Perception

Rain has been a show stopper around here for a while now.  A bit too long if you ask a lot of local mountain bikers.  This, of course, has sparked debate arguments on the local bike forums.  When can you ride, how long should trails be shut down for, who is ultimately responsible for trail maintenance, etc.

Friday I was out riding up at Lake Norman, trying to beat the predicted (surprise, surprise) thunder storms of the day and the skies opened up.  I finished the main portion of my ride with one rain shower that did not seem to penetrate the trees on the trails I was riding.  Trails were the same when I left as when I arrived.

As I rolled back through the parking lot the skies looked good so I headed out to hit some more trail.  This time, the trails weren't looking so hot.  Not horrible, but certainly not the conditions I had started with.  True, it was a different trail, different elevation, possibly different soil type... but you could tell there had been rain in the past here.  It wasn't sloppy, and certainly wasn't unrideable... just a noticeable difference is all I'm saying.  As I was riding this loop, the skies opened up and the trail quickly began accumulating water.  Even with water on the trail, the tread itself did not feel soft.  I finished the loop and headed for the parking lot.

I paused.  Should I take the short trail back to the trailhead, or tackle the road - and hill?  I sat thinking, the rain stopping.  No one had come through to the close the trails.  Dilemma ensues.  If the park isn't closing their trails - and they are very "good" about closing the trails when they deem necessary,  can I/should I continue my ride.

I had a goal in mind that day, and I something was urging me to push on.  I was close to hitting all the trails and getting the mileage I wanted.  The rain stopped, the rangers hadn't closed the trail... I went for it.  This time, I was not pleased.  Again, the trails weren't HORRIBLE, but they also didn't need to be ridden.  My bike let me know about it as grit and grime piled in my brakes.  The trail was a constant puddle fest - yet still seemed to remain pretty solid.  Was I killing the trail, no.  Would it hurt the trail if a train of riders came through - maybe.

And that, my friends, is why trails close.  Sure, you - the individual - might weigh your impact and decide that you alone won't hurt the trail.  And you might be right.  But if 20,30,100 of us think the same way the trails might end up looking a little different.

I cut it short.  I didn't hit everything, and headed for the lot - taking the paved hill.  As I arrived there were a couple riders getting ready to go.  One rider, who I have raced with this year in the summer series, came up to ask about the trails - seeing my shins covered in mud.  I let him know which trails were a mess and noted that earlier some of the trails were looking good.  After giving my two cents, he decided to check out the trails I had hit earlier and ignore the ones I found water logged.  As I was putting the Glow Worm up I heard another group of riders gathering, a few describing the very same trails I felt could use a break as primo.  As I said, they were still firm... but covered in water.

So the question lies here... is it up to others to close the trails for us (rangers, the club, private land owners) or should we all be responsible for our own actions?  Like the next guy, I'm not thrilled about cutting a ride short, or NOT getting to ride, but if it means the trails remain in good solid shape and around for us to ride for years to come - what's one more day of waiting?

skills

Got some good rides in this weekend as trails were actually open!!  Of course, it rained last night... and now this happened.

Don't even think about calling the Whitewater Center, that beast has been closed since June.

I'll get into ride details tomorrow, but one thing I did notice: riding is fun!  Seemed so long since I had ridden trails around here - or at least had an option!  Sour note... EBB seems to have slipped again.  Held tight on a nice climby ride, so I thought the coast was clear.  But after two rides this weekend the chain is slack again.  I also noticed that the chainline seems to be off a bit as the rear cog is off to one side on the chain... so I adjusted that.  Looks like the EBB II will be ordered shortly.  

Today, time is quickly slipping away as I get sidetracked looking at "deals" I don't need to be looking at on all things bike related.  So, I'll get right to it.  The Mutt did some fiddling around up in the mountains and ended up doing quite well up in the hills, I'm sure he's talking about it over here (or will be sometime very soon).

Inspired by his performance (and having come free time on my hands yesterday since I was doing laundry and not riding...) I created a little something for him.

I put it up on his facefriend wall for all to see.  His response: I sense a great disturbance in The Force... and your Photoshop skills.

Perhaps he'd be more comfortable riding this version, after all it's got a saddle and a bridal?

So, that's it for today.... bad weather and equally bad photoshop skills.

only rain?

I raced on Sunday.

Saturday called for rain in the good old city of Charlotte... well, so does the rest of the damn week...  but what would that mean for Columbia SC, the site of my race on Sunday?  Utilizing the technologies I had at hand, or IN my hand, I surmised that rain would start a bit later there - starting in the overnight and pretty much raining throughout the race.  I've pre-registered, so I'm in.

Somehow I turned off my alarm Sunday morning, randomly I woke up and thought to myself "it's a bit too light out to be too far before my alarm."  So I check my alarm/phone and I have about 10 minutes to spare before my planned departure.  10 minutes won't do, so I end up leaving about 15- 20 minutes late.  That ended up ok as I got into Harbison State Forest at around 9 (with a 10 am start).  Prior to departure I checked the local weather for Columbia... chance of thunderstorms at start time and throughout the race... so.... how will I find out if they cancel??  I pull up a few pages on the intelligent phone so that I can periodically check as I get closer to the race - it's decided, I'm going anyway.

When I arrive it's steady raining, but not super hard... I have a water proof jacket I could wear, but I know that I will overheat with it on... do I warm up with it on to stay warm before the start??  Nope, time was short as it was, so I finally get everything in order and get out on the bike in a short sleeve jersey and bibs.  Once I'm in the woods the falling rain isn't an issue... it's the trails.  Standing water down the middle of some parts, and it's just a sandy/muddy mess that is constantly thrown up by my front tire - not to mention the rear tire of anyone you are following.

Vision will be an issue, but I'm not about to battle the flying water/mud with just my eyes.

Finishing visibility

For probably the last 2-3 miles vision was pretty much shot.  There was no more picking lines, I was just riding and keeping my front wheel as light as possible.  On forest road climbs I pulled my glasses down to prevent fogging, and of course, to get a better view of what was going on.  By this point I was in no man's land anyway.  

Our group was a bit smaller than I anticipated, we had 9 at the start.  We got warnings about wet bridges, and to ride careful and slow (in a race) and then we were sent off.  Off the start is a gravel road climb, and we all stuck together so I didn't have to push too hard.  I was 4th going into the woods and I was right on the wheel of the rider in front of me when he missed a sharp left.  He went straight around a tree to renter the trail and I followed.  A branch popped up as he went over it and as it landed back down my front wheel caught it at a funny angle and I went down.  HARD.  It was in this instance that I was thankful that the ground was saturated as my left shoulder was driven into the ground.  The pine needles and softened earth provided for a nice crashing experience.  My bike, on the other hand, did not come out so coddled.

 My handlebars were spun backwards as I regained my feet.  I had to physically force them back straight as my shifter/brake gouged my frame.  I lost 2 or 3 spots - apparently the front had put in some space on the rear of the group.  I hopped back on and everything seemed to be fine so I took off and quickly re-passed one rider and followed another for a bit until I could pass him on a climb.  He stuck with my for a little bit but I was able to put some distance on him when another rider came up behind looking to get by.  We yo-yoed a bit before he left me as we came out of a grinding climb and I couldn't grab his wheel.

Luckily for me, a fast rider from the 40+ group came by a few seconds later and I was able to grab onto his wheel to get me back up into the singletrack.  He started pulling away and I was alone.  I kept looking ahead for riders, and looking back for challengers... but there was nothing.  I could feel my pace slowing as I no longer felt the urgency of the race.  I tried to focus on my tempo to keep my cadence up to push the speed and get myself back up into a respectable gear.

Then I saw it.  A jersey through the trees as the trail started into a quick switchback section up a short hill.  Instantly the energy returned to my legs.  From the color of his jersey I didn't suspect he was in my age group, but it didn't matter - it was someone to catch.  I lost sight of him and wondered if there had been a rider in front of me.  I exited the singletrack onto another forest road climb and I saw him again at the top of the climb.  I push it up the climb but have a feeling we are toward the end.  I keep looking back as I reach the top of the climb to make sure no one is trying to put a late push on me.  I'm in the clear.  The trail is now speckled with spectators, I MUST be near the end.  I push it hard where I can, but this section is tight and rooty.

Soon the trail open into the grass finish and I cross.  I got 5th.  Did the crash hurt my chances??  Probably not.

I was 2 minutes off 4th... so ultimately I probably would have finished closer to him, but I don't know if I would have had it to finish ahead of him as I know he is a strong rider.  So I'm pretty happy with the race - minus the crash.  I still need to work on the mental game of not losing it in no man's land, but overall I'm pretty pleased with where I am at this point in the season.  Do I need to continue working harder, sure!  But I'm getting there!!


I was one dirty MFer at the end of the race.

I found a nice scrape on my leg to match the gouge on my
frame when I rinsed off the grime.

I think that about sums up the grime I was facing all race.

Oh, you think that is the end?  I've got more to come tomorrow.

Put me in coach!!

Is what I might say if I was on a cycling team with a coach...
and the upcoming event was a flip cup tournament, not a bike race. (as a side - I just did a quick flip cup search on the old googler and it appears any sort of "organized" flip cup tournament last saw the light of day in 2009.)
But let's say the upcoming event was an actual mountain bike race... maybe not.

Came across this on Saturday up at Willowdale.
Trail flooded by nearby pond.

With Mother Nature just bitch slapping us with the reality that Spring never just comes to New England, we have to relapse into crappy winter weather before the beauty that is Spring shines her face on us, I haven't logged any solid miles on the trails.  Wait... Spring shining her face on us, who am I kidding??  What we have to look forward to is about a month straight of rain - great for logging solid trail time!!!  not riding at all.  Although rain hasn't been the serious problem thus far, we've seen some flooding surrounding pounds and streams with all the snow melting off.






Remember last year??  When it literally rained every day in June??  Yeah, that sucked.