Ahh, sometimes fate drops a plan right in your lap, which is better than a scalding bowl of wonton soup, to be sure. If you happened to receive the recent SORBA / IMBA e-newsletter, you may already have heard of the Muddy Spokes Club, but if not, let me educate you. The state park system here in the great state of Georgia has bike accessible trails at several of it's parks. In order to promote use of the parks for exercise, they have formed the Muddy Spokes Club. You send in a $10 registration and you get a card. You then go to each of 11 parks and ride the trails there. At each park, the nice ranger will punch your card. When all the holes are punched, you mail the card back and they send you a commemorative T-shirt and another card. The trails range from flat, short and paved to long, mountain singletrack runs with "scenic overlooks." For any of you new to mountain biking, if a trial has scenic overlooks, it is has to be way the hell up on a mountain. Which means climbing way the hell up a mountain. The total mileage of all the trails is 68 miles, with the shortest at 3 miles and the longest at 12.
Most of the trails will probably be less than challenging, but the experience should be great. Besides, we needed a good excuse to tow our camper all over and stay in beautiful parks all summer. REALLY.
In other news, Carrie got her first crack at our normal Tuesday road loop today. Since the weather was nice (61 and sunny) we decided to embark from Kat's house and do the tuesday loop with Diana and Craig. We did the entire 20 mile loop, including the Bible Camp Creek climbs. The wind was a little on the brisk side, but I was mostly comfortable in a short sleeve jersey with base layer and tights. It was a little cool in the shade, but since it's still January, I'm not complaining. Carrie did great, once again, making it up all the climbs and even cruising at 20+ mph on some of the later flats. Since we're doing the thirty at Biking Bleckley, this was a good run up for her. We averaged 12.9 mph and Carrie said she felt like she could have done another 10 miles. I'm sure with a tasty sag stop along the way, she'll have no problem. As long as the weather stays reasonable, it should be a good trip.
EXTRA CREDIT QUESTION: What movie ended with a the start of a road trip to get Aerosmith tickets, the "Top Priority of the Summer?" Bonus points if you can name one of the characters that used the phrase on screen.
Sunday, January 27
Thursday, January 24
just a mechanical update
For all of the concerned readers who've flooded my inbox with impassioned concerns for Big Red's health and recovery, I offer a quick update. Nate at Bike Tech sprang into action and hunted down a replacement suspension link. Okay, in truth it was sitting lonely in their spare parts bin. Anyhoo, for the bargain basement price of $20, I've got a slightly used link with bearings in better shape than the ones I had. The link is from an '06 bike and it is heavier than the hollow link of my '07 by a few grams. It's also one friggin' cast piece with no welds to break. I'm sure the hollow links are fine for skinny racer boys, but they won't work in the big boy leagues.
So, after an evening of hectic assembly, I put the bike back on the trails, only to find that my new chain makes it painfully obvious that the middle chainring is way past usable. When you torque on the pedal, the chain skips around the chainring like a big damn ratchet. Plus the pulleys on the rear derailleur sounds like a yard sale coffee grinder full of marbles. I'm off tomorrow at lunch to pick up a new chainring, some derailleur parts, and a new shifter cable.
Fear not, loyal readers, Big Red is on the mend and should be back in the thick of the fight next week. If Sunday truly is sunny, the road bike will be back in service while Red recuperates. Wait till you see the black bike with new TeamFlipper livery.
Monday, January 21
Ididaride 08
After much delaying and trepidation, we were ushered from behind the velvet ropes of the waiting list onto the grand stage of the registered riders. Jodi called slightly more than a week before the 50 mile ride was slated to go off and announced that there were slots available from cancellations. We jumped on the chance like mountain bikers on free beer. Oh, if we had only known.
Now, for the uninitiated, the Ididaride is put on by the Suwannee bike association in white springs, FL. It is a fifty mile off-road ride held in January every year along the banks of the tea-colored Suwannee River, star of outdated songs. It's not a race, in that it isn't timed. The only point is to finish. Let me allay the tension and tell you now, we didn't. See, it started raining about 2:00 the morning of the ride and rained continuously until about 10:30. Since the ride started at nine, it was a nasty way to start a ride. Worse than the weather (did I mention it was 50 degrees?) was the trail. the first 5 miles was ridden on forest service roads cut through the north florida scrub, which is palmettos and pine trees. Normally, these roads are dark gray sand. After 2 inches of rain, they are black gumbo mud and water from pedal to bottom bracket deep. Worse than that, the roads are utterly boring. It's like the I-16 of bike trails.
Anyway, to glaze over the heartache, Carrie was done after five miles of gawdawful mud. I was frustrated and bored to tears, and we decided to chuck it in. You know when you're riding a mountain bike and daydreaming of being at WORK, it's time to bail. I was very disappointed in driving all that way and not seeing more than one tenth of the trail, but Carrie was not able to go any further. I was moving too slow to have warmed up, and starting the day with an average speed of 4 miles per hour does not make a good 50 mile ride. My bike was also making heart-wrenching noises. None of which makes me any happier about not riding.
The rest of the weekend was great camping with friends, despite the cold weather. We took Monday off to recover and clean bikes. Carrie's bike recovered nicely, but big red wasn't so lucky. On disassembly, I broke the bolt on the derailleur hanger, found out that most of the bearings in the rear suspension are shot, and found out that the Horst link where the rear shock is mounted is cracked on the weld. I don't think this ride was the direct cause of any of these, except maybe the bearings, but it's a pisser of a way to end a disappointing bike experience.
I'll probably give the ride another shot next year, but if it rains, they can shove it. I heard there was some nice singletrack, but the trails I saw would make me take up road biking. I had a great time overall, as I always do with my biking family, but the Suwannee trails certainly have to redeem themselves next time I ride there.
Sunday, January 6
Back on track..er..trail
We planned to pick up Diana and rally to the trailhead at Dauset, meeting John and Kat for a little two wheeled celebration of Georgia's mild climate. It's nice to live in a state where you know there will be at least one day a month of perfect riding weather, even in the dark months of winter. It's January but I was out today in shorts and a jersey, perfectly happy.
Our big plans almost got canceled due to a family tragedy, of sorts. My Mom's dog passed away, and we almost had to cancel the ride to offer familial support. Things didn't work out that way today, but I'm sure our support will be needed in the future. That sort of thing is never easy.
In the end, we left a little later than the rest of the gang and caught up with them on the trails, returing us to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress. Carrie was excited about the day and hoping for a good Dauset experience. Everytime we go up there, Carrie seems to have a bad day. She has been getting better steadily, but Dauset tends to throw more mileage at her than she's ready for, and manages to do it on a bad day. Everyone that rides knows all about bad days, they strike for no reason at all and can be very frustrating. After her glorious success at a first road ride, Carrie started out feeling confident about having a good ride this time.
We caught up with Kat and Diana at the pavilion and then conquered Fern Gully, part of Sandy Creek, The Huff n Puff Extension, and Brownlee. Carrie headed back to the pavillion then, and Kat, Diana and I rode some more. In the end, Carrie covered a solid 5 miles, riding some sketchy stuff and vicious hills, and had a good time doing it. I clocked about 7 miles and had a good time as well, despite some gunbo-thick mud in the low spots on the extension. One of the muddy spots looked so inviting that Carrie decided to stop for a quick mudbath, but continued refreshed with no ill effects.
A lot of what we rode today was on the race course for the 12 hour. I think that I'm in a little better shape than I was then. The climbs seemed easier today, in no small part because they weren't half way through a 10 mile lap, but still..... I think I'm still seeing an improvement, which is encouraging. I've managed to lose those 5 Christmas Cookie pounds, and I'm establishing a new weight goal. By the end of the summer, I'll be down to 220 pounds. That's 20 lbs away, and I think it's attainable, but I suspect it will be a slower process this time. I don't think I want to weigh less than that.
At least, I don't think that NOW.
Our big plans almost got canceled due to a family tragedy, of sorts. My Mom's dog passed away, and we almost had to cancel the ride to offer familial support. Things didn't work out that way today, but I'm sure our support will be needed in the future. That sort of thing is never easy.
In the end, we left a little later than the rest of the gang and caught up with them on the trails, returing us to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress. Carrie was excited about the day and hoping for a good Dauset experience. Everytime we go up there, Carrie seems to have a bad day. She has been getting better steadily, but Dauset tends to throw more mileage at her than she's ready for, and manages to do it on a bad day. Everyone that rides knows all about bad days, they strike for no reason at all and can be very frustrating. After her glorious success at a first road ride, Carrie started out feeling confident about having a good ride this time.
We caught up with Kat and Diana at the pavilion and then conquered Fern Gully, part of Sandy Creek, The Huff n Puff Extension, and Brownlee. Carrie headed back to the pavillion then, and Kat, Diana and I rode some more. In the end, Carrie covered a solid 5 miles, riding some sketchy stuff and vicious hills, and had a good time doing it. I clocked about 7 miles and had a good time as well, despite some gunbo-thick mud in the low spots on the extension. One of the muddy spots looked so inviting that Carrie decided to stop for a quick mudbath, but continued refreshed with no ill effects.
A lot of what we rode today was on the race course for the 12 hour. I think that I'm in a little better shape than I was then. The climbs seemed easier today, in no small part because they weren't half way through a 10 mile lap, but still..... I think I'm still seeing an improvement, which is encouraging. I've managed to lose those 5 Christmas Cookie pounds, and I'm establishing a new weight goal. By the end of the summer, I'll be down to 220 pounds. That's 20 lbs away, and I think it's attainable, but I suspect it will be a slower process this time. I don't think I want to weigh less than that.
At least, I don't think that NOW.
Saturday, January 5
Happy New Year!!
For the first time Carrie and I went on the annual Bike Store New Year's Day ride. It was a first because they do this on the road, and we haven't had road bikes in the past. The ride started at about 1 PM New Year's Day and was planned for about 40 miles at "hangover" pace of about 17 mph. Now, let's be honest, I don't think I can ride 20 miles at that speed, much less 40 with the big boys. I'm not sure who really believes 17mph is a "hangover" pace, but I am pretty sure they're way too serious about training to actually have a hangover.
Well, the weather decided to be about half crappy for the ride. I say half, because, hey, it could have been raining. That would have been worse, but then I'd have stayed inside and it wouldn't have mattered. It decided to be bright and sunny - and COLD and WINDY. Highs around 50 with 25 mph gusts, specifically. Which means it was gusting faster than I can normally ride, and being of the wider variety of human, that can be great as a tailwind, and a lot like riding into a parked bus as a headwind. Some people were smart and scheduled a different bike ride.
So, after a quick raffle drawing in the store (thanks Bill, even though I didn't win anything) we assembled and departed. That is to say, our collective shivering coincided to move us in a forward direction. With semi-aero wheels on the road bike, the gusts were enough to almost pull the handlebars out from under you if you weren't hanging on pretty tight. Of course, my hands had frozen to the bars, so I was in no danger. The big event this year was that Carrie decided to come out on her very first real road ride, despite the iffy weather. Up until this point, her only experience was a couple orientation rides and a stout 20 mile trainer ride. We ended up doing 26 miles at an average of 11 mph. Not too shabby in these conditions on a first ride. We climbed both Powersville hills, rode part of Hwy 49 into Byron (the scariest part to me) and circled back through the neighborhood to end at the store. Carrie managed to drift her roadbike around a turn with a patch of gravel in the middle like a Japanese stunt driver. Not only did My Dear Wife ride all the hills like a champ and practice her cyclocross skills, she was even still able to smile back at the truck.
As a matter of fact, all of us were smiling. Frozen like cheap vegetables, but smiling. Kat and Diana chaperoned Carrie and I and were kind enough to handle route planning.
After we got back we went to the bulldog cafe and had a guinness to celebrate our survival and defrost our interiors. It also gave us a good warm place to wait for the other riders to return. Interestingly, we didn't take clothes to change into, so I actually went into a sports bar wearing tights. And I was sober, even. Luckily, the place was pretty empty, so I survived.
All in all, it was a great start to the year. Let's just hope the winds ease up.
Well, the weather decided to be about half crappy for the ride. I say half, because, hey, it could have been raining. That would have been worse, but then I'd have stayed inside and it wouldn't have mattered. It decided to be bright and sunny - and COLD and WINDY. Highs around 50 with 25 mph gusts, specifically. Which means it was gusting faster than I can normally ride, and being of the wider variety of human, that can be great as a tailwind, and a lot like riding into a parked bus as a headwind. Some people were smart and scheduled a different bike ride.
So, after a quick raffle drawing in the store (thanks Bill, even though I didn't win anything) we assembled and departed. That is to say, our collective shivering coincided to move us in a forward direction. With semi-aero wheels on the road bike, the gusts were enough to almost pull the handlebars out from under you if you weren't hanging on pretty tight. Of course, my hands had frozen to the bars, so I was in no danger. The big event this year was that Carrie decided to come out on her very first real road ride, despite the iffy weather. Up until this point, her only experience was a couple orientation rides and a stout 20 mile trainer ride. We ended up doing 26 miles at an average of 11 mph. Not too shabby in these conditions on a first ride. We climbed both Powersville hills, rode part of Hwy 49 into Byron (the scariest part to me) and circled back through the neighborhood to end at the store. Carrie managed to drift her roadbike around a turn with a patch of gravel in the middle like a Japanese stunt driver. Not only did My Dear Wife ride all the hills like a champ and practice her cyclocross skills, she was even still able to smile back at the truck.
As a matter of fact, all of us were smiling. Frozen like cheap vegetables, but smiling. Kat and Diana chaperoned Carrie and I and were kind enough to handle route planning.
After we got back we went to the bulldog cafe and had a guinness to celebrate our survival and defrost our interiors. It also gave us a good warm place to wait for the other riders to return. Interestingly, we didn't take clothes to change into, so I actually went into a sports bar wearing tights. And I was sober, even. Luckily, the place was pretty empty, so I survived.All in all, it was a great start to the year. Let's just hope the winds ease up.
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