DOHHHHHHHH!
Posted by Hello
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Ahhh Sweet Reward
Today was an anti-road ride. We rode our mountain bikes from Marc's house and over to Fair Hill. The idea was to try out the trails, if they were ridable great, if not we would hit the road. We had a nice group show up today. There was Marc (www.fatmarc.com) our gracious host, Matty T, Single Speed Dan, John "whatever gear the bike came with" Cleary, and riding in from Newark were Lauri and Brian. The trails were untouched except for some deer and rabbit tracks. I would say it averaged about 3-4 inches deep, some spots were deeper and some were bare. It is not easy pedaling through snow, and climbing is down right brutal. We made the most of it and had a fun ride. It was different because it was all ppower today. There was no spinning, and you definitely had to keep your weight over the back wheel to maintain traction. I had a blast riding in the snow with some really good friends. The coolest part of this ride was EVRYBODY was on a Single Speed. as a matter of fact I think Lauri and I were the only ones with suspension, I put my fork on last night, How cool is that? We were having a pretty uneventful ride, we decided to call it a day on the trail and finish our ride on the road. Just as we got to the bridge by the fair grounds we all heard a loud "PING". We come to find out Dan had just sheared off his chainring. Somehow he ripped through all four chainring bolts. I have never seen anything like it.
So we all took turns pushing Dan the rest of the way back to Marc's house. Whic is where the Sweet Reward came in. See Marc had said befroe we even left that he had a Growler of beer he needed help with. Matt, Dan, and I, being the good hearted people we ar, were there to help our freind in his time of need. Good stuff to, I think it was Iron Hill's pale ale. As we were sipping our reward Marc asked " do you guys want to watch a crash DVD, it is nasty road crashes ". What a way to end a ride. Drinking good beer with good friends and wathing carnage on tv. It doesn't get any better than this.
So we all took turns pushing Dan the rest of the way back to Marc's house. Whic is where the Sweet Reward came in. See Marc had said befroe we even left that he had a Growler of beer he needed help with. Matt, Dan, and I, being the good hearted people we ar, were there to help our freind in his time of need. Good stuff to, I think it was Iron Hill's pale ale. As we were sipping our reward Marc asked " do you guys want to watch a crash DVD, it is nasty road crashes ". What a way to end a ride. Drinking good beer with good friends and wathing carnage on tv. It doesn't get any better than this.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Another Glorious Ride
The plan today was to ride the trails. We figured it was cold enough and the trails would be frozen solid. Well it was cold but the trails were not frozen solid, they were no where near muddy and wet but more spongy. It felt weird, kind of like riding with a flat. This made climbing a bitch. Matt, Ted, and I were going to try for 3 hours. We started off fine then Ted decided he wanted a different pace so he went off on his own. Matt and I pressed on. Matt was sporting his new Kona single speed, a replacement for the surly. It's a nice bike there are e few of them on the team now. We had no issues today with the exception of Matt's flat. It was a good ride. Dave Bartoo and his crew did some work on "the tree", it has improved bail out ramp which also acts as an on ramp if your coming the other way. We hit all the good stuff today, we also hit the wall. Matt bonked then a half hour later I bonked. It made the last half hour of our ride really slow. We still had a blast though, I think we did about 23 miles in 2:30. Not bad for a Thursday morning especially with the 4-8 inches of snow coming in today. It started snowing as we were finishing up. I hope it is less than they are calling for, otherwise we might not see the trails again until spring.
Well that'a all folks
Well that'a all folks
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Walking the Dogs
My wife is always telling me I don't take the dogs for long enough walks. Today I decided to take a nice long walk. Since we live on a big farm it's easy to take a nice walk right out my door. I strapped on my MP3 player grabbed the dogs and we were off. I have to keep the dogs on leads because of all the deer running around, if one of the dogs spots something they are off. They would come back evetually but we never know what condition they'll be in. So I was trying to walk 3 dogs all on extenda leads, not the easiest thing to do. I found myself tied in knots quite a bit. The dogs were having a blast. We walked up and down hills through fields and finally onto the dirt road we live on. Rachael was happy to see the dogs got a good walk. It was good to get out with them.
Not far from the house just as we were starting out, sure enough a couple of deer pop up. I thought my arms were goiong to be ripped out of the sockets. Strider and Storm were going nuts. I finally regained control and the rest of the walk was uneventful.
Well I think I might go ride.
Not far from the house just as we were starting out, sure enough a couple of deer pop up. I thought my arms were goiong to be ripped out of the sockets. Strider and Storm were going nuts. I finally regained control and the rest of the walk was uneventful.
Well I think I might go ride.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Same Old, Same Old
I am not going to bore you with another detailed ride report. It was a good ride, Matt, Lauri and I did about 37.5 miles in 2 1/2 hours. Matt put together another good loop. The best part was when I got back to Matt's house he was kind enough to offer me a beer. Who am I to refuse, I sat down relaxed for a few minutes and enjoyed my Hop wallop.
I am looking forward to this week being over. You see I am in my last week of base miles, and next week is a rest week. Don't get me wrong I am having a blast riding as much as I am, but I think I need a break. Even though, I am a little anxious to start my intensity. The workouts Marc has set up for me are tough, but there is a strong sense of satisfaction when I start to see the results. This is the third year Marc has been coaching me, and every year he pushes me just a little bit harder. This year he really upped my hours, the reason is I am moving up to expert. That means longer races and tougher competition. I know that if I follow his plan and put in the effort I will have a good year. When I started training this year I was feeling intimidated. I didn't think I would be ready. I was going over some of the courses in my head and wondering how the hell am I going to 3 laps at Granogue or 28 miles at Michaux. Well that was 8 weeks ago and now I can't wait to get to my first race.
I want to thank Marc for all the help and confidence he gives me. He has a way to inspire people to do their best.
So
Thank You Marc.
I am looking forward to this week being over. You see I am in my last week of base miles, and next week is a rest week. Don't get me wrong I am having a blast riding as much as I am, but I think I need a break. Even though, I am a little anxious to start my intensity. The workouts Marc has set up for me are tough, but there is a strong sense of satisfaction when I start to see the results. This is the third year Marc has been coaching me, and every year he pushes me just a little bit harder. This year he really upped my hours, the reason is I am moving up to expert. That means longer races and tougher competition. I know that if I follow his plan and put in the effort I will have a good year. When I started training this year I was feeling intimidated. I didn't think I would be ready. I was going over some of the courses in my head and wondering how the hell am I going to 3 laps at Granogue or 28 miles at Michaux. Well that was 8 weeks ago and now I can't wait to get to my first race.
I want to thank Marc for all the help and confidence he gives me. He has a way to inspire people to do their best.
So
Thank You Marc.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Best Ride This Year
Today was an amazing ride. The plan was to leave early and take advantage of the frozen ground. A group headed out at 7:30 am did a short loop than met the rest of the gang at 8:00. I was happy to see such a large group out to ride there mountain bikes today. We even had some folks that hadn't been seen in a while. The group, in no particular order, Brent Biddle, SS Dan, Marc V, slick Rick, Matt T, Kieth 29er G, Ted, Andrew, Fuzzy, Alan T, Todd, Kurtee, and myself. A who's who of our local cycling community. We headed down the Brians Field loop this is the loop with the Skills Trail. I was in front and feeling really good, Todd was behind me and we had a little gap. I hit the skills trail and crashed in one of the easy turns. I banged my knee pretty hard but thought nothing of it. Todd thought it was my way of regrouping. We cruise on, headed for "Shock and Awe". The group was a little spread out so I decided to stop and wait fro everybody. Todd didn't want to stop so he took off. We regrouped and caught Todd who flatted, I think he was being anti- social because he said "don't wait for me, I wasn't going to wait for you.
So we took off, except Keith hung back with Todd, I was feeling in a groove and took off down Shock and Awe. Man that is an awesome trail. We continued on and crossed the road cruised the outside loop shot down the middle and headed for the boundry trail. I was out to test my fitness today, so if I was a bad ride leader I appologize. I took off up the left rocky, steaper side, know one was on my wheel until the top when Rick was close by we re-grouped again and headed down the fun twisty downhill. We crossed back over the road and started to head back to the parking lot. We went up the trail with the new tree stunt, I knew it was coming and just went up and rode it, I was a little surprised to find the bail out removed so I had to launch off the end. Marc didn't know what was coming he just followed Matt and decided not to launch off the end. Marc has been having back problems and just had a procedure done and was smart enough not to push it. We continued up to the Parking lot some folks called it a day but a handful of us decided to head for Middle run. Matt took over at the front and set a really good pace. We came to a point where we thought about just heading back, but Fuzzy suggested we head for the judge. Since the Judge is mostly in the woods we figured it would be frozen. For the most part it was. It was starting to thaw out quick. Kurtee bonked and decided to head back. We lost Ted and Rick who looped back to look for Kurt. But we picked up Todd and Keith and finished the ride with them.
I must say getting to ride with these people is pretty special. I am proud to be apart the coolest group of cyclists ther is. I look forward to the next big ride, hopefully it's with hte same people.
There is something magical about riding mountain bikes in the woods with good people. It seems to make all problems go away, even if it is only temporary. We ended with 2:38 ride time, I don't know how many miles but I would guess about 25-30. I managed to get all my hours for the week with 4 1/2 coming on My mountain bike. A good week. I have one more week of base miles the n a rest week. After that the pain starts, but I gotta tell you I am looking forward to it.
So Long
So we took off, except Keith hung back with Todd, I was feeling in a groove and took off down Shock and Awe. Man that is an awesome trail. We continued on and crossed the road cruised the outside loop shot down the middle and headed for the boundry trail. I was out to test my fitness today, so if I was a bad ride leader I appologize. I took off up the left rocky, steaper side, know one was on my wheel until the top when Rick was close by we re-grouped again and headed down the fun twisty downhill. We crossed back over the road and started to head back to the parking lot. We went up the trail with the new tree stunt, I knew it was coming and just went up and rode it, I was a little surprised to find the bail out removed so I had to launch off the end. Marc didn't know what was coming he just followed Matt and decided not to launch off the end. Marc has been having back problems and just had a procedure done and was smart enough not to push it. We continued up to the Parking lot some folks called it a day but a handful of us decided to head for Middle run. Matt took over at the front and set a really good pace. We came to a point where we thought about just heading back, but Fuzzy suggested we head for the judge. Since the Judge is mostly in the woods we figured it would be frozen. For the most part it was. It was starting to thaw out quick. Kurtee bonked and decided to head back. We lost Ted and Rick who looped back to look for Kurt. But we picked up Todd and Keith and finished the ride with them.
I must say getting to ride with these people is pretty special. I am proud to be apart the coolest group of cyclists ther is. I look forward to the next big ride, hopefully it's with hte same people.
There is something magical about riding mountain bikes in the woods with good people. It seems to make all problems go away, even if it is only temporary. We ended with 2:38 ride time, I don't know how many miles but I would guess about 25-30. I managed to get all my hours for the week with 4 1/2 coming on My mountain bike. A good week. I have one more week of base miles the n a rest week. After that the pain starts, but I gotta tell you I am looking forward to it.
So Long
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)