I think I've said it before, but summer is not really my season. Although I got a few really nice rides with friends, alot of kiddie rides, and managed the time to maintain my bike, summer is hard to keep the rhythm of a regular workout. That said, I don't feel like I've lost fitness. And I've spent more really good days with my kids, and that's more important than anything.
September's a few days away, and when school is back in session I'll resume my Wed am ride, and at least one other morning during the week.
The Landmine Classic and NembaFest are less than two weeks away, and we just had a great trail work day at Wompy to ensure that the trails were ready.....
It's still freakin' HOT! So it's not over, yet........
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Today's Doubleheader
It's freakin'hot! So to the beat the heat, I started my Blue Hills ride at 7 am. Early by most standards, but a necessity for some of us......
Up Coon Hollow, down the access road. Up the ski-slope , down the access road 1/2 way, to just above the Wolcott to Border trail for a nice long cruising down.
Didnt do much of the South side , riding alone to me is boring. A church needs a congregation....Although I did bump into my friends from Dave's Bike Infirmary who were bouncing down Coon Hollow.......
An hour and a half was more than enough of that.
So I figured since I have all morning to kill--wife & kids are gone for two days--what better way to celebrate this newfound freedom than to continue riding. I found myself on the highway heading for Wompy, where I knew there was a group ride in session, and 'maybe' I'd find them. No sooner did I pull in that a new aquaintance of mine arrived to ride solo, a fairly new rider, so we teamed up and I showed him some of the finer Wompy trails on the left side.
Another hour and a half of swimming through the hot humid air--actually not bad compared to driving in the shite--we were cooked.
Don't really know wht tha point of this post was, and it's to freakin hot to sit here and type while I could be relaxing in the kiddie pool, so that's it!
Up Coon Hollow, down the access road. Up the ski-slope , down the access road 1/2 way, to just above the Wolcott to Border trail for a nice long cruising down.
Didnt do much of the South side , riding alone to me is boring. A church needs a congregation....Although I did bump into my friends from Dave's Bike Infirmary who were bouncing down Coon Hollow.......
An hour and a half was more than enough of that.
So I figured since I have all morning to kill--wife & kids are gone for two days--what better way to celebrate this newfound freedom than to continue riding. I found myself on the highway heading for Wompy, where I knew there was a group ride in session, and 'maybe' I'd find them. No sooner did I pull in that a new aquaintance of mine arrived to ride solo, a fairly new rider, so we teamed up and I showed him some of the finer Wompy trails on the left side.
Another hour and a half of swimming through the hot humid air--actually not bad compared to driving in the shite--we were cooked.
Don't really know wht tha point of this post was, and it's to freakin hot to sit here and type while I could be relaxing in the kiddie pool, so that's it!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Free-Riding at its purest..........
While on a week away from work with the wife and kids in Vermont, I made the point of looking up some of my good friends at a local valley town bike shop and get out on their weekly Thursday evening ride......
I've been visiting this group once a year, in July, for the last 3 years. Always a great bunch, they host an early Sunday morning 'church' ride as well as the Thursday ride. They are a great eclectic mix of people from the bike shop owner and his wife and dogs, artists, dairy farmers, musicians, Disney animation specialists, carpenters, mechanics, etc. The one thing they all have in common is the intimate network of trails that are either cutback or re-created every year (as one rider said, "ride them or lose them, as they will become overgrown in one season") combined with old jeep roads, logging trails, and shhhhh....some NF trails thrown into the mix that just cant be left to rot.
The other thing that most of these riders have in common are their over-40 pound riding machines......Stinkies, Dawgs, Bullits, with the occasional Rocky Mountain and much less occasional Sinister (overheard as "InyerSister") and Kona hardtails, all the bikes are hardcore, with longtravel forkage and the stickiest and tackiest and fattest of the fat tires available.
We got all 12 bikes in the back of a pickup quite nicely I must say, all upside-down, so all that was seen was this great mass of fat tires sticking out of the truck bed. And myself and a young rider behind the last one to hold them in place. We had driven uphill for about 3 miles already, and There I was with my lightweight custom steel hardtail rig, spinning uphill on a fairly steep jeep road for another two miles.......of course, I was the first one to the top, waiting for the burly rigs to make it up. All gathered for a breath and/or puff of the 'poetry weed' and to savor the valley views from the ridge........followed by the descent.
Now when you're at the top of a Vermont mountain range there really is only one way to get back home. Not wanting to follow the exact fall line for obvious reasons, these guys have cut some of the sickest, sweetest, steepest singletrack I've ever ridden. In fact some of it I couldn't ride. It was then that realized why they were all riding these 45lb moto-styled steeds. They were built for this.....these guys were flying! They assigned one of their slower guys to stick with me(as they always do with 'flatlanders')--it was fast getting dark, as the sun began to disappear behind the mountains.......
we got back just in time--my old peepers arent what they used to be at night, and I could hardly see the trail in front of me.....
I've been visiting this group once a year, in July, for the last 3 years. Always a great bunch, they host an early Sunday morning 'church' ride as well as the Thursday ride. They are a great eclectic mix of people from the bike shop owner and his wife and dogs, artists, dairy farmers, musicians, Disney animation specialists, carpenters, mechanics, etc. The one thing they all have in common is the intimate network of trails that are either cutback or re-created every year (as one rider said, "ride them or lose them, as they will become overgrown in one season") combined with old jeep roads, logging trails, and shhhhh....some NF trails thrown into the mix that just cant be left to rot.
The other thing that most of these riders have in common are their over-40 pound riding machines......Stinkies, Dawgs, Bullits, with the occasional Rocky Mountain and much less occasional Sinister (overheard as "InyerSister") and Kona hardtails, all the bikes are hardcore, with longtravel forkage and the stickiest and tackiest and fattest of the fat tires available.
We got all 12 bikes in the back of a pickup quite nicely I must say, all upside-down, so all that was seen was this great mass of fat tires sticking out of the truck bed. And myself and a young rider behind the last one to hold them in place. We had driven uphill for about 3 miles already, and There I was with my lightweight custom steel hardtail rig, spinning uphill on a fairly steep jeep road for another two miles.......of course, I was the first one to the top, waiting for the burly rigs to make it up. All gathered for a breath and/or puff of the 'poetry weed' and to savor the valley views from the ridge........followed by the descent.
Now when you're at the top of a Vermont mountain range there really is only one way to get back home. Not wanting to follow the exact fall line for obvious reasons, these guys have cut some of the sickest, sweetest, steepest singletrack I've ever ridden. In fact some of it I couldn't ride. It was then that realized why they were all riding these 45lb moto-styled steeds. They were built for this.....these guys were flying! They assigned one of their slower guys to stick with me(as they always do with 'flatlanders')--it was fast getting dark, as the sun began to disappear behind the mountains.......
we got back just in time--my old peepers arent what they used to be at night, and I could hardly see the trail in front of me.....
Get Mellow, Will ya?
So I joined the Old Coot again for one of his 'Monday Mellow' rides yesterday. Now while Bill's rides aren't exactly hammerfests, and ABSOLUTELY nobody ever gets left behind, and we do get to stop and chat while slower folks catch up, then we wait for them to catch their breath, the OC rarely stops pedalling. And he rides EVERYTHING. Did I mention he's 60-sumthing? More on him later, too much to write........
The ride was especially funny with that dude (will leave nameless) yelling at everyone " LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU'RE GONNA STOP LIKE THAT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT! " as he practically runs over the girl in front........
Never seen anything quite like that. It was kind of like Adrian Monk on steroids riding a bike, or something like that....
The ride was especially funny with that dude (will leave nameless) yelling at everyone " LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU'RE GONNA STOP LIKE THAT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT! " as he practically runs over the girl in front........
Never seen anything quite like that. It was kind of like Adrian Monk on steroids riding a bike, or something like that....
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
OK slap me upside the head.......
I've been riding the road bike more......but I have excuses.
1) less time to prepare and cleanup from offroad rides (kids are home for summer)
2) I know alot of other people are in the same boat
3) Neck pain. Saw my chiro yesterday. Feeling alittle bulge above the normal bony one at the back of my neck, which pops out time to time depending on my postion and what I'm doing. Was thinking the worst, (OMG it's a herniated disc!), but chiro says no, it's just one more of my many bulging muscles, and in need of adjustment. Well that's what he does for a living, so why not say that? But he (and his massage-therapist wife)has taken good care of me and my family for many years, so I trust him. So I'll ho a couple more times, get a coupla massages, then we're off on vacation anyways.
4) I'm still waiting for my rear CM Enduro to come back from a Mavic rebuild, but my friend Eric gave me his old CM ceramics that are in fine shape, so that's not really an excuse.
I have of course been able to ride with the kids more, so I take out the Teddie for that......
A ride's a ride, anyways. As long as there's not too many cars involved.
1) less time to prepare and cleanup from offroad rides (kids are home for summer)
2) I know alot of other people are in the same boat
3) Neck pain. Saw my chiro yesterday. Feeling alittle bulge above the normal bony one at the back of my neck, which pops out time to time depending on my postion and what I'm doing. Was thinking the worst, (OMG it's a herniated disc!), but chiro says no, it's just one more of my many bulging muscles, and in need of adjustment. Well that's what he does for a living, so why not say that? But he (and his massage-therapist wife)has taken good care of me and my family for many years, so I trust him. So I'll ho a couple more times, get a coupla massages, then we're off on vacation anyways.
4) I'm still waiting for my rear CM Enduro to come back from a Mavic rebuild, but my friend Eric gave me his old CM ceramics that are in fine shape, so that's not really an excuse.
I have of course been able to ride with the kids more, so I take out the Teddie for that......
A ride's a ride, anyways. As long as there's not too many cars involved.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
My season's over
Her we are it's summer again. Even though it's the last week of school, the kids are home due to a teacher strike(really bad timing on their part...and there's no end in sight....) which makes it hard to get a ride in even to work.
Soooo, I'm still on the road bike kick. This morning I got up early enough to get a 40min ride before the wife was off to work. 6:30 am is really not too bad on the streets of Quincy. It's obvious which way the traffic 's flowing, so I mainly go the opposite way....but I am finding that I am really terrified of cars(and pavement in general).....
My Ted is still on the stand, waiting till I can take it to a friend's house and borrow their derailleur-hanger tool. Shifting is not right, even though I replaced the rear der., chain, and cassette, all at once, basically. The chain first, of course, which didn't like the old cassette, so next the cassette, and it was good for a coupla rides, till I wacked the derailleur on 'something'....all I know is that I remember that whatever it was, it hit hard enough to cause me to think, 'oops!, hanger's bent again'..
Weird, I just can't place that moment. Only I know that it happened.
Anyways, I still used that for an excuse to orderup a new SRAM X-7 from Dave's and install it correctly, only to find that shifting still sucks.....
So that's why I'm riding the road bike. Besides the fact that it does feel good, to get a 40-70 min ride in and not even have to check for ticks, nevermind shower, and then get on with the day......
Of course all this road bike blah blah is only basic maintenance, to keep the legs and heart in shape for my next mountain bike ride. I'd never go 'that way', after all this IS mountain bike church!
I'm hoping to get a few good Sundays to shoot up to Maine, NH, or VT to ride with buddies there. And there's always our Killington/Rochester VT vacation to go exploring the Green Mountains........
Anyways, I'm hard-pressed to find an open spot on the calendar to ride with my friends on the trail. Summer does that. The good thing is, that I do have more time to ride with the kids. They're still not totally into the trail thing, though I think my daughter really likes it. I'm really afraid to push her, I don't wanna break her.....after all she's a ballerina, pianist, violinist, trumpeter, soccer player, and scholar even before she has time to ride. But it's in her blood.
Stephen just figured out how to use his plastic '1080' skate ramp to get air with his 16" bmx bike, and really gets a charge out of it....he also owns 2 20" mountain bikes and a 24" Gary Fisher with a front shock.....but he just loves that little racer....it's all about control...and when his little friends are being taken down by their 50-pound Target bikes with gyros and huge-ass pegs 'cause they can't keep em upright, Stephen just keeps on spinnin'!...
So that's my intro to summer. Less trail riding with my friends, more quality time with the kids....but still time for an early Sunday ride or roadtrip to somewhere for an all day epic.....Just like Maine's license motto--'The Way Life Should Be'.
Soooo, I'm still on the road bike kick. This morning I got up early enough to get a 40min ride before the wife was off to work. 6:30 am is really not too bad on the streets of Quincy. It's obvious which way the traffic 's flowing, so I mainly go the opposite way....but I am finding that I am really terrified of cars(and pavement in general).....
My Ted is still on the stand, waiting till I can take it to a friend's house and borrow their derailleur-hanger tool. Shifting is not right, even though I replaced the rear der., chain, and cassette, all at once, basically. The chain first, of course, which didn't like the old cassette, so next the cassette, and it was good for a coupla rides, till I wacked the derailleur on 'something'....all I know is that I remember that whatever it was, it hit hard enough to cause me to think, 'oops!, hanger's bent again'..
Weird, I just can't place that moment. Only I know that it happened.
Anyways, I still used that for an excuse to orderup a new SRAM X-7 from Dave's and install it correctly, only to find that shifting still sucks.....
So that's why I'm riding the road bike. Besides the fact that it does feel good, to get a 40-70 min ride in and not even have to check for ticks, nevermind shower, and then get on with the day......
Of course all this road bike blah blah is only basic maintenance, to keep the legs and heart in shape for my next mountain bike ride. I'd never go 'that way', after all this IS mountain bike church!
I'm hoping to get a few good Sundays to shoot up to Maine, NH, or VT to ride with buddies there. And there's always our Killington/Rochester VT vacation to go exploring the Green Mountains........
Anyways, I'm hard-pressed to find an open spot on the calendar to ride with my friends on the trail. Summer does that. The good thing is, that I do have more time to ride with the kids. They're still not totally into the trail thing, though I think my daughter really likes it. I'm really afraid to push her, I don't wanna break her.....after all she's a ballerina, pianist, violinist, trumpeter, soccer player, and scholar even before she has time to ride. But it's in her blood.
Stephen just figured out how to use his plastic '1080' skate ramp to get air with his 16" bmx bike, and really gets a charge out of it....he also owns 2 20" mountain bikes and a 24" Gary Fisher with a front shock.....but he just loves that little racer....it's all about control...and when his little friends are being taken down by their 50-pound Target bikes with gyros and huge-ass pegs 'cause they can't keep em upright, Stephen just keeps on spinnin'!...
So that's my intro to summer. Less trail riding with my friends, more quality time with the kids....but still time for an early Sunday ride or roadtrip to somewhere for an all day epic.....Just like Maine's license motto--'The Way Life Should Be'.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
One pet peeve.....
OK I was riding my road bike the other day, as I very seldomly do, but lately have had the inclination to 'get back into it'--funny because I was never 'into it'.......
But anyways I do have that nice Specialized 'Epic' carbon fiber-framed beauty that I do enjoy taking for a good workout especially those times when:
1) the trails are too wet
2) my mountainbike is up on the stand waiting for parts, or needs a major cleaning before I dare ride it again
3) I just wanna keep up some level of fitness and only have one hour(a one hour mountainbike ride needs at least one more hour just for preparation, maintenence, and cleanup/tick checking, etc)--this I can do right from my house, no driving to the trailhead.
So I was riding my road bike through the Blue Hills the other day. I came upon a Columbiano who no hablas ingles. Yo pregunto Que Pasa? He point to front tire of he nice aluminio K2 and I see that it is flat. So I stop completely and of course I offer my only tube. I quickly realize that he no comprendo taking the wheel off the bike. Now this guy is in full 'team' regalia and should know what the hell he's doing.
So I proceed to remove the offending tube and replace it with mine. He offers me 3 dollars, and I tell him best I can, that I'm just gonna take his (newer than mine)tube home and fix it and put it back in my seatpack. Muchas Gracias he say and we shake hands a few times and he tells me the Colombian restaurant where he works and I say yeah I'll come checkitout sometime, etc......all in my broken spanglish and his no speaky eengleesh......After I was back underway I realized that I never checked the tire for the offending particle, so he probably didn't make it far--).
What I no comprendo is how anyone who's out there obviously riding regularly not have the proper tools and parts and knowhow to fix the most basic of all repairs--a flat tire?
But anyways I do have that nice Specialized 'Epic' carbon fiber-framed beauty that I do enjoy taking for a good workout especially those times when:
1) the trails are too wet
2) my mountainbike is up on the stand waiting for parts, or needs a major cleaning before I dare ride it again
3) I just wanna keep up some level of fitness and only have one hour(a one hour mountainbike ride needs at least one more hour just for preparation, maintenence, and cleanup/tick checking, etc)--this I can do right from my house, no driving to the trailhead.
So I was riding my road bike through the Blue Hills the other day. I came upon a Columbiano who no hablas ingles. Yo pregunto Que Pasa? He point to front tire of he nice aluminio K2 and I see that it is flat. So I stop completely and of course I offer my only tube. I quickly realize that he no comprendo taking the wheel off the bike. Now this guy is in full 'team' regalia and should know what the hell he's doing.
So I proceed to remove the offending tube and replace it with mine. He offers me 3 dollars, and I tell him best I can, that I'm just gonna take his (newer than mine)tube home and fix it and put it back in my seatpack. Muchas Gracias he say and we shake hands a few times and he tells me the Colombian restaurant where he works and I say yeah I'll come checkitout sometime, etc......all in my broken spanglish and his no speaky eengleesh......After I was back underway I realized that I never checked the tire for the offending particle, so he probably didn't make it far--).
What I no comprendo is how anyone who's out there obviously riding regularly not have the proper tools and parts and knowhow to fix the most basic of all repairs--a flat tire?
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