Get out

Ever have one of those days when you hit the trail and something is just off??

I started off with some sort of squeak going on... couldn't tell if it was brake rub or something with the cranks... it was intermittent, but annoying enough.  I think it's about high time to get the HiFi in for a full tune up anyway...

So, it started with a squeak that had me thinking.  Then I just couldn't get out of my head.  It felt as though my bike handling skills had dropped in the toilet this morning and I never fished them out.  I was fumbling over the simplest things.  And when it got to sections that are actually a challenge to clear things didn't really improve.  I tried to slow myself down and rerun any section I had trouble with... but something was preventing me from going full tilt and just clearing the damn things.  I was there but just couldn't get it up and over, so to speak.  I felt drained.  I felt defeated.

Halfway through the ride I grabbed hold of myself (figuratively) and shook.  My handling skills aren't gone, I'm just way too far inside my own head right now.  I decided to throw out the idea that my handling skills were garbage and tried to get back to basics.  Pay attention to body position.  Get up out of the saddle.  Just F'n ride!!

And wouldn't you know, things started turning around.  By then though the ride had taken a toll on my legs and energy and I almost bailed on the last section of trail.  I stopped at the trailhead balancing my choices: End while behind, or ride it since you are here!  I decided for the later, but my inner debate brought up a valid question.  At what point should you call a ride quits in order to preserve yourself, and avoid unnecessary risk or crashes?  I wasn't completed wasted, so it wasn't like I would be on a death march just to finish off the trail.  But having been off my game for the majority of the ride, is it better to call it and just ride another day?

I dunno.  It seems more often then not my limiting factor (both JRA and in races) is the mental part.  When I get too far in my own head things fall apart.  Body position goes to hell, trail vision disappears and I'm only looking in front of the front wheel, and I just lose the push... Riding will improve skill, but what improves the "headiness"?

When I figure that one out I'll be taking a huge leap forward.

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures while out on the trail as they keep adding and building out there.  I just wanted to share a photo or two.  I took a picture of thins nasty "root ball" that tops a short steep climb that you run into as you turn towards the top.  It is just annoying.  I had to take a picture because of all the stuff that up and overs are built on, this would be just about the only place that I would really appreciate a little help with!!

After looking at my photos I'm thinking it isn't the root so much that gives me the trouble.... it's that evil spirit living in the tree!!

CX

Sunday I wasn't racing, but spectating a CX race.  My buddy Sean started racing CX this year and low and behold he had a race less than a mile from my house, so of course I'd be there!!

Whenever I'm at a race and not racing (or my race for the day is done) I like to get out there and take photos.  It's really fun!! Finding the cool places on the course to get good action shots.

Be forewarned, Sean makes the most amazing race faces.

Barriers:

Crushing it through the start/finish straightaway:

Sandpit grinding:

Look how excited the spectators are... one is even stripping!!

Run up, from two perspectives (that thing was STEEP):

If only I could make a living taking race photos...

At this race I only really took photos of Sean and his teammates, with the exception of one large cowboy hat wearin racer - you put THAT much effort in you deserve your picture taken, right?

The added bonus of taking pictures of a CX race is that you can easily get shots at various sections of the course, since it's so compact.  And then there is the reason so many people like to watch a cx race... well, other than you get to see your friends pretty much throughout the whole course... the crashes.

Luckily, well maybe not for him, there was a crash in front of Sean's teammates (739) as he was coming through the sandpit which resulted in a big pile up.  The luck comes in there because I was taking pictures of the whole thing.  I think the most insane thing was how quickly he got up and out of the situation - really kept his head and drive going the whole time.

mid air

handlebar in the...

ouch, looks like he's stepping on some guy's wheel!

and he's off!

unfortunately he had to stop in the next sandpit to fix his chain...
but it could have been a lot worse!!

Overall it was a pretty fun spectating experience (not a race that I would be interested in getting involved in myself).  Not as wild as I hear cx races can get with all sorts of sideline shenanigans.  It was pretty tame, but still enjoyable... and you can't beat the proximity!

SS dreamin

Even with Georgia losing, it was still a great game!

In order to "prepare" for the wings and beer that would be consumed during the SEC Championship game I hit the trails.  I was back and forth on which trail to hit and finally decided to hit up Sherman Branch (it is a straight shot from our place so it's pretty damn easy to get to - 1 road/10 miles).  This place was hopping!  In the past I've ridden the trails during the week and there have been few, if any, cars in the lot when I've been there.  On Saturday, the lot was full.


Even with a full lot you still had the trails to yourself for the most part - catching glimpses of riders through the trees here and there.  Gave me motivation to push a little hard to 1. "catch" the guy ahead of me down the trail 2. keep in front of anyone who may be coming up behind.  That isn't to say I was racing out there, but it kept me honest.  Of course, when a faster rider was on my tail I let him get on by.

I did come across two (separate) riders sans helmets out on the trail.  It kinda threw me off and I wasn't quite sure if I should say something or not.  In the end I didn't say anything as I was riding by... but should a comment be made?  I mean, I guess it's their choice.

So, after my first loop I realized this is a SUPER SS friendly trail.  The only real shifting I did was when hitting straight aways to pick up speed.  But for the most part you could stay in one gear and just rail.... so that has got me chomping on the bit to get in on this SS thing.

The Niner is still sitting in frame state.  I've got my build list together, but can't spend the money yet.  Soon though (hopefully).  Had an interview on Wednesday that went well, and I expect (fingers crossed) that there will be an offer coming in soon.  That would be bitter sweet... Great, cause it's a job and money and whatnot, not so great in that it isn't my ideal job... but again, money and whatnot is kinda important.




Sunday was race day.  But, I'll get into that tomorrow... until then, I leave you with this.

Loyalty

I'm a pretty loyal person.

No questions when it comes to family and friends.

But it permeates to even the mundane - I'm a loyal shopper, sticking with a store or product that has done me right (or more importantly, hasn't screwed me over).  Solid service/product and you've got me.  I'm not big on always looking for the next deal or option.  If I like it, I'm likely sticking with it.

Thus far I haven't been one to really talk about/review products on here... there are plenty of sites that do that on the regular.  I think I may have mentioned a product or two in the past (again, if you do me right I am all about you!!) but there has been on product that has been on my mind since my trip out to Pisgah and I just have to talk about it.

When I got into mountain biking seriously I had to start thinking about nutrition on the trail.  There are a ton of products out there, but where to start?  As a newbie, I started with Clif Bars and Sport Beans.  Then, there was that secret stuff that the real athletes used... the two big names I'd hear about were Hammer Gel and GU.

I tried GU's Energy Gels first, and I liked them.  So, the search was done.  Ok, but what about other products, drinks and whatnot?

A while back I had bought a sampler pack from GU - which included (and was my reason for buying) a variety of flavors of Gel, Chomps, and some Brew.  To be honest I kinda put the Brew to the side at first as I really only drank water on the trail.

As the miles per ride grew, and effort increased, I knew I needed more.  Having been an "athlete" growing up it was easy to fall back to old faithful - Gatorade.  Ok... so fast forward a bunch and we find ourselves out at Pisgah for the weekend trip (if you'd like to relive my "glory" you can do so here, here, and here.  While getting my gear together for the trip, and figuring out what exactly I needed to pack, I came across the Brew Tablets that had come in the sampler pack.  To be honest, this stuff scared me.

Ok, just to make sure we are all on the same page... you've got GU Brew - which is the standard powdered drink mix mode.

And then you have the GU Brew Tablets... which, when they come individually packaged in the sampler, appear to be more of a Alka Seltzer type deal.

The "good"

The "when you feel ill"

So, fear of having a medicine-y fizzy drink had banished these glorious tablets to the bottom of my "nutrition basket."  That is, until the trip.  So as I'm gathering my nutritional supplements I decide to give the tablets a go.  Why not?  They'll take up NO room and I can easily just drop them in a bottle when/if I need them.

Let me tell you, I am SOLD!  These tablets are genius!!  Seriously simple and a super taste!!  Not overly sugary or sweat, but not bland or weak.  It's seriously the perfect flavor balance, and that is saying a lot because I like my sweet tea SWEET!!!  Seriously, when I have regular tea (you know, traditional english hot tea) I'm heaping sugar into my mug.  So for this to be the PERFECT level is nothing short of a scientific masterpiece.  Here is what GU has to say about this sweet product:

GU Electrolyte Brew Tablets are simple, light tasting and natural. They are invariably better than water alone and bring your system into balance more quickly by helping you retain more of the liquid you ingest.

Oh yeah, and performance wise it was right on as well.  Taking a swig of the Brew kept me feeling fresh and gave me the boost I needed to enjoy the amazing riding to be had out in Pisgah/DuPont land.

Whether through tablet or traditional powder form, Brew is the go to drink from here on out!
 

Wild Turkey Ride

Thanksgiving gave me the opportunity to get a little riding done in West Virginia.  And by little, I mean one ride.  Eh, that's ok I guess.  Good times with family, good food, and a good ride equals a great holiday vacation.

So I rode a trail Sean had previously taken me to right in Morgantown, WV.  It was Sean's "home court" as it was literally in his backyard.  I recalled the general route we took years back, and that's where I started things off.  The trail is called Bakers Ridge, and it runs up behind the WVU farm.

View of the pastures from the trail.

What I really loved about the ride was that it was an undirected exploratory ride.  No one way trails, no predetermined loop, I was free to take any turn at anytime, and ride the trail in either direction.  Back to the basics, and it was good!

I ended up finding some sweet new trail up there.

New hard packed trail up on top of the ridge

Nice steep section with a jump (from the bottom)

And there was even a seesaw to boot!!

Bottom line, Morgantown is lucky to have such a sweet trail system right in town.  The trail isn't overly technical, but there are plenty of log crossings (with and without up and overs) but not too much rock - a few small gardens here and there.  But it's a great place to keep it moving, get some climbing in and rip some fast downhills... just watch out for the low trees and sneaky drops!

Tree hanging across the trail on one of the longer downhills... I was BARELY able to squeeze under the far right side - after I slammed the brakes of course!

A blue ballon marked this turn off which abruptly led to this beauty of a drop

Overall, it's a great cross country place, but with the new steep/jump line, big drop, and some other useable terrain, it could be a fun place for those big hit folk.  There was one jump built (but appeared neglected) and I noticed the MOST perfect line to hit on the way to the jump.

You could see remnants of a line.. but there appeared to be a lack of love shown for this section

Rock outcropping above the jump.  Rock on the right is the perfect roller into the jump

Rock on the right - from the side

It's nice to know there is an easily accessible trail anytime we are visiting family in WV... not enough time to get to Big Bear? - no problem, I'll be just fine at Bakers Ridge!

Turkey Ride

Yesterday I had to run a few errands as Annie was preparing for the big turkey day and it blew my mind each time someone would end our transaction with "have a wonderful/great/happy Thanksgiving."  I mean, I knew it was coming but it hadn't yet clicked that it was THIS week!

So, in honor of the mass amount of food to come... Happy Thanksgiving!!

"Don’t let your kids become Butterballs, get them on a Strider!"

Believe it or not I found that picture (and caption) on "The Official STRIDER Blog."

So, I hope everyone has some rides lined up to help you enjoy (guilt free) the gorging that is sure to come.  I will be visiting the in laws, so I'll be riding some WV trails.  I know of one local I can ride... and one a little drive away... and that should probably be enough to get the job done.  

So, with Thanksgiving upon us I'll probably be MIA till next week.  Maybe not... we shall see.  But if I am, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving filled with food, family, and fun.  Enjoy!

better late?

Ugh, didn't get to post up early this morning...

I've got a couple items I can choose from to ramble on about here... so I think I'm going to crunch two together for a quick recap here.

The other week I rode a new trail (to me) and it was pretty cool.  Well, the best feature of the ride was the fact that it was randomly 70+ degrees!!  I was talking to one rider at the trailhead and he said he had never seen the trails so busy, outside an organized race.  The trail in question is Fisher Farm.

The trails were well marked, and identified as easy (green circle), intermediate (blue square), and advanced (black diamond).  As with a lot of trails here that use these trail designation, there is always a negligible difference between the green and blue.  Which then, in effect, makes the labeled black diamonds more like blue squares.... hmmm, I have a hankering for Lucky Charms right about now.

Bucket O' Charms

There were two black diamond segments.  One which had a skinny at the "entrance" and was clearly avoided by most riders as evidenced by the piles and piles of leaves covering the trails (= no love for the trail).  I wouldn't say that this stretch was particularly difficult, more so "rough."  It consisted of frequent ravine dips, some with boards down a side and across the bottom (I'm guessing to help when it is wet out?), and of course the treacherous rootiness that some riders shy away from here.  The other black diamond segment provided a nice climb with a challenging boulder decent.  With the leaf cover I opted to walk it rather than take a nasty miscalculated tumble somewhere.  Another rider at the trailhead mentioned that riders had been med-evacuated because they have gotten "in over their head" on that section.  I can see that.

Overall, the blue square was a fun flowy route to follow.  On my first lap there was a blue square split, one going up and one going down, and I unknowingly picked the short cut (up).  On my second lap I found additional mileage I had missed by taking the "up" option - which also led to the "rocky" black diamond option.  It was also on this leg of the blue loop that I wiped out on a fast turn - leaves just slide out from under me.  It was ok, my left leg needed some road rash to match the scabs on the right leg from my last crash.

Overall, nice little trail.  I was clocking the mileage in at about 4 miles (less for that first lap where I accidently took the shortcut) and it was a trail that was easy to do multiple laps on without getting too bored of the terrain.  And, I guess it's part of the Wednesday night summer race series, so I may just be riding it more in the future.  It won't be a trail that is in the regular rotation as it is a little bit of a drive for me, and probably not enough pay off for just a regular ride.

Ok, the other bit of info is less involved.  I think I've put together a decent loop that is mostly bike friendly for the road bike (perfect, since it's "winter" and trainer season... right?).  There should be options to expand the loop section to add mileage on as needed/desired.  The "leg" to get out of town may be further refined to ensure easier navigation surrounding heavier traffic areas and whatnot... but it was an easy enough time.  So, that is exciting.  It's pretty key to have a road option right out your door... I mean that is the point of riding the road, the easy of it... if I'm going to drive to bike, you better bet it's going to be on dirt!!

I did get to wave at the mountain bikers getting ready to hit Sherman Branch as I rode by.