21 more miles of fun

I had felt rotten most of the day and have been up since 4 and I couldn't go back to bed. 

I hopped on the saddle at a little before 5:30 in hopes of getting 2 laps in at Pinehurst. First lap was 30 minutes almost exactly. I was smokin, or at least I thought I was. I got passed once and he was way faster than me. Second lap was 31 min. I pushed hard and was ready for a break when I got done. After talking to a guy I saw t the trailhead, 23 minutes is fast and he averages 26 min. I have some work to do. I was a little sloppy on my first lap and reigned it in a bit on the second. I know I can improve still.

I can pass the obstacles here, but I need to work on carrying my speed through turns and when I have to scrub speed to make a turn, I need to get right back on the gas.

I decided to head to Okeeheelee to let my legs spin and get some higher cadences going. I have much more endurance than I did when I started biking a little over a month ago and a significant amount more than last week. I did notice today that my 2 sprints through the trail left me with no cramps in my legs that night or even today. 

Total mileage for the day 21.36. Overall mileage 227.  I found out previous miles were wrong and I was not at 235 as I had previously thought.

Click to see larger pic

New Pinehurst record (for a slowpoke)

9-13-2010

So. Work was tiring enough that as soon as I could break away after 5, I was getting my clothes on for a ride. I dropped the tire pressure down to 35 psi in both front and back. I rode pretty quickly to Pinehurst and began almost immediately. I have always done this trail at about 75-80%. Today, I decided to push myself.

I was able to make the first lap in a little under 31 minutes. This was pretty good for me since my fastest lap so far and about the longest I can do on the trail. I was slacking off towards the end of the first lap, but another rider behind me got me to pick up my speed again. 

I took about a 5 minute break and headed back in. I started to go kind of slow to wind down, but I wanted to try to push myself a little more. I finished in almost identical time as the previous lap.

It was definitely a good idea to drop the air pressure as I was able to keep the bike more planted as I went over the roots and stuff much easier.  I got back to the apartment about 7:25 with 12 miles on my bike for the day and 214 overall. My legs are definitely going to be burning tonight! It was quite a bit more enjoyable to push myself rather than just getting through the trail. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and Wednesday's rides before I go back to Texas.

Tour d' FORCE

9-12-2010

Laziness on a Sunday? Yes, please. So I rolled out of bed around 10:30 and decided I really needed to go visit some other parks today. I toyed with the idea of visiting 3 parks in a day in the West Palm area. I decided to call my little outing, the Tour d' FORCE, as I called it because these were all trails maintained by the mountain bike group FORCE.  This was not a group ride or anything, but just something I made up in my head for what I was doing today and to celebrate my first month of ownership.  

I messed around, found that my bike fit in the back of the car (not well, but it fit) and headed off around 1:30. My first stop was West Delray Regional Park. It's supposed to be 2.5 miles of singletrack. As I headed south, I noticed some rain. Undeterred, I drove south. It rained harder. When I arrived, it was still coming down pretty good. I noticed signs to watch for alligators. I waited on the car for a few minutes until the rain calmed down. I heard a 2 cycle engine in the distance. The rain had cooled the air a bit and it was much like plebe summer on the day it rained when we were out sailing. It was very hot and humid, then tons of rain, and finally quite pleasant to be outside again. Birds were even chirping. A slight mist was coming down and I was ready to ride. I started at about 2:25 PM.

I began by riding down a limestone path to find the 2 cycle sound. It turned out to be an R/C club at the north end. It also gave me an idea of how the park and the trail were connected. I spied a gator trolling the lake and heard several large things run through the bushes or make a splash as well as a black snake in the middle of the trail as I passed.  The trail wound around several small ponds and had tons of vegetation. I kept thinking I would be seeing a gator in the middle of the trail or coming up the bank of the lake.  This made the ride less enjoyable.

I finished at about 2:55 and quit the trail less than a mile in because of losing the trail 3 times. The 3rd time it was so overgrown I really couldn't find it. The trail was quite muddy and very wet. I can't say I'd recommend this trail until it's either dried out and everything is dead or it's cleared off more. This sounds harsh, but after riding Pinehurst 3-5 days a week, I just dont see a reason to hit this park up yet. The "yet" is crucial because I can see the potential here. I think it will just take some more time and trail work. 3.36 miles total. Next up, Dyer Park in 

West Palm Beach.

Wow! What a difference! Dyer Hill lived up to it's reputation of being a cardio trail.  I huffed and puffed all over the place. I was not expecting the difficulty at all. 

To give a bit of history, this trail is built on an old landfill. The hill is not huge (about 50 feet tall), but the way the trail is designed you go up and down it about 10 times and backtrack on yourself for good measure.  I was very glad to see the end. I did stop a number of times to catch my breath and get a drink. The trail is approx 2.5 miles long. I finished the hill and took the paved path down and was greeted with some natural A/C. I did a lap around on the paved trail at the bottom of the hill and ended with 7.54 miles so far today. I also met a family whose children all qualified for the Jr Ironman triathlon earlier this year and will be competing on October. How cool is that? Cool enough that I felt like a loser, compared to those kids. I think it's great that kids are out and doing something instead of sitting in front of their 360 or PS3.  Next, to the apartment to drop off some things then to Pinehurst to finish my 200 mile month and the Tour d' FORCE.

After arriving at the apartment, I got all the stuff I didn't need and brought it inside. I figured if I needed to change a tube or make an adjustment, I could probably make it back to the apartment ok by walking it back. Unfortunately, if you start off with a flat tire in the back of your car, your chances of starting a ride without fixing it decrease tremendously. So, I aired up the rear tire to 40 psi and waited for a few minutes. In those few minutes, I heard babies crying, children crying, and thunder. I was at the point I didn't really care if it rained at all anymore. My bike needed a wash anyway, so bonus there. After waiting 10 min, I checked the pressure and it was down to 20 psi. Yep, tube change needed.

I left for my final 8 miles at 5:49. And again at 6:02. You see, in all the fun of changing tubes, I left my helmet at the apartment. I contemplated not wearing it as I was less than a quarter mile from the trail, but I decided to turn around and pick it up. 

The trail was nice and cool (for South Florida) and was a lot of fun. I do have to remember to lower my tire pressure down to something less than 40psi. I was bouncing off everything. I missed the double logs as I just was not paying attention and I had no speed to get up them. I had a guy pass me twice on the trail. Yeah, you heard right. I let him pass once and didn't see him for a long time and I saw him again at the jump area. He somehow got in behind me again an passed me there too. Why would you pass someone twice? I dunno if he was showing off or what. I decided that I may not be as fast as others on the trail with suspension bikes or gears, but I really don't care. I want to get better and go faster, but beating others at this point is not going to concern me. I finished the trail in 35 min and finished riding with 17 miles for the day and 202 on the bike.

This was a good idea for the three parks in a day, although I would probably want to skip West Delray for now and instead start my day earlier with something to the south like Oleta, Markham, Amelia Earhart, or Quiet Waters. Also, I am definitely getting a rack for my bike because it doesn't need to be in the back of the car and get mud and sand inside.

Fort Pierce Trail Report

9-11-2010

Jimmy and I went to Fort Pierce bike trail today. It was a 4.5 mile singletrack trail. I was pretty excited about this trail because I had heard good things about it from some people I had met at Pinehurst earlier this week. 

The trail had a lot more elevation changes than other parks I've visited in South Florida. It was fun, fast, sandy, and muddy. This meant I was covered with mud and sand when I got done with my first lap.  I loved the hills here. Even the sand dune like hill. This hill was literally all sand. Coming down took a bit of finesse. It was quite a challenge to get to the top of some of these hills. There were several small drops at this park and I had a blast getting some speed through them. I did skip the tree drop in as I wasn't quite comfortable yet going over it.

The trail had plenty of markings, but it did not flow the way I had thought it would. Some of the markings were contradictory. This led me to go over the same spots in several times in the first lap. I did notice my chain was very slack or it seemed very slack to me . I decided to adjust it before I rode a second lap. First lap took approximately 45 min. I didn't ride fast on the first lap as I was trying to find my way around and back to the trailhead.

When I arrived back at the truck, I found Jimmy on the tailgate looking a little tired. We talked a bit and I took off to do another lap. About 200 feet in, I realized that I had not in fact done anything about my chain. So I turned around and began the process of tightening my chain. After Jim at Jim's Bicycles torqued the rear axle down, it was quite difficult to get the rear axle loosened with such a short wrench that i had in my pack. Jimmy got out his socket set and it provided me a long enough arm to make it much easier to get the axle loose.

The second lap was quicker and slower for me. I kept moving though the trail, but I ended up getting slower towards the end. I finished in about 40 minutes. 

I was filthy by the end of the second lap and smelled awful. The mud was the culprit of it all. Oh well. It was a great ride and I may have done another lap, but I needed a break. I didn't want Jimmy waiting another 40-45 min out there for me, so we loaded up and headed back to West Palm. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable day riding and I'd recommend this trail to people though I wish it had less mud or I wish I had known how much mud there would actually be, so I could have a change of clothes with me. I ended the day's riding with 9 miles and 185 overall since I got it.

Quick Ride at Pinehurst and a movie

9-10-2010
No ride today. Rained in the afternoon, so we decided to see Machete. It was definitely over the top. So over the top that it was laugh out loud hilarious.

9-9-2010
I got back from a drive to Miami with no A/C at about 4:30. The heat definitely took it out of me and I was asleep within minutes of getting back.  I got to Pinehurst after 6:30. First lap was all reds except Barkalounger and another very rooty part on the other side of the trail. I like the roots here. I like getting through them, but I knew I was running late and wanted to get as much riding as I could in. I finished the lap at a respectable 33 minutes. This lap was 4.16 miles. I was able to clear the double logs easy today. Just needed some momentum! I was floored that I made it over them. I saw the part where I flipped yesterday and I really should have seen the small log if it was still light out.

Second lap started right at 7. This was no good after I got past the double logs again. Not wanting a repeat of last night, I bailed at the SW corner at 8.11 miles. So that's right at 6.5 trail miles.

I've got more miles in me, but I'm getting to the trail too late. I also got two full rotations out of my cranks when I was in some roots today because I was way over my bars again and my back tire gained altitude and lost all connection to the ground. I stopped for a second and had a good laugh as to what I probably looked like when this happened.  I think I could have made it out if I had left on my second lap no later than 6:45. Sunset was at 7:32 pm today. I left the trail at 7:20 and I still had 10-15 minutes in front of me. Therefore, I need 45 min before sunset to feel comfortable I think. I got a total of 11 miles today on the bike, and 174 total.  I think I will concentrate more on the trail miles than the street miles from now on. I still need a day or two to spin my legs up quickly, so I will still do road riding, just not as much as I have been so far.

More flippity floppying over my bars

9-8-2010

I left for Pinehurst around 5:35. I had decided to do one lap on the blue route and if I felt up to it, do another lap on the red route. I wanted to map both to see where stuff was at in both trails as I had not ridden all blue or all red before.

I did the first lap at a pretty slow pace and it turned out to be about 2.2 to 2.4 miles. I did it in about 21 min. Doing this trail only on blue passes by so much of the fun parts of this trail! I met a older guy with a longish white gray beard that got done right after me and a couple of other guys and we talked a bit about the trail. The older guy said it was his 3rd time through today and he was a little slow on his 3rd lap.  3rd lap?!?!?!?! The least I should be doing is another lap. And off I went.

Nothing big on this ride except I did all reds no matter where I came to, I went red. A lot of the parts I had not taken before were really not that difficult. Some portions I had done in my first few outings were quite fun. I was pretty surprised. I was able to power over quite a few things that I had issue with in previous outings. That being said, some of the places were kinda impassable to me (right now) I got off my bike a few times to get by some things, but was overall pleased with my performance. 4 miles, 35 min.

At this point, I met 5 other guys at the trailhead and talked to them for awhile. I was not tired yet. Sweaty, yes. Very yes. So we talked. I gave them some chain lube and I decided to ride another time around.  I found out about Fort Pierce and Halpatiokee Trails in St. Lucie County.  I think I'm gonna see if Jimmy and Jordy want to go here this weekend.

This time, I mixed it up some, but kept 95% red.  I had stopped a few times in the trail because my wife had called. I skipped the rooty part near the SW corner of the trail. It just wasn't worth it on this ride.  I was tired, but doing good. The guys I talked to passed my about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from the end.  I was energized to ride faster. Unfortunately, it was getting darker at this point and I ended up flipping over the bars before I was about to lift my front end to go over a log and I must have missed a little little dip, that I couldn't see. It was 1/5 of a mile from the end. I ate it good! I didn't feel hurt, but my handlebars were twisted about 60 degrees off center. I wanted to finish the ride and have my bike working when I finished the trail. I did consider trying to ride out like that, but I would not be lazy!

I took out my tool and I'm glad I had used it to adjust the headset before.  Another couple of guys passed me, but no big deal. I adjusted the bars back to the correct position and finished the ride just fine.  On a separate note, it was much cooler in the first portion of the trail, but I probably won't ride this late again until I get some light(s). This was another 4 miles and about 40 minutes of trail under my belt. I rode a total of 15 miles today, of which about 10-11 were on the trail.  That means I have 163 miles on the bike now.  Yay!

I headed back to the apt and got pretty damn hungry quickly.  This was a great ride today and I'm glad I could do  2.5 laps each time. I count this as 2.5 laps because the blue to me is like half a lap.  I plan on making this my normal ride plus maybe one more lap at the end. This means I will probably have to leave at 5 pm or earlier from now on.

9-7-2010

Jordan got in last night and I found out he had some new tires for his bike. He had help from a bike store on which ones to pick for his more mountain than hybrid bike. The problem was that he got only one tire and he said he needed two and the tire he did get was way too big for his bike. His original tire was a 700x40c tire which is about 29x1.6 inches. His new tire is 29x2.0 inches. Way way too wide. I had to air down the tire to get it on the bike. No way this would work for him in the trail. I helped him pick out some new tires at Flying Wheel Bicycle Shop.  Hopefully these new tires will give him some grip in the sections he had issues with earlier.

9-6-2010

Rain. I hate you.  As you can imagine, it rained.

9-5-2010

I woke up around 10 and looked out the window. It was bright and sunshine was abundant. I thought about getting right up, but I was a bit sore from my riding this week. After logging all my rides in a spreadsheet, I noticed I had over doubled my mileage in the last two weeks (based on Sunday to Saturday). I didn't want to kill myself even when I really wanted to be on my bike. I'm hoping tomorrow will be nice, so I can get some more miles in.

9-4-2010

I started my ride and noticed almost immediately my thighs were tired. I pushed hard on the road to get to Pinehurst and was nearly out of breath by the time I got there. I started the trail immediately. I was soon joined by two other bikers. I almost ran over a kid running backwards through the trails. The guys behind me were quicker than I was today and I let them pass. I got past a few places giving me trouble but I was definitely beat after I got done. I took about 32.5 min, so not bad, but I want to be doing more of the obstacles soon. I think my legs were toast from yesterdays ride. I think I may get the WTB Rocket V race saddle as I was a little sore today. I ended up riding at okeeheelee for some time and had 12.57 miles today. 148 miles total on the bike. I'm pretty sure it's going to rain tonite and tomorrow, so I did what I could yesterday and today. I was out for an hour and 20 minutes today. Noticed I sweat a lot after I took a shower. For nearly an hour after, my forehead was constantly drenched.

September begins!

9-3-2010
I was getting ready to ride about 4 and it was raining. At 5:15, I checked again and it was nice out. Yays. I put my biking clothes on and felt my front tire and it was very very flat. I guess that little hole was enough for that tube. I'm just glad it didn't happen on the trail. So, I took the rim off really quickly and got the tire off surprisingly easy. It was soooo much easier than Jimmy's tire. The new tube (Giant brand) was difficult to seat the valve into the pump on it an took about 10 tries.

On to riding. I left about 5:45 and got to the trail right at 6. I did one lap in 33 min. I should have the double log sets soon! It was pretty wet and the tires heaved clumps of sand onto the back of my legs. The log I had seen over the trail was gone and I didn't have problems clearing some of the stumps like I sometimes do when it's wet. The rain brought tons of humidity to the trail, especially closed in sections.  I got to the part where I fell and I for some reason can't get my front tire to go where I want there.  I may try to swing wide or cut that corner a bit in the hope that I can get through that portion easier.  I did spook a raccoon when I was on the back side by the canal today. He ran in front of me and crossed the trail and headed into the bushes.  He was pretty quick too.

While riding, I knew I wanted to get more miles under me and vary my rides a little, so I headed to Okeeheelee for a few sprints and at one point got to 23.7 mph. That was tiring on a singlespeed! I decided ringer to ride every path and every part of the road at least once. I've not been able to find a way to do the park without going over a few parts you have already done. Totaled 25.53 miles today. I was drenched when I got back, but not crazy tired. My legs still felt good and knees weren't an issue. May need a new saddle for rides like that because I was getting uncomfortable after awhile. I'm at 135.43 miles overall. That's 3 weeks at an average of 45.14 miles per week. I'll have it to 50 miles plus soon. I was able to get almost 60 miles this week though.  Last week killed me with all the rain.

I don't think we will be going to Oleta or Markham this weekend, but hopefully next.  I have to get to the trail early tomorrow (8-9 AM) before the rain comes.  I can feel the cooler weather approaching, but I'm also noticing the sun going down earlier and earlier here.  I guess it's a trade off.

9-2-2010
I've got a small hole in my front tire from a thorn. I hoped it would stay up till I got done with my ride and it did. I rode to Pinehurst and did one loop and headed back. I would have ridden another lap or even tried two more but we had to meet a friend at 6. I did notice a tree down in the first half and had to pick my bike up over. Weather looks wet for the weekend, hopefully not too bad. No knee pain at all. I figured out exactly why I flipped over the other day. It's because I had my body over the front of my bars and I cranked hard with my legs, back of the bike rose up an over I went. Almost happened again, but I caught myself. 34 min on the 4 mike trail. 7.22 miles total today. 109.9 total for the bike.

9-1-2010
No ride today. I had to pick up something from fedex and get Jimmys tire fixed. A very old rimstrip was the issue and it was only a $1 fix. Worked out because I wanted  to rest my knee for the long weekend of riding. Right arm was a pain today because I couldn't set it down on anything or it would stick. Oh yeah, peeps should watch the roads when they drive. I've almost been hit several times crossing at red lights and had a crosswalk signal. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to watch instead.