mtb weekend

It has been so cold and windy here lately that there has been nothing appealing about road biking. So I am really really glad that JE and BL talked me into getting a mountain bike this year.

This weekend I spent 2 hrs in the woods sat and 3 hrs today. I got all the way up to 36 this afternoon so it wasnt even chilly at all. Today's ride was supposed to be an easy day. JE, my usual riding partner and the local leg ripper, called to say he could not make it. So I decided to take E-dog with me and make an easy day of it.

She is plenty fast, but since I don't exercise her enough I worry about pushing her too hard.

Well, long story short - JE did show up an hr late so I got two laps in with E, then threw her in the truck and rode 3 fast laps with JE, then got E back out for one easier victory lap. 6 laps x3 miles each = 18 miles = a long day.

Felt good though and fast on at least one lap.

2 a days

alright, long time no post.

The holidays have been cruel. Not enough time to ride and way too much crap around the house to eat. I got on the Wii fit scale yesterday for the first time in 31 days and it said I had gained 7.9 pounds. Ouch! That seems a lot for a month, maybe it was the time of day (I hope).

Not too long ago I was a fat guy. Then two years ago I started biking. After a year and a half I was down 50 lbs. I am tall with a smallish frame so I was always a skinny fat guy. Then I transformed into a fat skinny guy. The goal for the upcoming year is to be a skinny skinny guy, ie. fast on the bike.

So 2 things need to happen for the new Year:

1. quit eating so much crap
2. more pedaling of the bike

I got a head start on #2 Sunday. I started by joining the group from the local bike shop for the 8:30 am road. Last year I did this ride almost every week, but this year I have been distracted by mountain biking. Riding there and back gave me 47 miles.

We had rolled back into the bike shop parking lot at about 10:45 and my phone rang. It was JE wanting to go mountain biking at 12. So pedal home, quick shower, load a second set of bike clothes for the day in my gear bag (the wife will love this), quick bite to eat and off again.

We went down the one of the nearby military bases where someone had left a visitors pass for us to get on base. The trails there are very rooty and eroded which adds to the challenge on the hills. Got in a good 3 hrs and I was cooked for the day.

After all that biking I finally felt like I deserved a few xmas cookies, and a piece of chocolate cake....I will have to start working on #1 next year!

Island Creek on a Friday morning

Took the day off to work on the house today, but took a detour on the way to Lowes.

Got to the trail around 8 and was happy to see it was deserted so I could let E run loose without worrying about anyone getting upset.

very happy trail dog



This is Emma's first trail ride so we only did one loop at island creek ~5 miles



ss works pretty well, even with the biopace chainring, no problems. This was necessitated by the breaking of the rear shifter last week. I might even have to do a proper conversion. The only problem is that this gearing is perfect for the woods but way too slow for commuting. Fun to play around with though.