Nassahegan, CT: 8/24/08

Sick ride this morning. I pulled it about 6:50 to find Jeff already there. Soon Johnnypoach arrived and we did the exchange - a 1995 Trek 930 in exchange for a nice selection of Sam Adam summer beers and Harpoon IPA. :lol: Johnny was psyched about the bike. Soon MR. evil arrived and we were off.

Hit the cemetery twisties at a moderate pace. I cleared both of the slightly technical sections right before the doubletrack. We then started the climb. Everyone did well with us all sticking together. I failed on the first attempt at the last steep section, but turned around and cleared it the second go. Check another one off the list.

Right before the forest access road, there's another ledge and I was able to clear that spot as well. I was really happy with my riding this morning. That was it for any new obstacles for me. Johnny took the roller drop at the high point almost OTBing. :-o We all cruised the downhill at break neck speed. I was flying faster than I ever did it with JP on the old Trek hard tail right on my rear.

We then crossed 69 and started the stretch parallel to it. Right before the big tree and stone wall, it looked like JP hit a wall. He was tingly, blurred vision and was having trouble catching his breath. We waited for about 10 minutes and then convinced him to ride back to the lot on 69. Jeff was nice enough to accompany him. Tim and I rode back through the woods at a good clip despite my rear derailleur shifting issues. I OTBd right before one of the bridges landing on my feet.

Back at the lot, we rested, bid farewell to JP and then Tim, Jeff and I headed south. Tim led most of this stretch setting a nice moderate pace. I was bonking out at this point. I actually clipped a stump with my pedal and sorta OTB'd of to the side, again landing upright.

After crossing E. Chippens we hit the B Street section. We sessioned the ledge a bit and Jeff finally got the nerve to ride down the ledge. He did it from a stop at the top which I think is actually scarier, but good job checking that one off the list, Jeff. Tim also got to the famous MR. evil OTB-hug-a-tree spot and cleared it with style. Jeff did too. I sallied and took the lady's tee around.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. We cruised right down towards the logging area and headed back that way. Jeff and I discovered a new trail in there we'll need to try. We all hit the fatigue wall during the last mile. The ride turned out to be almost 9.8 miles, but it felt much longer. Our moving average was 6.3 MPH according to my trip computer. A really great ride. Here's the CF trail record and map.

I got home to find that my wife stained a good part of the deck today (good women, I tell ya!) so what I wanted to get done today should only take a few hours. Then I can get started on all that good beer JP gave me!
:beer:

Greg pretty much summed the ride up pretty good. He was definitely on his game this morning. Johnny is something else, he did a great job keeping up the fast pace and will hit any obstacle that you point out to him. By the end of the ride we were all pretty beat and I think Tim finally had sweated the alcohol out of his system.

I came home, made lunch and went down for my nap. Now it's time to take a shower and go out and do some stuff.

Glad you guys went out and got some....JP stopped by work and looked pretty beat!! You guys should be in great shape for skiing!!! Gonna go somewhere tomorrow depending on the weather..

steve.

Steve, other than beat, did JP seem alright? He kinda gave us a scare, but we think it was due to dehydration.

Yea he is fine..He was talking about riding tomorrow...so he must be fine

steve

Glad to hear the Poacher is alive and well. His first reaction when he starting bonking out like that was to say, "cardiac problem". By the way, by the end of the ride both the headset and bottom bracket was all loose. He's got some work to do on that bike to get it back to the peak performance it had back in 1995. :lol:

Great ride this morning! The first half of the ride Greg was on fire. He was clearing all of the really technical climbs like they were easy.

Having gone to a BB-Q (one of those B's stands for beer) and then to my brothers jack & jill last night, I was not feeling so hot this morning. But I decided to ride anyway so I wouldn't hear about it for the next 4 months. The 1/2 of the ride was really tough for meuke:. As soon as we got into the cemetery twisty's I was shoulder checking trees left and right. The climbs were killing me and I could get up anything technical. The only good thing about the first half was that I was killing all of the DH's. My biggest issue the first half of the ride is that I was just plain lazy. I kept riding through rock gardens with one side of the crank low instead of in a neutral position (both feet even) and my pedals were slamming into every rock I could find. Once I realized what I was doing I made the adjustment and things got a little better. I was really hurting up to the point we stopped for JP to rest. Once JP and Jeff hit the road back to the car Greg and I carried on and I found my 2nd wind. I was clearing technical stuff and I even was dumb enough to ride this sketchy bridge made entirely out of tree branches. That was really scary! Greg and I managed to keep up a good pace back to the lot. After JP left and the 3 of us headed into Sessions I was worried that my earlier poor performance in the cemetery twisty's would be repeated. But I found my rhythm and was right on Greg’s tail until he had his OTB. From there on out I took the lead and was able to keep up a good pace. I continued to lead in the B-street area and I was feeling good. I even got up the nerve to try a couple of different lines down Red’s Rock (That is what we are now calling the rock face my friend Red busted his ribs on). I did a line to the extreme left looking down a couple of times. It was pretty smooth but had some really tricky turns. Both times I had to touch down for a second to help kick the rear of my bike around a sharp corner. Other than that the line was pretty easy to ride. Then I got up the nerve to take Red’s line right down the middle. Of course I went slow and made it down about ½ way right before the point Red crashed. I sensed an impending OTB and bailed. After that Greg and I played around on another tricky rock face descent that we both made pretty easy. From there on out my tank was completely empty and my right leg was starting to cramp. We only had about another ½ mile left and I suffered through it. About an 1/8 of a mile before that parking area my left leg started to cramp as well. The ride could not have ended at a better time.

Greg said:

Glad to hear the Poacher is alive and well. His first reaction when he starting bonking out like that was to say, "cardiac problem". By the way, by the end of the ride both the headset and bottom bracket was all loose. He's got some work to do on that bike to get it back to the peak performance it had back in 1995. :lol:

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I do not think the BB on his bike is loose. There is too much up and down play and side to side play. best case the crank is loose, more likely the BB bearings are shot

Sounds like a great ride, sorry I missed it. I spent the morning in the ER with Carrie instead, her chest injury from last weeks OTB had gotten progressively worse to the point that she was afraid that she had a fractured rib or something. She started having problems taking big breaths after she went for a run Saturday morning. We went to the ER (after her telling me I should go for the ride anyway and she'd drive herself) just to have things checked out to make sure there wasn't bigger problem. Turns out it's just a bad contusion and the X-rays showed nothing broken.

On the plus side I was able to take apart my bike on Saturday to clean and re-lube all the suspension points on my bike, so now there's no more squeaking.

Rad ride!

Thinking back on this morning's ride, that really is a keeper of a route and one that demonstrates just about everything the Lamson Corner area of Nassahegan has to offer.. A mix of just about everything. A kick ass 10 miler for sure. We need to get one of the Crankfire guys like Rueler to give us a Stone Road tour.

Put a nice dent in those Johnnypoach beers this evening. :beer:

bvibert said:

Sounds like a great ride, sorry I missed it. I spent the morning in the ER with Carrie instead, her chest injury from last weeks OTB had gotten progressively worse to the point that she was afraid that she had a fractured rib or something. She started having problems taking big breaths after she went for a run Saturday morning. We went to the ER (after her telling me I should go for the ride anyway and she'd drive herself) just to have things checked out to make sure there wasn't bigger problem. Turns out it's just a bad contusion and the X-rays showed nothing broken.

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Oof! Glad to hear you're okay, Carrie. And good move getting checked out just to be sure. Johnny was very concerned. He asked me last night on the phone how you were indicating that your crash was much worse than you let on. He reiterated that again this morning. I'm glad nothing is broken and that you'll be okay. Rest up and don't rush back out. ++ Positive vibes ++

bvibert said:

On the plus side I was able to take apart my bike on Saturday to clean and re-lube all the suspension points on my bike, so now there's no more squeaking.

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Cool So some night this fall, come down to my place and we'll thow back a few beers while you overhaul my bike.

Greg said:

Cool So some night this fall, come down to my place and we'll thow back a few beers while you overhaul my bike.

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Sure, as long as you feed my wife and kids while we're there.

bvibert said:

Sure, as long as you feed my wife and kids while we're there.

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I don't think that will be a problem.

Greg said:

Oof! Glad to hear you're okay, Carrie. And good move getting checked out just to be sure. Johnny was very concerned. He asked me last night on the phone how you were indicating that your crash was much worse than you let on. He reiterated that again this morning. I'm glad nothing is broken and that you'll be okay. Rest up and don't rush back out. ++ Positive vibes ++

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I really had no pain last Sunday other than on my head where I received the final indignation. :lol: But the next day, I started having chest pains... freaked out a little as it was near my heart. It eased up by Thursday so I went for the ride anyway, and Saturday morning I felt fine so I did a hard run (max heart rate was 193). But after that, it went downhill fast. To the point where Saturday night, I had trouble just talking even. Sitting, walking, bending over to pick things up - everything aggravated it. So much for our date night and overnight without the kids. Even though I knew the end result would be rest and pain meds whether I had bruised ribs (no visible bruises, BTW) or fracture, I figured I'd better get it checked out this morning - just in case. And while it wasted a couple hours of our time this morning (and I'm sorry I wasn't able to send Brian along for the ride after all ), at least I know what I'm up against. Though I was a little freaked out that they did an EKG in addition to the x-ray. In the end, I was advised to do deep breathing 4x day to prevent pneumonia, and they gave me Vicodin. Not sure if I can keep taking it, though, as it made me really nauseous tonight.

Anyway, I guess the crash really was worse than it felt. I was really embarrassed at the time but I kind of wish Steve had gotten video of it. It must have been something to see! Especially if JP was still concerned about my well-being!

Hopefully, the pain will ease up again soon so I can resume riding. Sucks not being able to do anything.

Sounds like you guys had an awesome ride today! Can't wait to try it someday!!

bvibert said:

Sounds like a great ride, sorry I missed it. I spent the morning in the ER with Carrie instead, her chest injury from last weeks OTB had gotten progressively worse to the point that she was afraid that she had a fractured rib or something. She started having problems taking big breaths after she went for a run Saturday morning. We went to the ER (after her telling me I should go for the ride anyway and she'd drive herself) just to have things checked out to make sure there wasn't bigger problem. Turns out it's just a bad contusion and the X-rays showed nothing broken.

On the plus side I was able to take apart my bike on Saturday to clean and re-lube all the suspension points on my bike, so now there's no more squeaking.

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That really sucks for Carrie, I hope she feels better soon. She could have pulled or torn some cartilage in the rib cage. Cartilage will not show up on an X-ray.

Carrie, make sure to take it easy for a while and don't rush things. Even thought the X-ray did not show a break it could still be a rib injury. And speaking from experience rib injuries take a while to heal. They are also very annoying, makes anything hard to do

You did the right thing getting checked out since there was pain near your heart. Good to hear it isn't serious and you'll be fine before you know it. I only got to see the end result of you getting up, but Johnny said it was the worst fall he seen this year. Oh, and I'll take the Vics off your hands if you don't want them

o3jeff said:

I only got to see the end result of you getting up, but Johnny said it was the worst fall he seen this year.

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Considering the falls Steve and I took at Nepaug that is really saying something.

bvibert said:

Sounds like a great ride, sorry I missed it. I spent the morning in the ER with Carrie instead, her chest injury from last weeks OTB had gotten progressively worse to the point that she was afraid that she had a fractured rib or something. She started having problems taking big breaths after she went for a run Saturday morning. We went to the ER (after her telling me I should go for the ride anyway and she'd drive herself) just to have things checked out to make sure there wasn't bigger problem. Turns out it's just a bad contusion and the X-rays showed nothing broken.

On the plus side I was able to take apart my bike on Saturday to clean and re-lube all the suspension points on my bike, so now there's no more squeaking.

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Oooof!
Glad nothings broken, but those pesky contusion diagnosis tend to be those that linger.

severine said:

I really had no pain last Sunday other than on my head where I received the final indignation. :lol: But the next day, I started having chest pains... freaked out a little as it was near my heart. It eased up by Thursday so I went for the ride anyway, and Saturday morning I felt fine so I did a hard run (max heart rate was 193). But after that, it went downhill fast. To the point where Saturday night, I had trouble just talking even. Sitting, walking, bending over to pick things up - everything aggravated it. So much for our date night and overnight without the kids. Even though I knew the end result would be rest and pain meds whether I had bruised ribs (no visible bruises, BTW) or fracture, I figured I'd better get it checked out this morning - just in case. And while it wasted a couple hours of our time this morning (and I'm sorry I wasn't able to send Brian along for the ride after all ), at least I know what I'm up against. Though I was a little freaked out that they did an EKG in addition to the x-ray. In the end, I was advised to do deep breathing 4x day to prevent pneumonia, and they gave me Vicodin. Not sure if I can keep taking it, though, as it made me really nauseous tonight.

Anyway, I guess the crash really was worse than it felt. I was really embarrassed at the time but I kind of wish Steve had gotten video of it. It must have been something to see! Especially if JP was still concerned about my well-being!

Hopefully, the pain will ease up again soon so I can resume riding. Sucks not being able to do anything.

Sounds like you guys had an awesome ride today! Can't wait to try it someday!!

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-Final indignation.........its just your head, can't hurt to whack it a few more times for good measure. :lol:
- Vicodin = goofy feeling, nausea and constipation. Take 2 Tylenol and 2 Advil. It will have good results without the pesky side effects
- Keep up the breathing and expand those lungs.
- If you can't do anything, then you need to milk it. I'm sure Brian doesn't mind


Most of all.......... glad you're on the mend.

Sounds like you guys had a great Early AM ride!!!
I love morning rides, especially this time of year, when days are obviously getting shorter.

Trekchick said:

Oooof!
Glad nothings broken, but those pesky contusion diagnosis tend to be those that linger.

-Final indignation.........its just your head, can't hurt to whack it a few more times for good measure. :lol:
- Vicodin = goofy feeling, nausea and constipation. Take 2 Tylenol and 2 Advil. It will have good results without the pesky side effects
- Keep up the breathing and expand those lungs.
- If you can't do anything, then you need to milk it. I'm sure Brian doesn't mind


Most of all.......... glad you're on the mend.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely not liking the Vicodin - no "good" goofy feeling, just makes me feel like puking. I'm really not sure what the appeal is... but I think it's possible that it just doesn't agree with me. I got really itchy last night after taking it. Sticking with Advil & Tylenol from here on out.

Poor Brian, though. I feel bad being so helpless.

I'm a little freaked out that Johnny said my crash was the worst fall he's seen this year. It really didn't feel that bad at the time, honest! He asked me afterwards if I was hurting a lot more than I let on and said he thought for sure I broke some bones, but it just didn't seem that bad. Must have been all the adrenaline pumping through my system at the time. :lol:

Sorry for the continued hijack. Why are there no pics or video from your ride Sunday?