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.