll be at 30 at least for the new year. Maybe I'll even go nuts and ride in again tomorrow to push towards 40 for the week.

Wakefield is a damn rutted mess. When I started riding at 5:45 yesterday there were still a number of softspots. By 7:30 I think everything was frozen. At ride start it was around 30. By the time we were done I think it was 28. Some serious ruts out in the powerlines/phase 2 and on the creek trail. Also the powerstation descent is a horrible mess. TONS of riders out I think we had 20 signatures but I know a few late arrivals never signed in.

PLB's were quality time as TBL had brought out the heaters again. Todd and Anne rock! We had a few and then a Jefferson chaser. After wards 'roys was empty really.

Off Roading....on Mars

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

Right now they are working on loading/mounting the SAM unit to the MSL (New Mars Rover/science lab).

This is one of the 2 major projects my wife is working on and eventually she will be interpreting data it sends back in a year or two.

The MSL is about the size of a mini cooper, 4x the size of the old rovers at least.

Kumbaya Greenbriar

And a climbing we went. 1500 ft worth almost in an hour and a half in 9 miles.. To put that into perspective.

WF in 14 miles I log about 800 FT.
Santos Trail in Fl about 14 miles for 500 ft.
Fountain Head about 16 miles for 2100 ft. (2 laps)

It was a good group of 9 other guys out enjoying a damn nice day to ride. Got some great shots out over the lake. One of em almost looks painted. I'll get em up soon. Warm temps even saw 47 on top of one of the ridge lines. A few nice descents and 2 tough climbs. I would like to try red again without wet leaves, still dunno if I would make it. Don't have a clue how the Single Speeders make it up the damn thing.



On the down side it seems my RD is out of adjustment as a few times while shifting to super granny it went right past the last cog and into the damn spokes. GRR. So out comes the bike stand after I clean it up tonight. Try and adjust it back myself before taking it to the TBL.

300 and a ride

Had a nice mellow CCT/Light Trail ride last night. Things at WF were a bit damp in some area's at first, so we did the CCT out to the tunnel and back, then rode the creek trail to phase 4, to upper phase 1 then creek back to the rec center. It was pretty nice. Not that cold. Used the moose mitts with a new pair of gloves. Very nice, my hands were perfect.

The bike is a MESS. Gotta clean it up tonight and get it ready for Sunday's Kumbya Trail Ride at Greenbriar.

New helmet is nice. It's nice not to have old stinky helmet head. Got a great deal on a very nice 2009 Bell Volt. Hopefully the anti-microbial stuff will help keep it less stinky.

Surprisingly this is my 300th blog post here. I think my livejournal account which I've had for almost 10 years only has 400.

Merry Bike-mas to all!

Have a merry Bike-mas and may all your biking (and well non biking) desires come true!

I'm off to toddle around the hood on my neighbors old cruiser.

Santos is pretty cool, Vortex Park is WOW!

Rode the Santos Trail system today in Ocala FL. Mainly the main park. I did venture in and do the pump track, and large parts of the Vortex Red Loop (But not the actual free ride hits, I did roll past them both high and low.). Pretty sweet. I got some good photos of some of the skills stuff. They build some really narrow elevated stuff. I'm talking some stuff was 8-10 inches maybe. None of that wussy 2 foot crap everywhere thats flat.

14 Miles of Logged Riding (I expect 15 to 20% loss due to twistiness of trails/cover) had drum roll please.......470 feet of climbing. Thats around 1/2half a percent of a percent grade on average. 33 Feet Per Mile.

The DJ section was insane.

MORE later. Off to ache in the shower.

Beer - OH YAH!

Went down to the liquor store near my parents to pick up a 6 pack of something.

I ended up with 2 six's. One of Terrapin Hopsecutioner and Rogue Mocha Porter. While talking to the beer guy he told me about a new place that was on the other side of the shopping center.

World of Beers. 40 on Tap. 400 bottles. CHEAP! compared to DC. I ended up with a Barnardius Christmas Ale. $7 bucks! HOLY Moly! about a 1/3rd or less cheaper than DC. I'm gonna hit it a few times for sure this week.

W-o-B

Dr.Phillips Current Draft List

Snow, hell yah!

Awesome snow ride tonight. Great people, great fun. I'll post more thoughts and pics tomorrow. The motionbased is up and should be linked in the side bar.

Traffic to there was really pretty good!

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.

Can you dig it???

Damn, winter time is a real mixed bag for riding for me. I love the frozen, hard fast speed of trails. Places like Wakefield feel quicker, and at something like the rose, you can REALLY fly. I also enjoy night riding a lot. I think I'm going to commit to more night riding in the spring and fall and maybe some summer trips to places I can night ride also. But the cold sucks. It sucks mightly. 24 and change degrees when we finishes last night.

Ooo and we have a good chance for SNOW next weekend. Damn!

ON the plus size, I have to say Moose Mitts kick ass. Mostly. The fall off my bars a bit, so i'm going to have to sew on some sort of loop/hook to hold onto the bar and and maybe something to make them a wee bit less floppy.

The big plus is once I got a bit warm, I was fine in them just wearing my normal full finger summer gloves!

Got some cool pre-ride photo's and a few shots of the Ice on my bike after wards. GPS track should be cool also. Group rolled about 10 miles in an hour and a half. Not bad for hacking a lung out while riding.

Down with a Sickness

FCK! Woke up Saturday am with a cough and sore throat. By today it had fully moved into my chest. So I am hydrating, drinking tea, and eating soup, it gets me clear for a bit but then blech it's back. Hoping to kick this thing by Tuesday but I'm not counting on it. Just hope to be fully back on track by Thursday.

Got to enjoy the new TV a bit, LOST on blue ray is awesome. Starting from the beginning. Oh well relaxing ain't such a terrible way to spend a down Sunday.

Next Sunday it's Trail Work @CJ. Supplementary work and a short re-route.

Hopefully a better week of work and a better week of Riding.

Check out the new Trail Rat achievement for MORE 2011 - HERE.

Mixed Modes and Options

Let me start off and say I've been laughing my head off at this since Thursday morning, and if you ask me a question involving MTB right now, it's probably going to start off with something about Options:

We have Options!

Trails at WF were still a bit wet, but better than I thought we would be. I got in a pretty good preride of what was almost 5 miles on the gps. Then we rallied what turned out to probably be near 20 riders in the lot and after a slight mis-start we were off. We did Rusted Truck out to the CCThing out to 50. Going under the road in the tunnel under Pickett Rd (I think) was a bit of an adventure. 12 Miles on the CCThing then about 3 more at WF doing the creek trail to sewer line, back along phase 2 to phase 4. Then the upper half of phase 1, ascent hill and berms, back to Salemander and up and out the hell hill. 15 Miles almost on GPS.

Damn nice ride for what may have been really crappy. Good to hang out and chat on the ride and in the lot afterward.

Not sure where I'm gonna ride this weekend. Laurel Hill is a possibility though I might try offering a casual group ride at Fountain Hell on Sunday. Decisions.

Fountain of frustration

I admit, I'm suffering from minor frustration at fountain head. I think the best fix would be to ride it more often. I felt like on the 2nd lap I was taking better lines and riding the place better. But I was cold and tired by the 2/3rds way through the 2nd lap. I will try to get out there more than 1 time a month is my new goal or 1 time every 2 months.

Had a Farmhouse ale for Thanksgiving from a somewhat new brewery, unfortunately the name has slipped my mind. Nice balance of hop and malt, but with the definite flavor from the belgian yeast strain. One big boy of it almost did me in.

This weeks weather is looking like crud for rides, today and Thursday. Or if anything Thursday may be the next edition of the Counter Clockwise Thing. Joy :)

Rocky Rockland Farm

Hit Rockland Farm last night for the first time. You may know it as that place that Plum Grove holds those crazy bike races like SnotCycle and Bakers Dozen, etc.

It's a neat place, not much elevation, but a fun place to ride. The pine tree section along the front and back towards Whites Ferry is a BLAST! I did this section 3 times as I got separated from my group helping a few people and then didn't know I just needed to turn right at the fence and head up across the farm. Oh well, I enjoyed working on the "Stunts" in the beginning.

Once I found a group that knew it's way around I rode with them the rest of the way. Was behind a woman for a while, and trying to be helpful but I think being behind her was making her nervous so eventually I took the hint and passed her. Some nice rock piles and stuff out there and working your speed could be real fun.

The course in some area's was a bit slick due to the light rain. Keep thinking I should order up some Nokians. Just in case for SnotCycle.

After wards enjoyed some brews and talked a ton with people. Very cool. I opted against the donuts as only 1 or 2 were left and a few people were still finishing. Might have to pick up some of those for the long weekend here at work.

Black Rock Mill Trail

Did a quick pre-ride with Neil of a bit of Schaeffer before we went and toiled on the BRM Trail. It was nice to be back out at Schaeffer. I think that was my first trip this year honestly, with the snows staying till late and how crazy the spring and summer was I never made it up there. I'm hoping to hit it at least 1 more time after the first managed hunt but before it closes for the year.

The Black Rock Mill trail is going to offer some great views in the winter! It covers some REALLY rolling ground. We found an old house foundation the park was at least partially unaware of while examining an old car. Cool stuff. We benched and clear a quarter mile in one direction up to an old wooden bridge. Then we went the other way and did a major bench up off an old trail bed getting a nice 4 foot wide tread that required in some spots near 2 feet of material removed. We then went on further and helped cut another hundred yards of trail of low to moderate bench.

Felt good to get out and work. A bit sore today but nothing like after my previous trail day. No hauling big ass rocks I think is the main reason why.

Rolling On!

Nice night for riding last night. Lots of sticks down and 3 trees I found between Accotink and Wakefield. Trails were moderately dry if they were at all elevated. And stuff out in the sun/wind was even pretty dry like most of the powerline trails.

It was a nice 15 Miles or so altogether. A few trees down in Wakefield. Didn't see any in Accotink but I didn't quite ride the FULL set of trails.

DC Fatty's

While at Laurel Hill yesterday I saw a fellow Fat Cyclist in an Orange Jersey, I was sporting the stylish Classic Pink, 1st Ed.

I think we may need to start up a local Fat Cyclist chapter. I'm tired of just hearing about these Philly's or San Joser's, etc.

What a week

The last week's weather has been just on the high side of un-seasonably warm. And very very nice, caping out yesterday with near 70 at Laurel Hill.

I did 24 and change on the GPS. My calculations show there that it's only about 10% lossy on those trails, so about 26 miles. 2 Very nice 11 mile laps. Though on the last lap near the end I did a section of dairy farm trail loop I hadn't done in a while and got whacked by a damn thorn bush. 4 or 5 nice scratches. It's on my list for death now. Then in a fit of brilliance I decided to check out the overlook trail. Worse, tons of thorns and brambles and almost go through one face first. The pipeline work kept me from riding fully out to the overlook so I dismounted and walked over. Neat view, got a few camera phone pictures, we'll see how they turned out tonight.

On the way back I dropped the bike off for a service/checkup and Jay at TBL burke was all over me for not having both the front and rear skewers not tightened enough. Oops and that the rear wheel cups were loose, and I hadn't brought it in. Only needs a rebuild due to contamination. Also finally picked up a new 2.25 Ardent to swap on to replace the bulging AC-X junker in the rear. Should be done today but I dunno if I'm going to head out. Tuesday we are supposedly getting rain also. UGh. Depends on when I get done with work. Shit though I didn't charge the batteries so I don't think I'll be night riding tonight. ahhh well. While looking at stuff yesterday I also realized I'm right around 350 or so miles on the new bike in 2 months. Thats about half a years worth of riding or so normally.

Beers of Note

Had a good urthel last night at Quary house. Nice and dark with a flemish hint.

Last weekend's beer, the Kapuziner was top notch. A very solid and standard Hefe Weizen. Very smooth, and the yeast flavor was minimal (I didn't swirl it).

The SAM 48 Deg IPA is really nicely hopped, decent nose and nice finish.

Warm and COLD!

Good week for riding so far, I got out of work nice and ontime'ish Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday I hit accotink first and was riding by 4:30'ish. Thursday I was wheels rolling at 4:15. Made a good ride out and to the damn in just under 20 minutes on thursday. Then did a slightly longer route back in about the same. Then did the Gas Station loop and finished. Tuesday was not as good. :)

Tuesdays WF loop with the OBW crew was rough for me, I felt played out a lot of the ride and slow! Punched a tree in phase 4 ugh, hurt like hell. We finished by 8 so it was a pretty short ride.

Thursday was better but by the end I was tired as hell and in my little ring. Not fun. Did cover probably about 9-10 miles on the ride. With around 17 total for the day.

What was weird was both days at the start I was only wearing minimal kit on the Accotink section (with Endura Knickers), but as soon as the sun drops out I'm frickin freezing. Added a tech layer, and a fleece at WF.

I always question my sanity this time of year.

Hoping to do some distance at Laurel Hill on Sunday, since I haven't gotten a good long ride in a while. Then I'll drop the Paragon off at TBL for a very needed tune up and some other stuff.

Also picked up some Lat 48's from Sam Adams - Very nice.

Another TrailWork Done

Had a big project yesterday with a rather burly re-route of the CJ trail entrance off Democracy. Should have some pictures soon. But it was a lot of work and I only had 4 others show up versus the original 16 that became 10 that were supposed to be there.

The bigger brush/old logs were supposed to have been pre-cleared by the parks dept but weren't so that took a lot of wrestling, cutting and extra work.
Also we didn't have a ton of hill to work with and so we had to build some water bars and hauling those big rocks down and up the hill sucked. Also hauling tools sucked, may try and get a bob trailer eventually. Turned out pretty well but the exit to the bridge will require more work in the spring I suspect and there is a lot more reclaiming work to be done on the old trail. I stayed after the group left and planted a tree and bermed up the top so water hopefully won't run down the trail. We'll see. I may take a weekday off and go work on it in a few weeks. Riders like it in some ways, others missed the fun old descent. Shades of Fountain hell.

Photo's by Neil of Trailwork

Today is my first non-riding Sunday but the flesh is simply too sore for doing something llke the EF figure 8 of hate. Maybe I'll go look for a digital camera today. I'm tired of not having my own photo's.

Had an awesome german hefe with dinner last night. Review to come!

Rainy Day

Damn once it started last night I don't think it's really stopped raining all night.

Discharge on Accotink Creek is up 5x over mean, and the water level is 1.5 times higher and I bet it gets more later. (2ft vs 3ft right now)

Accotink Creek

Ordered a set of Moose Mits yesterday they'll be here in a week or two, hopefully they do the trick this winter so I don't end up like Chef Tony and have 9 fingers.

Rosey get your Guns

Went to Rosaryville and road with Pete and Sean on Sunday turning in 3.6 laps (1/3 lap then turned around). It was a ton of riding for me and on 2 of the laps we were pushing pretty hard, but due to flubs with start/stop on the garmin I didn't log the full laps. Only my third lap was fully logged and I was already half cooked on it, and still turned in a 63 minute lap with stopping for walkers/other riders and talking to a few of them.

Strange day weather wise, i ended up being WAY overdressed and was cooking half way thru the first lap and ended up just wearing my jersey, having removed my vest and fleece. It's always weird to see STEAM coming off you.

Was cooked after all that and had a few nice cramps in the afternoon/evening.

Weathers looking crap-tacular for Thursday so I'm planning on hitting WF on Tuesday. With 35'ish yesterday I'm right around 200 or so for the month of October. Pretty frickin epic for me. I know some guys out there are turning that in a week or weekend, but for a guy who previously had been lucky to lock 60-80 a month that's a ton.

Just a bit bigger

Weird week this week with a bit over 40 on Sunday, and 31 more between Tuesday and Thursday, it puts me at around 70 miles. For me, that's crushing it. What I need to avoid is having a do-nothing week next week. (Sun thru Sat). So I'm either going to do a harder ride at Elizabeth Furnace or head to Rosaryvile for an epic lap fest. For what will be 27 to 36 miles.

Thursday was a good night with a smallish group 11 sign ins with I think 9 riders. It was a solid night we rolled 11 or 12 miles with the group. Started off nice temp but by the end of the ride it had cooled down. The new vest kept my core warm even though it was sweaty underneath, the wind off is a huge temp change. PIcked up a pair of Endura knickers and will break them in on Sunday I think.

Time to catch up on reports/etc....

Hot and Humid - Wait it's October

Snuck in a solid ride last night at Wakefield. However it was not only unseasonably warm, but humid as hell I think I had almost negative evaporation. It was gross on that point except when we passed thru occasionally pockets of cool.

Did the bowl loop myself once as a warm up, then Joel K and I rode a bunch of the back stuff in odd order Rusted Truck, power station, Salamander, (top Phase 1 reverse, power lines to forest, to Phase 4 lower, to racecourse of the creek/old creek section, back to forest/lower power lines, and back across lower phase 1) and back. I think that was about 4 miles.

Then the group ride started with about 10 of us heading out together. We went right to the bowl, did a bunch of it, creek trail, phase 1 lower, race course creek trail, phase4 reverse (Low to High), power lines, berms/ascent, rollers, phase 1 upper, power lines to rusted truck in reverse to bowl again and done. Probably covered another 10.

Great ride to get in when I was " " that close to not leading/letting Jan cancel the ride.

Helmet light was kinda neat but I need to mount it higher so I don't have to tilt head back as much to keep the lighting/spot ideal. By the end I had to struggle to keep my head up. Having both bar and headlamp I can see is ideal.

Nice social with Joel, Ernie, Chris, Blake, Rob, and another Chris in the lot, followed by Joel and i demolishing food at Kilroys.

Fall in Effect

Amazing ride today with Pete, Sean, Mike, Chris and Martin. Mike and I met with Sean and Pete at WF at 8:15 and we rolled onto LH. I'd never done the final section over to LH from Prospect Rd area. It was nice. We met up with Martin and Chris and rolled all of LH. It was good and I'm modifying my loop to the one Pete led. Much more fun for sure, doing apple orchard the way he did made it feel much longer and funner to ride. Wish I could have done a 2nd lap but in retro-view I think I was cooked. I'm just not up on distance riding. Need to ride more. The return was pretty mellow as we were all feelin it a bit I think. At somepoint my phone ejected from my pack alas.

The Ride-
WF to Laurel Hill and Back by atlantis.rob at Garmin Connect - Details

I rode back about 2 miles towards Accotink looking for it with no luck. I have a few ideas where it might have fallen out. Oh well.

The weather this weekend was amazing. My clothing/layers were perfect for today with the bibs, jersey, fleece on top and leg warmers. The leaves were amazing. Just a great day.

Just enjoyed a biboy of Hopzilla from Terrapin Brewing. Truly smooth and amazing. great blending of hops on the nose and not overwhelming the palate like Two Hearted.

Back to the grill.

New Balance and Ind. Fab.

http://hubnride.blogspot.com/2010/10/independent-fabrications-x-new-balance.html
Thats some major green!

Cool Runnings

Great night of riding out at WF last night. Got out a bit late and didn't get to pre-ride accotink instead looped around WF with Jason and Larry for 30 mins. It was damn nice. It was pretty warm at the start I'd say mid 60's while the Sun was still out. By the time we went back out with the group at 6:54 it had cooled a few degrees below 60. By the end of the ride it was 50. Quite brisk when you would pop into those cool spots. My legs were a little cold, but the woolly up top was perfect.

GPS said 5 miles for the preride so I'll figure closer to 6 and the main ride was 8 so total I'll figure it was close to 15. Not the 20+ I wanted but not bad at all. Felt really good actually riding the whole time. Could have really pushed hard but did much better keeping the group together. One of my better rides lately.

Wool is Your Overlord

A friend asked about wool jerseys the other night and I just sent him this list of wool jersey/clothes suppliers. I'm gonna pick up a new woolie in November.

MORE Jersey in both long and short sleeve. I love mine. EWNR Makes it...
http://www.more-mtb.org/index.php?page=07Jersey
http://www.ewnr.com/

Good wool jersey's - Swobo makes good ones.
http://www.swobo.com/catalog/product_info_m.php?cPath=2045_2046

Dirt Rag is using Woolistic, not SWOBO this year:
http://www.dirtragmag.com/product/wool-jersey-woolistic

Ibex does good woolstuff but damn this jersey is fugly.
http://www.ibexwear.com/shop/product/1751/7827/mens-indie-l/s-jersey

Castelli does decent woolies
http://www.amazon.com/Castelli-Mauro-Sleeve-Cycling-Jersey/dp/B002OJRDNC

Does Everything
http://www.kucharik.com/

A great breakdown with other suppliers may be found here.
http://www.ultracycling.com/equipment/wool.html

How Different? Very.

So yesterday I took Ye Olde Giant out to Wakefield for the first time in a month. Once I started riding I realized just HOW different a relatively SMALL change can make huge improvements in how bikes ride. The damn thing is just jumpy as hell compared to the Fisher. It feels top heavy and unstable, I nearly bailed on a bridge in phase 4 from wobble. Going over logs is weird also. Just felt all sorts of wrong. I may take it out to FH tonight if I can get out of work early enough, but I don't see myself riding THAT beast very often anymore. I'm tempted to move most of the good equipment over to Jen's bike, or at least once I get a more dedicated commuter.

Took it pretty easy out there last night. Had 9 riders out. Tons of walkers out and we saw I think a ladies jogging group on the CCT at the start. It's starting to get chilly again especially by the end of the ride. time to start leaving a fleece in the car.

Conway Wakefield Whereever

Rode Conway Robinson today as it was real close to work, and I needed to get a ride in before hitting work. Pretty short, Flat, but kinda fun with tons of log overs/piles. I think there were 4 mandatory on blue at least with 5 or 6 extra. I did a ton of them. The orange section has a couple fun rock gardens and a bit rockpile to cross. It was very good. Just put on the head phones and cranked away. Enjoyed passing a bunch of people repeatedly, they were good folk and let me pass.

Thursday at Wakefield was good, got over nice and early and did a preride of Accotink with Mike E and Jason M. Good rolling. The casual group at first had to go pretty slow as we had a relatively new rider out, eventually Neal dropped and rode with her and JoJo.

Going to try and make it out Tuesday to Wakefield as we might have rain thursday. Riding the next weekend looks a bit questionable due to commitments. We'll see.

Out and In...

The last week of September blew for riding for me with the mix of rain and work stuff. I didn't get out on the bike till Yesterday. And boy did my legs let me know that I sucked. LH half kicked my ass. The other half got clobbered by my seat when I didn't commit to a log over and the seat ass stabbed my right side. A good 16 miles though.

Though on the plus side I have already mastered re-edit TCX files for Garmin from where I stopped to help move/setup the charity ride post ride stuff for 30 minutes. I edited out the non moving time in about 10 minutes. I need to find an xml supporting editor to do it quicker. With collapsible branches editing each lap would be much simpler.

Hopefully I will be able to get back out on Tuesday maybe. If not I'm hoping to get a quick ride in at Cabin John after a trail work meeting on Wednesday. Have to see how the rain goes this week.

Weird weather this year, we basically got thru a hot weekend the last weekend of Sept and then a switch was thrown and we are now really in fall weather.

Tried Founders Nemesis 2010 on Friday on draft and was under impressed other than the fact that the alcohol was not really noticable for a 12% ABV beer. Instead I went with Widmer's Deadlift IPA. Nice but a bit sweet on the finish.

Putting Your Money where your Mouth Is.

Washington State Potato Exec goes on all spud diet for 20 days.
20 Plain Potatoes a day for 60 days

Douthat 2010 Photos

Phil VW's Douthat 2010 photo set - Check out the last photo in the set of the camp lit up at night. Very cool!

Bob Caverly's Douthat 2010 photo Set

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 :)

Growing Pains

Everytime you upgrade gear or move to a new bike you have to expect some growing pains. Mine hit last night at WF. A short preride followed by a late start, I was climbing the access trail the powerco uses to the top of the berms and while powering up a next hill section: KAPOW! The chain blew out. After the long walk back to the car I tried a 10spd sram power link and a 9speed. The 10 was too short and the 9 speed would have fit but the rivets were too tight.

So off to TheBikeLane in burke I went this morning around 10:30. Took it in and the mech looked at the chain and promptly tossed it in the bin. After a quick exchange decides to go with the KMC X10SL - Nice chain. And since it was so soon after I got the bike I got it at cost. A much better chain! Sweet.

Picked up some perpetuem for the big ride day at Douthat.

Now I have to figure something out for the potluck dinner on Friday.

Fountain Head Revisited

Went out to FH today after picking up a new saddle at TBL. Much better, I think it's the same one as on my giant. My problem I had today was that I think I need some bigger/fatter grips and to move the break levers in a bit more. going down the rough/steep stuff I was KILLING my hands holding on.

Also tried out one of the new garmin edge 500's. It dropped about 1.4 miles of the course making me look even SLOWER than I was.

Fountain Head Mid Day by atlantis.rob at Garmin Connect - Details

As I was entering for my 2nd lap I realized that I'd passed a mother-daughter set in the lot who were obviously not expect what FH really was so I cut my lap short popping back up the exit and down the first bit again where I met up them about 3/10ths of a mile in and they were turning around. i helped them out a shortcut and gave them directions to laurel hill and suggest wakefield also. Oy vey.

On the way home poor ole carney had problems and I think the rear driver side is messed up as even with the parking break on I could turn the wheel, vs the passenger side held fast.

Wetness.

Last night was a weird weather night. On the way to WF I drove thru at least 2 different storm bands of moderate intensity where traffic slowed and everyone's wipers were on high. However it appears those bands never crossed the Wakefield area. Surprising because one was up near Mason on Braddock Rd. So I called in a cancellation to a coworker who also rides. He posted on forum. Once I parked and looked around at WF I saw that anything under trees was still bone dry and even the wettest of gullies was really only Tacky.

Ended up with 5 riders out. I took out on new night rider and Delmar led out 2 other guys. We didn't ride for super long but it was nice to get out and till the rain started picking up at 7:40'ish it was pretty nice riding. By 8 the canopy was dripping and trails were starting to move towards slightly wet from a nice level of Tackyness. My bike only really got dirty in those last 20 minutes. Oh well.

Accotink was reported to be "GREAT" by Mike P's group. It was nice not to be running into tons of other cyclists out for a change. We passed Dylan 2x and I saw MP's group pass once near 7:35 as they chugged up the CCT/Creek Trail towards phase 1. The XR's held better on the damp logs/etc than I thought they would. Probably 12 miles I think between my short preride and the small group ride. That puts me at about 50 miles on the new bike and I love it more each time. And for the week I'm near 42 I think. Not bad. Going to try and ride maybe tomorrow and sunday after work.

1000 Words

From just before last weeks first ride. I also found I can mount the battery/seatbag under the seat and the cords still reach. +1!!!

Final Word- Weather

The weather this time of year is amazing for riding here in DC. Sure it getting dark around 7:40 sucks. But the temps, lack of rain, and clear skies lead to some amazing riding. I love the sensation of the cool air moving past, the smell of the semi moist earth, the half moon in the sky and the crickets chirping. I intend to enjoy the hell out of this fall if I'm in town.

2nd Ride Thoughts

Blasted around Accotink from 5:30 till 7:30'ish. By Myself till around 6:45 when I met up with El Jefe, RickyD and tuba who were riding up the fire road. I hung off the tail of there group the rest of the evening. Tuba was a bit off form and the group ran a bit slower than normal I'm sure but it still pushed me hard to try and hang. i need to ride better :) Less braking. More fitness also. But still felt decent.
could pushed myself harder. next time.

Tuba tore a sidewall out of his racing ralphs so an emergency repair sucked up about 15 minutes I figure while he booted the tire, put in a tube and stuff. He rode it the rest of the evening no problem. I was impressed.

Trails were in best shape I've seen in a while due to last Sunday's rain. Hope the Thursday night rain holds till post ride.

Must gotten in 20 miles or more. That puts me in a decent 27 at least for the week. May try to do a partial ride in tomorrow. We'll see.

Oh and the seat HAS TO GO! Its killing my ass! And my magic shine cord fits fine using the seat bag to hold the battery! that is awesome! Moved in brakes and shifters helped a ton also. Might need to adjust the angle a bit more of the controls. Bikes got a solid 32 miles so far and it's super sweet.

Light Weekend

Let up a bit this weekend, should have pushed and done a ride Saturday but I was lazy and really hoping/saving myself for Sunday morning at Fountain Head. Alas it rained in the AM enough that our organization master cancelled. I spent a lazy day cleaning, doing the whites, and COOKING like a FOOL (did a huge batch of bob flay style fajitas). It was awesome, just grilling takes so much more time on charcoal with prep/etc. Oh well can't win em all. The sun in the afternoon shoulda gotten me going but I wanted to get started cooking/eating early. It was awesome to be done with dinner by 7.

Finished up watching a bunch of LOTR on TNT till 10 or so but was wiped out and went to be before the big battle of doom!

Rode partially into work today to get some activity in. Realized 1 problem with the older bike already. I think the setback seatpost needs to go. My knee acted up on it within nearly no time. Felt the difference in my power/stroke. Need to do a good bit of work to that bike anyways.

Tuesday back at WF to get my official Trail Monitor paperwork done hopefully nearly a year and a half after starting it.

Also had a good new to me IP from Mendicino Brewing Co, White Hawk IPA I think it was. Nice nose, good balance. I think it was $9 at Giant. 7% ABV.

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.

It's like......

comparing a .22 to a 30-30 or maybe a 30-06. 5.56 vs 7.32. It's the smallest changes that can make the big difference. Tonight we shall see how things go. :)

Get out and Push!

With the onset of nicer weather and a kick in the pants from my scale I'm getting more motivated in my riding. Today was my 3rd ride in a row. 13 more miles pushing me to 36 since Sunday Morning. That puts me at probably 52 since Thursday. This is probably my best week since the early summer in June I think. Now if I can hold and work in some longer rides.

Nice ride today at WF. I did the WHOLE bowl on my preride for a change. It was great and not overly dry like the rest of Wakefield seems. Then did Accotink as part of Matt's small casual++ group. We got in a nice run over there hitting some stuff in a neat order. If only I remembered trails better over there. Oh well. Season there is rapidly winding down for the regular ride. By the beginning of October it will probably mean an early group if people want to hit it for more than 15 or 20 minutes. And really by 15 till 8 lights are really almost necessary! SUCKS!!!!!

Riding is Good

Got out again for some light trail riding with Jen and rode down the canal/towpath to G-town. Pizza Paradisio was closed, but we went down the the inner harbor and hit a places called Founding Farmers I think. Very tasty, good beer. Good fish taco's. Win! Not a bad day for working 4 hours.

Might hit wake again tonight. Dunno got see how the day goes. It's supposed to be a good bit warmer today and tomorrow so I may wait. hmm.

New Section at Fhell

Did a ride at Fountain Head today it was a great day for a ride. A ton of riders transitioning in and out as I arrived. I never got passed by anyone and I did pass one guy.

The new section will be a hoot as it beds in. The upper half already is the lower/first part will take time, but its good trail in that it makes you work. Much nicer to do than the section of woodpecker it bypasses for sure. 8.6 miles today. Very cool. Wanted to do a 2nd lap but a lack of snacks did me in and I bailed home for cookout action.

It was a Guadalajara. Steak, Corn, Asparagus, Broccoli, Salad, Baked Beans, and Garlic Bread, Pasta also. And good beer. Damn good day off.

New bike on Tuesday or Wednesday perhaps.

Facing a work trip to England for 2 month straight. Gotta start some riding research. I know there are places that run year round there also. I'm sure their north of london however. Grrr.

New Month

Well September is looking up in part at this point as temps finally seem to be ready to drop after I think 61 or 62 90+ degree days this summer versus like 30'ish the last few years.

Had a good ride out yesterday at Wake-o-tink. Punga and I rode WF for 4 miles of warm up and that was solid fun, then did a fair amount of Accotink including the new trail in reverse. Pretty fun but one tight section where I almost hugged a tree. Damn it gets dark early now. I always forget I have better night vision then average when several riders start complaining it's too dark 15 minutes before I need lights at all. Oh well. We rode out a bit early but it was fine. Ended up loosing a few people as the ride went on till it was me and 1 other guy doing the power lines in reverse, and the race course section of the creek trail in reverse. Think I totaled out near 16-17 miles.

Todd swears the new bike is allocated and will arrive and be ready maybe Tuesday probably Wednesday. I'm stoked and impatient as hell.

IN unstoked news my breakfast habits are hitting me negatively and I weighed in post ride at 198. Not good. So I'm going back to watching my intake a bit of what I eat. I want to be regularly 195. That usually leaves me post big ride 193'ish.

Nice weather this weekend should help I'm planning a big ride I think sunday at fountain hell. Gotta check out the new section.

This weather sucks

Did I think a ton of good deeds yesterday, perhaps some karma will go my way and my new ride will appear tomorrow. Otherwise it looks like the 15th. Not a HUGE deal really. Though my rear wheel disagrees. :(

Trailwork at Accotink was a success. We added 3/10ths of a mile of new trail that will eventually replace I think about 200 yards. Maybe. Another Quarter mile to do in the other direction. The apparent plan is that the trail along the railroad will be left alone with no maintenance in the future due to park concerns and the railroads request. The RR may fence it off also is another possibility. They are nervous about their own liability for people on/near their tracks.

Got the ball rolling again on getting myself and another official set as Trail Monitors for Wake-o-Tink.

Helped a friend change his car battery that went dead. Fixed my inlaws I-pad and one of their bikes at dinner, and replaced the bulb on my wyf's driver side low beam that has been out while she was away.

Was going to ride today but with the 95 degree temps I think I'm going to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Catching Up.

With how crazy work and life's been this spring/summer I'm finally catching up on that most horrible part of being a major ride leader - Paperwork. I scanned, I wrote reports, I emailed. I updated Logs.

I've got 1 missing thing in July. and parts of may and april to finish and I"ll be caught up.

I've reset up my reminder system that died a long time ago so I shouldn't fall behind again....I think.

Trailwork at Accotink tomorrow.

What a great day for a ride

Got out of work a bit early and headed over to Wakefield at around 4. Messed around getting ready and took off for my first ride at like 4:30. Rode all the WF trails for about 7.5 miles of distance. Took a break ate a snack talked in the lot. Rode the Race course and a bit more. Finished pre-ride with 12 miles. Lead casual out a bit late and we headed over to accotink. We rode well and had a good time, got back intime to ride the powerlines at Wakefield and ended up with another 10 miles.

I'm wiped out. Tomorrow the rents are intown. Give me strength and patience.

Weight post shower/ride 197. need to watch things a bit! Should drop 5 in the next week or so is my goal.

Excitement

New bike should be in next Tuesday. Ordered new pedals yesterday they should arrive Friday or Monday. Debating taking off Tuesday entirely to go over and play. Maybe a half day instead? Or the next day? hmmmm.

Regardless it's coming just in time. My rear wheel on the Giant needs a full rebuild really. It's got 1 fully blown spoke and another with the wrong length. I may disassemble it myself and see how really messed up the rim is. If it's not bad I may have it rebuilt.

Stoked to ride today should be a great day and the next week/10 days looks awesome.

New Header Photo

New header photo courtesy of the Wyf's blog, Glacier Boat Trip around Svalbard

Pretty frickin cool! The sun truly never sets up there this time of year. I've skyped with her at 2am there time and the sun is still out, just a hair dimmer than mid-day. Like 7pm here right now.

Suprisingly Rideable

Wakefield was in much better shape than I thought it would be and Accotink was damp/tacky and a great place to ride yesterday. Only the power lines near 495 were unrideable along with the lower half of phase 4 as usual.

Had a really small turn out I think with 10 riders signed in. At Accotink we split into 2 groups of casual and casual+ of 7 and 3 riders respectively. Great weather though a bit humid. We in casual rolled for near 11 miles. That gave me a solid 17 miles for the night. Pushing me to 25 so far. I'm hoping to hit FH Saturday evening but it may not happen as I realize everyone and their mother will be pre-riding for the race on Sunday.

Little Birdy Says

That my new ride should be in RSN.

I'm stoked as it's been since the middle of June when I decided to pull the trigger.

Now to order the incidentals (Pedals, Pump, etc, etc). And consider how to hotwire the tires to be t00ble33.

Wife's Blog

http://adventuresinsvalbard2010.blogspot.com/
Her blog about her work Trip to Svalbard.

Trimmed

Also did a bit of trimming at WF and accotink. At WF it was only near the big HILL on the creek trail where the briars were out of control.

At accotink I did a bunch on the 2nd part of boyscout and then also cleared the lower exit/entrance near the paved path in accotink it was WAY overgrown and I was tired of fighting the overgrowth.

Back In.

well The gear I tried to order 2 weeks ago turns out that I was too late and they didn't have as much in stock as they thought. I optioned to cancel the order for now. No biggie, as I still have no bike to put it on.

So after an insanely wet Thursday CCT ride 2 weeks ago I rebuilt the Giant the next weekend. While trying to install the new RearD, I realized that something was very wrong. The 2010 X9 is a POS! The cage is WAY to flexy/bendy I was suffering from chain jump in any outbound/inbound gearings (chain was coming off the bottom pulley) And I could never get the damn thing adjusted near a 6mm gap using the b-nuckle. I've installed 4 or 5 rearD over the last year or two for myself and friends and NEVER had problems like this. Hell my old x9's I"d just hold together and adjust to similar look and 10 minutes of fine tuning on the bike be done.

However I do think I have my best adjustment on shifting in a LONG time on the bike currently. Shifted great last night under load or normally.

Did 20 miles last night 9 by myself before of WF and Accotink then rode with Jackson's casual group for another 10. then did a final mile in the dark myself to break 20.

Wanted to ride into work today but I was way tired and didn't get up in time...Weak. Maybe friday. Tomorrow I have AC guy in the morning. ugh. but fixed AC is good.

Sales of Love

I just got a sale flyer from Jensen and ordered some PIMPED out SLX 2011 crank and cogset. Now I just need a chain. May just use the existing one that will come on the bike. Though I Prefer to be prepared and use SRAM chains so that the power links will always work. Vs maybe/maybe not that Shi!mano chains seem to yield.

Now I just need the bike to go along with parts. Maybe in the next 2 weeks I suppose.

Lots of TW not so much riding

This is the time for insane trail work apparently. We did a WF one today and made major fixes to the destroyed power station descent. We fixed major rutting and put in 3 minor grade reversals/rolling dips to help get more water off the trail. We need to build one more somewhere in the first area though to get the worst off. Also teams weed whacked the powerlines and trimmed the bowl entirely. That will be very nice!

Last week I did an epic 6 hour trail ride/work binge at CJ and boy was i wiped out after wards. Only got in 1 other ride last week at WF and that was a bit of bummer as we hung around WF and I wanted to to Accotink. So I think I had 26 miles last week and this week will like be the same as I only got 13 miles after wards today. Unless I do W@W or hit FH on Tuesday or something but we have a lot of t-storms in the forecast for this week so who knows?

Still not sure if I'm gonna try and do the curse of dark hollow next weekend. Wait and see I guess.

Full Sail's Session black is excellent and very drinkable, I enjoyed it while doing laundry last night and watching The Girl with a dragon tattoo, very cool.

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.

TNR - Hot as H3ll Ed

Another warm nite tonight, not as warm supposedly as yesterday but pre-ride it felt WAY worse in the WF lot. Once out and riding it was better though. Even felt a few cool'ish breezes.

I had a rough incident pre-ride with a cliff bar gone wrong. Nearly hurled a few times. Not fun. Got a coke at WF and it helped a bunch. After a 2.5 mile spin I felt human and was able to lead a pretty snappy casual group of what was 7 riders but due to an early flat ended up at 5 including me-self.

We did a pretty epic loop at Accotink and only rode a tiny bit of the creek trail at the end. It's already getting dark earlier and I'm fucking bummed out. I've been really enjoy using no light the last few weeks. In the next month I intend to keep it up but will have to think about charging it soon. ugh.

Everyone had pretty good rides it seemed. Another good TNR.

Lake Fairfax Fun!

Finally got out to Lake Fairfax and followed the intermediate pace group around the trail last night, the new stuff out there is really pretty burly! Some good size ups and downs with logs makes it kinda tough. We then blazed out to Difficult run I think and back. Or maybe it was thru Wolf Trap stream park. I'll ask next time. It was the 7.5 mile out and back we dropped 1 section of single track on the way back and ended with 14.7 miles. I drank almost 60 oz of water I think. IT wasn't bad except in the lot and crossing major streets. Felt good to push my pace, I might be able to lead an intermediate minus in the future at wakefield without it being casual ++. 10.2 avg though that was due to the fact we flew on some sections of the CCT.

2 Moderate wrecks on the ride, 1st on the return was crossing that is apparently very bad normally and has some bad log/limb armoring, the guy tried to go thru some dips/gullys and basically endo/side crashed narrowly avoiding the log. The second guy went down in some gravel on a turn.

Lots of semi-gnarly gravel along the trails. I almost lost it once as I was riding to forward.

Looking forward to much torture and misery at WF tonight.

Another Slowwwwwwwwwww week

Last week was a slow riding week, 1 day of cycling to work, 1 night of riding, 14 miles. So last week was a 21 mile week.

This week I snuck out to Trail Work at Rosaryville yesterday and pickup up 5.5 miles while riding and clipping. Then I went ahead and blasted out a lap in what I think is a new record for me in 53 minutes, avg just over 10 mph. It was a hoot. I figure with the clipping and walking I did another 2 miles at least clearing trails. not bad. it was pretty miserable by the end when I finished around 2.

Rehydrated on the way home and enjoyed a nice Founder Scotch Ale afterwards.

Thinging about Lake FFX on Wednesday. We'll see.