Pretty good ride tonight. I had hoped to get going by around 5ish tonight, but after several delays I didn't get on the trail until a few minutes after 6. I decided to make an attempt on the standard loop, figuring if the light started to fail I could always shoot down 69 when I got to it.
As I was getting ready I was sweating bullets, my shirt was pretty drenched by the time I got going and I had to keep wiping the sWeat from my forehead.
The ride was pretty uneventful, except that I couldn't seem to get into a groove. I was flailing like a newb on stuff that I normally have no trouble with, let alone the stuff that I haven't quite mastered. I never crashed or anything, but I had some close calls. The only variation to the loop I did was at the end of the cemetery twisties I went left instead of right down to the DT. I wanted to try the small 'bridge' that we got video of Nate hitting the last time we went that way. The first time I got on it alright, but got thrown off about half way across. I think what happened was that the bridge flexed so much when I got to the middle (it's only a 2x6 or so) that it actually kicked up the end where my rear tire was just going over and tossed it into the air. Luckily the little stream that it crosses was dry, save for a bit of mud. I made one more attempt, but got off course before even getting to it, so I bailed and rode across the stream bed and gave up. Like I said it just wasn't my night. Besides my lack of ability to get into a groove it was, as noted earlier, hot as heck and I was drenched with sweat the whole time, not to mention getting pretty winded.
I made it to 69 without any real incident at 7:04, about an hour after leaving the lot. Light was starting to get low, but I decided to press on anyway and continue on the trail back instead of riding the road. Right after the first water crossing, before the stone wall, I came upon 3 riders going the other direction. Apparently they were going to head down the road once they got to it. They were already bitching about the lack of light even though I didn't think it was very dark yet. The last woman seemed very concerned that I was pressing on at with no lighting on my bike. I assured her that I would be fine, I just needed to start hauling ass. I rode as hard as I could, but I was quite fatigued and still flailing around, I pressed on. I kept hearing the voice of the woman I passed telling me "you could always head back" (to the road), which just made me press on harder. It was starting to get a bit dark when I finally got to the last set of twisties, but still not as bad as the last time Greg and I rode through there. My lower back, hip, and side of my leg on the left side were cramping up pretty bad, I even had to stop at one point (around the radiator skinny) to try and stretch it, which made the last leg less than pleasant, especially that last part once you get onto the section that's part of the warm-up loop. The just seems to go on forever when you're tired and the light is fading.
I practically collapsed at my car right at 7:29, making it just 25 minutes from the intersection of 69 back to the lot. I was shooting for 20 minutes, but I'll take what I got. I know it Greg was there to push me we would have done 20 minutes easy.
Total ride time of about 85 minutes is I a decent pace for me on that loop, I think.
I don't have a GPS yet, but my ride was the same as this track:
http://www.crankfire.com/trails/data.php?dataid=451
I hope this TR makes any sense, I'm about to pass out and there's no chance I'm going to re-read it and make any corrections.
As I was getting ready I was sweating bullets, my shirt was pretty drenched by the time I got going and I had to keep wiping the sWeat from my forehead.
The ride was pretty uneventful, except that I couldn't seem to get into a groove. I was flailing like a newb on stuff that I normally have no trouble with, let alone the stuff that I haven't quite mastered. I never crashed or anything, but I had some close calls. The only variation to the loop I did was at the end of the cemetery twisties I went left instead of right down to the DT. I wanted to try the small 'bridge' that we got video of Nate hitting the last time we went that way. The first time I got on it alright, but got thrown off about half way across. I think what happened was that the bridge flexed so much when I got to the middle (it's only a 2x6 or so) that it actually kicked up the end where my rear tire was just going over and tossed it into the air. Luckily the little stream that it crosses was dry, save for a bit of mud. I made one more attempt, but got off course before even getting to it, so I bailed and rode across the stream bed and gave up. Like I said it just wasn't my night. Besides my lack of ability to get into a groove it was, as noted earlier, hot as heck and I was drenched with sweat the whole time, not to mention getting pretty winded.
I made it to 69 without any real incident at 7:04, about an hour after leaving the lot. Light was starting to get low, but I decided to press on anyway and continue on the trail back instead of riding the road. Right after the first water crossing, before the stone wall, I came upon 3 riders going the other direction. Apparently they were going to head down the road once they got to it. They were already bitching about the lack of light even though I didn't think it was very dark yet. The last woman seemed very concerned that I was pressing on at with no lighting on my bike. I assured her that I would be fine, I just needed to start hauling ass. I rode as hard as I could, but I was quite fatigued and still flailing around, I pressed on. I kept hearing the voice of the woman I passed telling me "you could always head back" (to the road), which just made me press on harder. It was starting to get a bit dark when I finally got to the last set of twisties, but still not as bad as the last time Greg and I rode through there. My lower back, hip, and side of my leg on the left side were cramping up pretty bad, I even had to stop at one point (around the radiator skinny) to try and stretch it, which made the last leg less than pleasant, especially that last part once you get onto the section that's part of the warm-up loop. The just seems to go on forever when you're tired and the light is fading.
I practically collapsed at my car right at 7:29, making it just 25 minutes from the intersection of 69 back to the lot. I was shooting for 20 minutes, but I'll take what I got. I know it Greg was there to push me we would have done 20 minutes easy.
Total ride time of about 85 minutes is I a decent pace for me on that loop, I think.I don't have a GPS yet, but my ride was the same as this track:
http://www.crankfire.com/trails/data.php?dataid=451
I hope this TR makes any sense, I'm about to pass out and there's no chance I'm going to re-read it and make any corrections.
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