Thanksgiving!

What a fantastic Thanksgiving! Despite my often grumblings about life, I should be thankful for a lot of things, and I am. This week, was a perfect way to clear up my mind and give thanks. What better way than by riding hard and long.

So the recap of the week:
Monday and Tuesday were a little damp, and a little cold, shortish night rides after work. But in great company.
Had half day Wednesday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, in 70s!!! So I took the whole day off and rode Wissahickon up and down for 5 hours, probably clocking around 30 miles!
Did a small fun ride on Thursday morning at Clayton, one loop, about 6 miles. Perfect little appetite builder for T-giving dinner!
Took Friday off from riding to do a little TM with few good friends. And it was back in the saddle for and improve, unsanctioned, unofficial "off season training race" with some folks from MTBNJ.com. The trails were super rocky, and the climbs were long and super steep, it was cold in teh morning, but warmed up by the late AM early afternoon.
And to top it all off was the crowning Sunday bi-park ride we pulled off with a fellow rider from PMBA, Wissahickon and Belmont in one day. He had a GPS and made a google earth track!!!

The leaves were down, and one part it was like riding over an oriental rug. The leaves must've been snapped by a cold frost and high winds, because they fell to the ground and were all still pale salad green, bright yellow, and reddish, without any decomp brown colors at all!!! The whole place looked magical!

Drying out

So I did get to the park and rode last night. But if my buddy, Max, would've said that we were nuts to do it and it was a bad idea and we should just turn around and go home, I would have not put up a fight. If you know what I mean.

Surprisingly the trails drained very well and were in good condition. Just handfull of soft spots, and maybe one slightly muddy section. The rest just very wet slippery mulching leaves covering everything.

It was rather chilly and uncomfortable, due to the wetness and low temps. We were out for about 1-1.5 hours, riding at a pretty slow pace, cos it was that slippery. Plus the myst and fog were so thick at times we could hardly see the trail with all the reflection from the water dropplets from our head lights. Let me tell you. It was spooky at times. And I have no idea how people race cyclocross in the winter in the freezing temps! In that hour and a half, I never warmed up and never loosened up enough to feel that feeling of your body working like a well lubed machine at operating temps. Just felt constricted and tight and cold.

Likily it looks like the rain is going away today. So it might be drier and tomorrow it should be even warm! Back in the 60s!

Rain, rain, go away!

For various reasons I didn't get on the bike a single time since last Sunday... A week is a long time, yet in a way not too bad, becuase I road almost every day the week before and recovery time was quite welcome.

However, the withdrawal started acting up and I was looking forward to riding today... But despite early favorable forecasts, this is what I woke up to...


Argh!!! They are saying tho, that it will stop by early afternoon, and it's only drizzling, so I might get a ride in tonight. Here's to the hope!!!

Stay tuned.

Trails under the wheels, trails under the shovels...

What a week was the last week!

Started off with two consecutive days of riding, on Monday and Tuesday. Had to take Wednesday off. But rode with a fun group on Thursday. I really like those Thursday rides. The pace isn't killer, so it is very nice to enjoy the park and trails without trying to keep my lunch down at the tops of the climbs!
Met a new member of PMBA club. He is new to the area and has been exploring the park on his own. We rode most of the trails, until his light ran out of the battery and we had to find the closes bail point riding by my light alone! Then my battery ran out of juice too about 1/4 mile from the parking lot. Good thing by then I was on the main well lit path. And my legs were just as done as my light!!! I could barely turn the cranks on the flat smooth path! That's good week of riding in my book!

And on Saturday we had a great group of dedicated volunteers come out to work on a badly eroded section of the trail. It rained and drizzled on and off thru the night and in the morning. However, a little drizzle and 37 degrees temps in the morning did not deter the spirits and more than 35 people came out to work!!! I'm impressed by the generosity and dedication of our volunteers. Their spirit for giving does not seize to impressed me!
The planning for this project started a month ago, but last scheduled date, two weeks ago, got rained out. So it was rescheduled for this weekend.
There was a bad mud hole which we wanted to fix. Then we looked at the trail leading to the mud hole, and it was getting eroded badly, all loose and just plain ugly. Before we knew it, we had a plan for a section of the trail to be re-routed, and another part of it stabilized and made more erosion resistant.
By the end of the day, we had re-routed and/or revamped 320 feet of trail, in addition of building an enormous (aprox. 10'X12' and 4-5' deep) "french drain" with a beautiful stone "bridge" over it.
Check out the pictures!!!
I believe everyone was as happy and proud of the results as they were sore from all the work we did. I know I was!
It is incredible how much a relatively small group of hard working people can do in one day!

But the week was not over yet. On Sunday we went for a ride at White Clay, and fun park down in DE. The trails are maintained there by the group called Delaware Trail Spinners, and let me tell you, they know what they are doing!!! It was a beautiful late fall day, the air was cool and crisp, the colors were astonishing, the group was friendly, and the ride great! Perfect fun, recovery ride after a fantastic week!

Over and out.

Fun ride, funny crash

Had a shortish but fun ride with couple of fiends.

We were cruising pretty fast, I was leading as I approached a spot with a little jump, which I've been exploring lately, slowly gaining confidence getting a little air off of it. A friend of mine, who is much faster downhill and enjoys jumping much more than me. I didn't want to hold him up, and didn't slow down as I normally would.
As a result I went off the little jump rather uncomfortably, awkwardly, and too fast.

Landing wasn't much better. Front wheel touched down firts and at an angle with a loud crack/snap noise. One thought went thru my mind "I broke my CF fork's leg at the dropout".

I picked myself up and dusted off. Fearfully examined the bike, only to discover that nothing was broken, except for the low tire pressure. Lukily, as it turns out all I did was burp some air from my Stan's conversion! Phew, what a relief.

Never had that problem before in a long time. I haven't topped off the tires before te ride, so it is possible that they were just a hair too low. From now on, I will always check the tire pressure before heading out, and never ride on anything lower than 30 psi! Lesson learned.

SlackerVille

Being a lazy slacker SUCKS!

Last night all my riding buddies bailed on me, and I didn't have enough motivation to go riding in the cold AND dark by myself. Instead went out for a bite to eat and a beer. As I was going home afterward, I realized that it wasn't all that cold, and I felt really guilty for wasting a perfectly nice riding night.

To make things worse, today is raining... Figures... That's what I get for being a lazy bum.

In a crappy mood. Just hoping that the forecasters are correct and this rain WILL stop in an hour or so and the sun comes out and dries things up.

Hopeful to get out and ride after work

Slower pace bliss

For the last couple of months I've been mostly riding with fast guys or by myself. In either case, the rides turn out pretty hard. When I'm by myself, the pace might not be break neck fast, but I don't stop. When chasing them boys, it's almost race pace for me.
And I love the resulting fatigue and pain.

However, tonight I went with a different group, and pace was much more relaxed. What a joy! Noticing so much more beautiful nature around. To say nothing of being able to fly up the hills half way thru and at the end of the ride, because I still have a lot left in the tank, instead of being spent from riding to the limit from the moment of getting on the bike.

New resolution, from now on, at least once a month -- easy ride!!! :-)

Over and out!