November 21, 2010

  • Another MTB ride

    It's been a long time since I posted a Velocal ride for the Breakfast Club.bummed  Seems that most folks these days are smitten with the road or have moved on to more hard core groups.   So I posted this ride and looks like I am going solo.   That's cool since it gives me a chance to take out the single speed and I can take my time trying to figure out what's wrong with the shifting on the Yeti.

    So I figure I will skip the ride down the bike path and take the road over to the trails today.  The bike path adds a few miles and on the SS it get's pretty old riding on pavement at 11 mph. 

    I make it over to the Pineridge area and I am pretty toasty.  It was 26 degrees when I left the house with a high of 48 expected for the day.  I did add an extra base layer which was a bit too warm since there was tad bit of a tail wind.  Anyway I was really glad to finally make it over to the trails.  I decided to keep the  higher tire pressures to see how it goes initially, and by higher I mean like 35 psi.   The bike is rolling OK, but it's a bit rough, but I'll just keep it so that  I can roll well over the hard stuff.

    When I reach the top of the ridge at Pineridge I see a rider on a cross bike.  She's moving pretty good so I wait and make sure  I wont' get in her way.  I  can see that she's not really moving that fast, but faster than I can comfortably muster on the SS.   I  am about 50 yards or so behind her but when we get to the more technical sections where the fat tires rule I can see I am making up ground on her, slowly but surely.  I finally catch up to her, but I am in no hurry to pass and just as well, since she turned for another lap of Pineridge and I am off to Maxwell.

    On the way over to Maxwell a couple of riders pass me while I am getting a bit to eat.  I follow after a bit and they are a good bit up the trail.  Good to see that others are out.  I make it over to the Maxwell climb and my legs are a bit tired from the 4 mile run on Friday.  Yeah, I know that shouldn't make a difference, but it does, since I only run once a week and I missed the previous week, but I digress.  So, there is some traffic and I catch and eventually go around a woman on the climb.  I can see the other two riders up the trail and they provide some motivation to try and keep them in sight.  I am pleased to have done as well on this climb as I did, perhaps all those summer miles have done some longer term good.

    When I arrive at the summit I see the other riders adjusting clothing so I perch myself near them while I take a drink and decide where I am going to ride next.   I chat with these guys for abit, and they are pretty nice and have some pretty decent steeds.   While we are waiting the woman I passed on the way up joins our chat.   I can't help but notice the license plate on her bike which, if I read this  correctly, read "sexy".  Hmm,  not sure if I should make a comment or something, so I just stay quite.

    We all head off in the same direction, with the 2 guys pretty much checking out after a few minutes.  I ride behind "sexy"  making small talk until the trail ended at the construction area that was closed.   I continued on and she turned back for more trails riding.

    I make my way up that steep grade which isn't too bad unless you are on a SS with tired legs.  I am pleased to have cleaned that little one and I take the roads over to Lory state Park.   I check the Odometer, which I just put on the bike, and I see that I have 18 miles in already, which means another 18 to get home.   I take the East Valley trail this time for a change of pace, since I normally take the West Valley trail.   This is a perfect trail for the SS and my gearing so I really enjoyed the flowing single trak.

    Finally I make it over to the Soderberg trail head and it's time to head for home.  This is the part that really drags since the ride has a lot of slight descent and on the SS I am spun out at 12 mph and it's seems like such a chore, especially being on pavement and all.  In any case endure the 10+ miles of road.  I guess there is some benefit, since all the spinning has all the lactic acid out of my legs so I feel pretty good when I arrive home.   I check the stats and it's 37.5 miles which is longer than I though that ride was! cool  Hopefully I'll get some more takers on the ride before the Winter is out, but if not, that's OK too.happy