So tired!

Oh boy. The guys kept me out way past my bedtime last night. But it was worth it.

Got in my first night ride (half of the social was in the dark) of the season, and first ever at the USNWC. 

I also really dug, at least in the dark, the new end to weigh station and the new bypass to toilet bowl. 

Afterwards we hit up the String Bean, which is always good. I got a little crazy and had desert. It was so good I was a little slow in the picture taking. 

It was fried Oreos with vanilla ice cream and caramel. YUM. TheMutt was trying to get the waitress to send me a second order - something about fattening me up/slowing me down - I guess he is nervous about our head to head 6 hour coming up at the Brunswick Brawl. 

After beers and food we had a good debate about our local mountain bike club. I guess I kinda have to make it to the meeting on Thursday now. I try to go, but never seem to make it. Now is the time to start making it a must instead of a want/should. 

I'll throw this out there for internerds to sit with... I accidentally/randomly/cleverly dubbed Good Guy Greg with a new nickname last night, Old Man Sweeper. 

Curious?  Come on out to our Tuesday night socials and see what it's all about. Hey, if you ride with us long enough, or just have yourself a good time with us, you'll likely come out with a nickname. Between TheMutt and myself I'm sure we can come up with something that will either fit, or just stick!

Two in One

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous.  I already had plans to hit up a night ride sponsored by the Trailblazers, and led by Chris, but I couldn't pass up the day.... I figured something "easy" would be nice, so I hit up Sherman Branch.

My garmins told me that the average temp for my ride was 75.4.  75.4 in January.  Yeah, I don't miss the northeast.  Sherman Branch is a fun trail.  It has three sections, that I guess you can pick and choose from to string together your ride, but I look at it as one giant loop - so nothing gets left out.  I wanted an "easy" ride, but that isn't to say that Sherman is a boring easy trail.  It is a fun trail for sure.  But it is a super singlespeed friendly trail - so no big climbs or super technical sections.  It's a fun, fast, bermy, flowy trail. 

Somehow, on my "easy" ride I managed to get my PR - even with a stop to clear a fallen tree across the trail.  (Maybe my fitness is getting better) It wasn't a big tree, but the angle it lay across the trail (on a fast section) made it more difficult to cross... and seeing how people tend to complain about challenges on the trail I figured I'd just get it off to the side.  But that was ok by me, made the ride feel a little more like a January ride up north.... without the snow, and bitter coldness, and constant stopping to repeat similar trail clearings this time of year.  

After the ride I had to run to the grocery store, get back home, eat something and hustle over to North Meck for the night ride.  I wasn't sure how bad traffic would be to get out there, but it ended up not being too bad.  There was a pretty good group for the ride, probably close to ten riders.  This was my first night ride in a long time, and my first group ride in a long time, and my very first group night ride... wow, that was a hand full (you know, cause I was typing and not actually telling you).  Anyway, the pace on the first lap was just about right.  Chris called it a social ride, and it was.  Good pace - you were able to chat while you rode, stops to regroup, chat some more.  At the end of the loop there was again time for some chatting and then planning on what next.  Who wanted more, and to what degree?  For the second lap we hit the trail in reverse and broke up into two groups.  A fast group and a more social paced group.  I went off with the fast group, which was fun, but interesting - since that was my first time hitting it in reverse.  

It was a great ride, and something I'm going to try to make a regular in the rotation.  It was also great to hang out with Chris a bit more out there, and talk with his wife - who offered up the Diva's services to help get Annie back out on the trails.  Oh yeah, the temp for the night ride?  66.  Yup.  

Today though... a big rainy, windy mess.  I guess that's ok since it's time to kick my own ass on the trainer.

The world is flat... Part 1

Thursday I got a knobby back on the HiFi and got it back out on the trails, and boy did it feel good.  The HiFi really does fit like a glove.  No adjustment period getting back on that bike, just get up and go!!

As I knew light would be fading fast by the time I hit the trail I decided to hit up Foxboro.  Being that it can be rocky and somewhat technical I had to plan my route well enough so that I wasn't stuck out in something harsh in the dark.  Trails were in great condition.  The ground was frozen so things were FAST!!  But looks like there's been some great trail maintenance out there as trails were clear and looked like they were getting some love.  It was easy to follow a nice loop out there.

I managed to get back to the fire roads with light fading fast and my helmet light on low.  Just having your light on low makes a huge difference as things start fading... plus it made me feel a little safer with the light on knowing a woman was recently shot by a hunter here in Massachusetts.

Riding with a helmet light is certainly the way to go... if you are riding with one light.  But if one were to race, I can't see you racing without both a helmet light and handlebar light... especially on unfamiliar trails.  I was on familiar fire roads when things got real dark, and even there I could see the flattening effects due to the angle of the light coming off the helmet.  Maybe it was more of an issue as I was pushing higher speeds on the fire road than I might on singletrack.... The light washed out the details of the rocks making things looks a lot smoother than I knew reality to be, making the bumpy, loose rock sections of the fire road hard to read in the artificial light.

So, just remember when you are out there in the dark - take it a little easier and be sure to ride safe.  Oh yeah, and temperatures drop quick this time of year, so best be prepared!!