Bike Forums - Daily ride reports

Today I got off work at 6PM and blasted across town to Beacon Hill to meet up with a buddy for an XC-ish ride. We went up from Esmerelda to the top, then did a variety of singletrack beyond that. Conditions were great, I can't believe we had everyone else no-show on us. Posers!

Then I zoomed home via the arterials to try to figure out what I can make for supper :D So that was about 2 1/2 hours moderate-to-brisk.

sscyco

03-02-10 08:58 AM

^^ you must have rode with Tim. I guess I was one of those posers.

dminor

03-02-10 10:27 AM

I like that ride over the top and back from the Ezzy side. Hmmm . . . .

7daysaweek

03-02-10 11:16 PM

Raced this past weekend... 3rd place, got faster every lap so I was happy.

Riding in the rain tomorrow cause it's never gonna stop. :cry:

mechBgon

03-03-10 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sscyco (Post 10469849)

^^ you must have rode with Tim. I guess I was one of those posers.

Yeah, you missed out :)

Tonight's ride: rode from downtown to the 7-mile stable, met up with a dozen riders and hit the 24-hour course. After one lap, those people with actual lives went home, while I went for another lap, which left me quite depleted (and my light systems too!). I was tormented by visions of pizza all the way home, but had to settle for a fat peanut-butter-&-jelly sandwich, applesauce, hot cocoa and some baked chicken.

Once again, conditions were excellent. One rider had a flat, another utterly destroyed an XTR rear derailleur and had to bail. There was even a lady racer along :)

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...n/IMG_0145.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...IMG_0156-1.jpg
my Polar freaked at the end, and began rapidly racking up extra miles while standing still

Daspydyr

03-03-10 05:57 PM

I made the ride from Sloan Canyon East side to Shadow Canyon in Anthem, 20.34 miles. I founds the biggest freakin boulder field on the west side of the Power lines. Kicked my butt, only one endo. Camelbacks provide a nice cushion on a roll. That's twice now. Just when I thought I was macho man, I met a runner on his way up. Now on to bigger things.

That VIDEO of the night ride is awesome.

yak	03-05-10 09:52 AM

Did about 8 miles last night. It was snowing all day but not sticking. Conditions were wet. The trail wasn't bad, but everything you'd brush against was soaked.

I was able to give the MagicShine it's first impact test. I had my helmet pulled down low to keep the snow out of my eyes, and I didn't notice the low tree leaning across the trail and smacked the MS on it pretty hard, didn't faze it a bit.

4evrplan

03-05-10 01:17 PM

Mech, that night ride looks like a blast. I got to watching some of your other videos too, and I was curious about the low wall type obstacles in the cyclocross race. Does anyone try to hop those, or is that against the rules?

mechBgon

03-05-10 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4evrplan (Post 10485524)

I've seen photos of serious cyclocrossers managing to bunnyhop the barriers, at the risk of not making it, so I think it's technically allowed, but probably just doesn't pay off for most of them. The barriers are often in sets of two or three so you can't set up for the next hops, too.

For a training ride tonight, I rode home to dump off some stuff, then hit the South Hill bluff starting from 7th and Inland Empire Way, with a climbing workout in mind. I cranked out a couple decent climbs on the bluff (about 500ft and 400ft vertical gains) and then hit the streets, zoomed home and made pasta. :) Short but with a couple intense bits (the ride, not the pasta). The longer climb took a little under 10 minutes, so that's a benchmark I can look at as I try to get faster.

electrik

03-05-10 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mechBgon (Post 10488012)

For sure it is allowed, but it is sketchy with those longish stems(and narrow bars)! I think only the MTB guys bother to try and bunny hop em.

It is mud season here again, so annoying to see the trails clear and yet not rideable... gah

yak	03-06-10 10:37 AM

Cool video mech. What camera are you using? I have the Countour HD, but I haven't tried any night shooting yet.

mechBgon

03-06-10 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yak (Post 10489006)

Cool video mech. What camera are you using? I have the Countour HD, but I haven't tried any night shooting yet.

Just a Canon A610 point-&-shoot, held in my right hand. It's a hassle (get it out, turn it on, aim it while riding one-handed, etc) and prevents me shooting anything technical where I need two hands to ride. Someday when I'm rich and famous, I'll have a legit helmet cam :D

I didn't mean to make the video quite that short and boring, but I forgot my high-capacity memory card, so it filled up pretty early on.

RidingMatthew

03-06-10 08:17 PM

Rode 4.7 today at Burr Mill Park in Greensboro, NC on the Big Loop. might have ridden more if my riding buddy was not messing around with a camera on his helmet. :)

Fun times though.

mechBgon

03-07-10 12:44 AM

Tonight's ride was a solo on the South Hill bluff again, now with 50% MOAR CLIMBING :P I knocked out the 500ft-vertical in 8:41, then went and did several other challenging climbs to try to build some leg strength.

Then I threw on all my spare layers and jammed for home, vowing to learn how to set the oven for auto-start so the chicken can actually be DONE when I get back ;)

scrublover

03-07-10 03:50 PM

Finally! Some spots are drying up enough to get some trial time in. Many spots are still too goopy and sloppy to ride without trashing trail, but it's getting there.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_0016.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_0023.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_0009.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...h/IMG_0027.jpg

mechBgon

03-07-10 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrublover (Post 10493104)

Nice pics! Those trails must be heavenly when the trees have leaves :)

scrublover

03-07-10 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mechBgon (Post 10493167)

Nice pics! Those trails must be heavenly when the trees have leaves :)

It's a trade off. When the leaves are in, you get some shade. OTOH, by that time, things start getting so friggen' humid that the shade is sort of meaningless. There are a couple nice streams in there to get cooled off with, though.

Trails out of an old mine site. Old cart tracks and donkey trail tracks. Some very chunky stuff. Some of the downhill bits are almost more like slow speed trials courses, things are so chunky/tight/twisty, even when there on a
big squishy bike.

mzeffex

03-07-10 06:29 PM

Dang scrub, you always have great rides.

mechBgon

03-07-10 07:13 PM

I needed a fun ride after a couple days of hill-climbs, so I tried a trail that a buddy told me about, hugging the east edge of the Spokane River as it goes downstream from the Peoples' Park area. He was misinformed :P as this degenerated into a carry-the-bike exercise that led me to private property.

Whatever. I climbed out, went to Riverside State Park downstream a couple miles, and messed around on some legit trails I hadn't seen for years (along the river from the bottom of Doomsday Hill to the sewage-treatment plant, for you Spokane locals). I had one flat :(, fixed it :), forgot to velcro my pump on and lost the pump somewhere along the way :( went back through the section and a helpful lady hiker told me she'd found my pump and hung it on a branch :) Just when you think the world's out to get you, huh.

So that was refreshing. It was sunny and 55F / 13C, simply great. But we have messy weather coming in tomorrow for a few days.

Dannihilator

03-07-10 07:26 PM

Got some trail time in today. Really enjoyed it.

never

03-07-10 08:45 PM