2-7-2010
2 laps today at Pinehurst, 12 miles total. 868 overall. First lap was 27:04 and second was 28:44. The first lap I hammered down pretty hard until I ran up on a couple about 8-10 min in. I slowed down and they let me pass. As I took a longer route through some of the red trails, I ended up behind them again about 3/4 of a mile from the end of the trail. I decided to wait a couple of minutes and just let them go ahead of me instead of trying to pass again. On the second lap I took my time through the trail as the sun was setting. I did get a little too aggressive when I was trying to get back into my pedals and ended up hitting my shin pretty good with my left pedal. It hurt pretty bad with each pedal stroke for about 10 minutes. Both times through the trail as I was coming to the end, I got my speed up through some smaller roots and sand. It's much easier to get through that portion when I put a lot of power to the rear wheel and pick up the front end a bit. The trail here is washboard style and has become one of my favorite parts of the trail. I'm going to attempt to get out there a bit earlier tomorrow and ride the trail once or twice more than today or head across the street for some road riding. There was a good wind blowing out of the south that definitely affects me on the road a lot more than the trail, so I’ve been inclined to stay on the trail a little more than I had been before.
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| Yes, I'm a big baby cause this did hurt. |
2-8-2010
Another 2 laps at Pinehurst. 12 miles again. 880 miles on the Cog. First lap 27:12, 2nd lap was probably 31 min. It's just a guess ‘cause I took my time and forgot to stop my watch when I ended. My bike needs a wash, so I'll probably do that tomorrow afternoon. I have to say my favorite parts of this trail are becoming the open parts with the small roots going across it. They're fun to fly over going fast. I've noticed I'm not really using the front brake much at all in favor of just grabbing my rear brake hard enough to lock it up and adjusting my body in the skid to make it around quick turns. Unfortunately, this wears on me quickly as I have to put quite a bit of power back in to get going again. Fun ride nonetheless.
2-9-2010
8 miles at Pinehurst. 888 overall. 1 lap only. I ran up on 2 groups of people and they were all over the trail. I don't mind sharing the trail, because everyone should be encouraged to try the sport and enjoy things at their own pace, but when 6 or 7 people in a group decide to stop at a very wide point in the trail and spread themselves completely across it, I was a bit annoyed. They probably didn't even realize what they were doing, so oh well. I was able to finish in 26:13, which is probably my best time yet. I was pumped up throughout the trail and I was pretty tired after the lap. After the ride, I cleaned up the Cog well. After about 2 weeks of riding, it was filthy and almost completely covered in spots with sand and dirt.
2-10-2010
It rained starting in the early afternoon till I was done with work, so no ride this afternoon.
2-11-2010
More rain today and I think it's gonna get a little cooler tonight as well.
2-12-2010
My Timex Ironman died on me today. I'm getting a new battery to see if that's the issue, but it had no fading of the display 2 days ago. So I did about 20 miles at Okeeheelee, followed by 1 lap at Pinehurst and back to the apartment for 26 miles on the day and 914 miles overall. It was a cold (for South Florida) day at 60 degrees and quite windy with wind out of the north at about 14 mph. This wind made keeping my average speed above 15 mph difficult for me and I was only able to manage about 13.85 mph average while on pavement. In the trail, I slowed down a lot and finished at about 32 minutes. My toes became numb at about mile 15 from the cold. I’ve tied my shoes the same tightness virtually every time and I've yet to have this happen before even when I did a lot more pavement last year. It was a good workout and I definitely am feeling the burn this evening. It turned out the battery was the issue and was about a 3 min fix. Yay!
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| D-E-D, DEAD! |
2-13-2010
Ok, well I woke up very late today (1 PM) and found Jimmy gone from the apartment. Being hungry and knowing I wouldn't be returning to South Florida trails for over a month, I decided the most sensible thing to do would be to put my bike inside the car, eat on the go and drive to Quiet Waters park in Deerfield. What a great idea!
I was able to fit my wheels in the trunk and the bike in the back seat without an issue. I would have been doing this sooner except the last time I put my bike in the car, it was a huge mess. It was a mess because the rear wheel needed to stay on the bike or I would have to bring a wrench to remove and put it back on, as well as the adjustment of the chain, which is a pain to me with the bolt on wheelset I had. The quick releases make life much easier for transport and putting the wheels back on quickly and with minimal fuss.
I did 3 fun laps at Quiet Waters and really enjoyed the new section of trail that has been put in since I was last here a few months ago. It's only $1.50 to get into the park and I've gotta say that improvements have been made all over this trail. It seems to flow quicker for me than before. I am so happy I'm running tubeless now. The trail is still one of the rockiest I've been on and having the extra cushion of a 2.3 tubeless tire really helps relieve some of the jarring.
I was a bit worried about the weather today at the park, especially the wind, which was blowing again out of the north at 15mph. Last time I was here, the wind had carried across the lake and zapped my energy very quickly. This time however, the wind either died down or I just didn't notice it as much. I am definitely coming to Quiet Waters more often from now on. It was an awesome 21 miles today. 935 miles on the bike total.
I went to Jims for them to look at my bottom bracket (BB), since I felt it was creaking on me at the end of my 2nd lap. They were almost closing and tried to tighten the pedals and the cranks, but the creak remained by the time they closed. Since I had the tools at the apartment to take it apart, I figured I'd take a look later.
MAP
2-14-2010
There was no ride today. I wasn't able to sleep until about 4 am and really didn't have it in me after getting maybe 3 hours of sleep last night. I did remove my bottom bracket and reinstall it last night and cleaned up my bike. I didn't think I'd be able to get the BB off at first, but after some elbow grease and luck, both sides broke loose. I rode the Cog around the neighborhood and it wasn't creaking anymore this afternoon, so I guess it worked.
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