Snow Ride - WOW!

Riding through the snow,

on a rigid singlespeed,

can't get my feet clipped in,

frozen spd's

having lots of fun

whole world is so bright

Oh what fun it is to ride,

on a night ride with no lights!


Chorus



Oh...

Single speed, single speed,

Singling all the way,

got no shock

just 2.3s totake the bumps away - HEY!







Yeah the ride the other night was so good I had to sing! Good rides have been a bit on the thin side lately, and nightr riding a complete wash for several weeks. So last week given that Doug was a definate "in" it was going to take more than a poxy 3 - 4 inches of snow to stop me. After checking conditions all day, and for much of the day things were not looking good, with the less than one inch of accumulation forecast slowly crept up over the inch, then to two with no sign of abating! MLW was less than enthusiastic about the ride proceeding - something about "breaking my bloody neck" was part of the reason, but I must admit I wasn't really listening.







By 5:30 the final decsion was made - with much phone tag - and it was a go! Yip-bloody-pee! The roads heading to Patapsco were pretty treacherous and with the snow still coming down Doug and I were pretty confident we would have a cold and lonely ride, just the two of us being foolish enough to attempt riding. Oh how wrong could we have been!!





At the carpark are six (count them .... SIX!) other guys just about to hit the snowy trails. A quick chat and it is soon realized that we met (and indeed shared a camping spot) with these guys at 12 h of Lodi Farm (http://www.rotorsport2.com/lodifarm/) this year. Small world. We join forces to form a "massive" peleton of eight and hit the trails, most of us on SSers of some description. Less than 5 minutes into the ride and we grind to a halt as someone up front (I'm skirting the back of the group so I can judge the line in the snow) has fallen, the first of many. As we regroup the decision is made that lights are not needed. So...... off with the lights and for the first time ever I ride in the snow, at night and with no lights!!!!!





The snow (still falling) does such a great job of reflecting the moonlight that visibility is really exceptional and the fresh fallen snow whilst a bit greasy is not as slippery as I would have thought. No heroics tonight, just keeping things moving in a straight line, downhills are fun - just a matter of trying to stay in some kind of control, uphills are a waste of time (just get off and walk). Stream crossings are adrenaline fueled with the realization that a fall will relegate you to riding in wet gear in below freezing point temperatures. Several stream crossings are encountered and no victims to report! There are several victims on the downhills, "Yours Truly" included, but no injuries and everyone spends the whole ride wearing big goofy smiles - it's like being kids again. Spend a good deal of the ride spinning and talking to a guy called Jim who happens to be riding another Monocog 29er! This is only his second ride on the beast but he is aready in love! Both of us are suffering though with our pedals - both riding spd's and afyter the first 5 minutes neither f us can clip in as both pedals and cleats are frozen solid - HO HUM! makes control over logs interesting, but I am still amazed how much stuff was traversable.





After about 90 min (and one very close encounter with deer, who presumably didn't see us coming without lights) we head back to the cars, tired, happy and remarkably warm! Most fun I've had on a bike for a long while - a ride I will remember probably forever. Loved the ride and learned a couple of things - need to uopgrade my pedals (Time Attac or Crank Bros I think) and it's time to take the leap and progress to disc brakes. The latter is in hand as I bought myself some Avid BB7's as a birthday present (from MLW to me) and have them installed as I type (though not tested out yet).





My next ride will be a biggie - first with discs on the Monocog and first as a Master, as the birthday has taken me into my fifth decade and well and truly into middle age. Bring it on!





Dogzbollux

Be Careful What You Wish For!!

Back around the time I was starting blogging (i.e. just before the summer) I had been playing with the idea of trying to get an informal weekend ride going. With MLW FINALLY succumbing to the MTB bug and a few more friends converting from their sedentary ways I finally have a group ride that I can (after a fashion) call my own. Each weekend the names and numbers my change but the Sunday (sometimes Saturday) ride has become a Bollux-household tradition. So I'm happy right? Well yeah, most of the time! I have people to ride with, MLW has become a MTB zealot meaning I can spend more time/money on my bikes and riding has become an integral part of our family life. What else could a guy ask for!



But I'm a miserable ungrateful Bastard at heart, so of course there is always something I can moan about.



I kind of miss my lonely long solo rides that used to be a hard won part of my weekends. Before the birth of the "group ride" my Sunday morning ride was always a topic of some friction in the Bollux-home. To ensure I was back home before the children had driven MLW to the edge of homicidal mania (the object of which would have been me not the children) I had to hit the trails at absurd times in the morning. And to make sure I did not wake the children when I got up various hoops had to be jumped through - normally resulting in me sleeping downstairs on the couch, waking well before sunrise, getting dressed in my garage, washing/teeth brushing at the outside spigot and eating breakfast in the car at the trail head. None of which was particularly pleasant!



But....... When I finally hit the trails I was free! I could go as hard as I liked, take whatever trails my mojo took me on, and within reason go as far as my legs could carry me. Close to 20 miles was a regular ride! Yes it was lonely sometimes and I craved company sometimes, but mostly (once I was actually on the trail) I was golden.



Leading a ride adds company but it also adds constraints. Distance and speed are the first casualties with a group ride, being an inclusive rather than exclusive ride we always stick together and no-one gets left behind (we are the Marine Corp of group rides!) And the trail selection is limited by the "group-mentality". I find I spend most of my Friday evening planning various route combinations to keep things interesting/mix things up, but hopefully not kill anyone (no fatalities yet though we've had some pretty nasty falls)

And this Sunday morning I had the perfect storm in terms of "group-riding". One of the crew was dragging a friend along so needed to borrow a bike (yeah I've got a loner I can bring), and due to time constraints we had to be home at 10:30, so a launch time of 8am sharp was set. Result? Me sleeping on the soddin sofa again so I can drag my sorry arse up at 6am on Sunday morning, tiptoe around the house to avoid waking the sprogs. Then an hour outside (temperature in the 20's) changing pedals on MLW bike and the loner, lubing chains and loading 3 bikes on the Bollux-mobile. Feeling responsible for the "overall joy" of the group I also dig out all the long-finger gloves I can and fill extra water bottles so no one is cold/thirsty!

8 am we are at the trail ready to go when the cell rings and one of the crowd is late cos they have lost their pedals! How the b'jesus do you loose your pedals? (I keep mine at the end of my crank arms!). Result.... the planned route is abandoned and we do a short loop to hit Landing again after 15 min so we can attach the prodigal pedals to the aforesaid bike and as a whole group hit the trail again. Did a fun but short ride, and should be grateful that (i) I rode at all (ii) I actually have a group of friends that'll put up with me and (iii) I have MLW who is willing to discover for herself the joys of Mtbing. Yeah, but like I said "I'm a miserable basterd!"

Bah Humbug

DogzBollux

Post-Turkey Day Ride

The call went out for the post-Turkey day ride but the uptake was pitiful - even given the announcement that it would be the first outing this year for the DogzBollux "holiday helmet". People out of town visiting the folks I guess. With MLW not feeling well at one point Sunday looked like it could turn into a solo ride. But then Greg came to the rescue! Bedecked in his new "cold weather-tights" and feeling a little silly (cos he usually wears baggies) he and me are the only takers. Pity really cos the weather and the trails were beautiful, mostly a golden lawn of freshly fallen leaves all over Patapsco.

A little cold when we hit the trails so I had the foresight to jam an extra pair of gloves into my back pocket - what a fabulous decsion, second water crosing (and I have just gotten feeling back in my fingers) and I make a complete balls up of the approach and end up off the bike and in the water. Fortunately not too wet cos I got my hands down, but the gloves were gonna's - totally saturated. Now.. were it not for my extra gloves the rest of the ride would have been bloody miserable, but as it was - fantastic!

So did lots of trails that we don't usually do - or rode trails we often ride but in the opposite direction. the highlight is still the new loggy section near Rockburn park entrance - did it twice, once in either direction. Took in the derelict houses section that I haven't done in an age. All in all 90 min (ish) of pretty sustained effort and plenty of time to try lots of the extra point obstacles. Fun ride - missing the night rides which haven't happened for the past three weeks and feeling fat (sepecially after turkey day excesse).

Next few weeks should be some prime riding - gor to check out the new Princetontec Yukon helmet light (report will follow) and have just ordered the first upgrad to the trustly Monocog - decided it was time to go disc, so Avid disc brakes ordered from Pricepoint and will be counted as an early Birthday present.

Hope all had a great Thanksgiving and have as much to be thanskful for as Yours Truly.

DogzBollux

Sunday and an early start

With the weather being less than compliant of late and with some traveling for work, the hours with my bum on the bike have been limited. So Sunday needed to be worthwhile. Only one way to go - get out there early!

So the alarm rang at 6:15 on Sunday morning and I was at Landing Road by 7:00 - first car there - oh yeah! Soon as it was light enough I hit the trails. I did what is now the usual Sunday route but in reverse (clockwise) which somehow appears to have more uphill than the anticlockwise route (how that work?). I didn't rush myself and spent time trying out different obstacle variations. So Cascade, Ridge then back through Rockburn branch and Belmont. Did the new piece of trail in reverse for first time and it was ace! Even spent a bit of time just riding (and falling off) the log at the bottom of the Belmont hill. Back at the trail head for 8:00 and met up with the "Sunday Group", MLW, Dan "the decider" and this week Eileen and Richmond. As a happy quintet we retraced my previous tire tracks but anticlockwise this time. Richmond is an infrequent mtber - but you'd never guess - the guy knows no fear and launched his bike at every obstacle going. Fantastic ride, usual minor irritations MLW struggling with new shoes/pedals and Dan had a flat - but hell, no one died! Crowded trails this weekend, bikers in large groups for some reason, even one lady with no helmet! In-freakin-sanity!

Second lap much slower than first but 2 and 1/2 hours of fun and approx 14 miles covered, many logs ridden over ridden along and fallen off of. Loving wearing my pads, look like a complete git (especially on the rigid SS), but it's nice not to be bleeding when I get back to the car.

Feeling the need to wander and find new trails - maybe that is a resolution for 2008. Maybe if the weather gets cold enough to dissuade MLW then a trip to Frederrick will occur one of these Sundays.

No night ride this week cos I was away - and with Thanksgiving hitting this week another week sans noctural tomfoolery looks on the cards. I've ordered a new headlight (Princeton Tech), if it ever arrives (been two weeks now - that's what you get ordering from Dick's) I'll review it for anyone who stumbles across this blog. Feels lonely writing this sometimes - let me know if anyone is actually reading, not that I will stop isf noone is - but if people are actually reading this I might start using the spell check more often (but probably not).

Cheers, Happy Thanksgiving

DogzBollux

P.S - H.R. at University of Northampton really SUCK!!!

Mission Impossible!

Been away for most of the week, so no night ride and only the Sunday am ride under the belt. MLW spent the weekend in George Washigton State Park on a ladies MTB/yoga retreat! She came back after a couple of big time technical and long (3+h) rides to annouce she wants a new bike. Needs full suspension to achieve her full potential apparently - we'll see.

Without MLW the Sunday ride launched from the PnR - fairly low turn out just Sean, Dan "the decider" and me (DB). After the usual decent into the park we climbed the trail up Soapstone rather than the fire road - that wrmed us up plenty - the new fallen tree was still in situ so at least we had an excuse to stop 2/3 the way up. Then the usual BC trail past the Community College and then the rocky uphill. Instead of down House of Pain we hit Superhighway and ended up on Charcoal trail - all rerouted the other week so the mission (if we chose to accept it) was to find the new link to the trails leading to Mission Impossible/Sudden Impact/Double Drop (all trail names changed to protect the guilty - and cos I don't actually know the real names). Mission accomplished when we found the new Sawtee [sic] trail and eventually found ourselves at the base of Patarini Hill with a choice to make. Even Dan "the decider" was unsure so in the interests of stupidity we took the hardest possible option and headed down Mission Impossible.

Just as the trail started to get tough who should breeze past like he was cruising asphalt but Eatough himself and team mate (second Eatough sighting in two weeks). He even stopped to mention to Dan (sho was a little way back) that the trail was the toughest in Patapsco. His meaning was probably "hey you guys have no business being here, get back on the nursery slopes", but he was too polite to say this and we were/are too stupid to take the hint.

All goes swimmingly - with a lot of pushing of bikes - until after the now legendary "24 solo-log" which Dan actually doesn't even want to walk over much less ride over, though we could clearly see the tire tracks from Eatough et al (smart arses) over the log. Shortly after however disaster strikes. Sean gets a bit optimistic on a steep downhill, Dan is in his way, Sean dabs his brakes and..... next stop crashville. Sean comes down HARD on a nasty rocky section and my first though is "well that's his shoulder F**ked". Fortunately I'm not completely correct and after 5 min or so lying on his back groaning and allowing his body to carry out a "systems check" Sean says he is pretty sure nothing is broken and is ready to continue. It becomes obvious very quickly that his shoulder is an issue however and he can't pull on his bars. So in the interests of being sensible (a one time thing only I promise) we take the road back to the base of the climb to the PnR and head back to the cars.

Sean is bemoaning being "stupid" for trying something he shouldn't but hell! Stupidity is what is is all about! If we wanted to be sensible we would be tucked up in bed with a cup of tea at 8:30am on a Sunday morning (especially when the temp is in the 40's) not throwing ourselves and our bikes down (and up) the Patapsco trails.

Till next time

Stupidity rules!

DogzBollux

Two night ride week!

Just when life is looking a bit glum, out of the blue comes a two night ride week! Several of the "Sunday Group" have bought lights and have shown interest in night riding. To date this has been restricted to single nocturnal sojourn around the neighborhood trails but that was to change this week. "Dan the Man" stepped up to the plate and so we hit the trails at Patapsco for his inaugural night ride. It was a short loop - approx five miles but it dipped his toes into the waters of nocturnal insanity. Dan was amazed how different even the most familiar trails were without the ability to actually see where you are going - he rode several sections he normally doesn't clear just due to not realizing they were coming up and the fact that he was going too fast to do anything but close his eyes and hope! Love it.

The next night was the "main event" George and me again - the gruesome twosome. George announced that tonight it was 15 miles or bust! My kind 'o' guy! AS a consequence we set of out the gate like bloody greyhounds. After 5 miles and at the base of only our second climb and I was beginning to feel it. Two miles later and I was sat looking up the Soapstone trail climb and seriously doubting I would ever see the top. Fortunately a tree had fallen 2/3 of the way up so I got to stop, saved me from an imminent MI I think! But the fun kept coming, past the water tower, the usual route skirting the community college and down House of Pain. George then decides he wants to replicate the "circuit of hell" that was the last nightride with Rodger and Todd (the one that left George in hospital), well that sounds reasonable - especially as I am feeling (as Jon Posner would so poetically put it) "like complete ass" and am fighting the urge to barf on a minute to minute basis. Much walking up Double Drop, but a sweet decent of Sudden Impact (minus the last bit, which I still wuss out of every F'in time).

Across swingbridge and up fire road to Ridge and Cascade. Despite feeling crap there are no issues other than my Night Hawk starting to burn out. I switch it off on the non-technical sections to save illumination for where I need it most. By the top of cascade though it is shot and I am relying totally on my $24 light from Target! Hell what's the worst that can happen? The light is actually damn bright, but the problem is it is too focused - the illumination is restricted to a fairly tight circle with no peripheral vision allowed. Bit like riding in a narrow tunnel. The downside of this is demonstrated to me very vividly on the smmoth decent just after the Norris Road crossing. Completely non-technical smooth trail leading to a slightly raised bridge. Well I scream down the trail and suddenly I am lost! Off trail and don't know where I am, I steer left to get back on the trail and hit the side of the bridge. Consequence? Monocog and me part company and I reconnect with the trail helmet first. Fortunately the wooden bridge has a vaguely slippery sheen and I slide gracefully along it (on my head and knees) for about 5 feet before I slide off the other side and end up sitting in long grass. Fortuunately I made enough time on George on the previous hill that I can pick myself up. remount and be riding as if nothing has happened when George catches me 2 minutes later.

Too bloody cold to spend much time with the post ride libation and chat - even though George has brought chairs as a new element of sophistication. Next up is grill and sound system and the post ride will be more like a tail gate party - COOL!!

Weekend and MLW is away in Virginnia on a MTB weekend! So it is ride central at "Chez Bollux". Loose the daughters #2 and #3 to a playdate on Sat and head off for a spel of fixed wheel fun. A loevly ride thru the fall countryside. Riot of color and all that. 30 miles at about 16 mph average. Slight sore and tired legs, but tomoorow is the big ride with the Sunday Morning Boys - Meeting at PnR for a bit of a throw down.

Life is Cool

Bollux

Bad Karma

It's been an odd couple of weeks since I last sat my lazy arse down to update this blog!

We've had a couple of real bad tempered rides and a couple of stormers. I put the bad tempered rides down to the changing season, it getting colder, bad weather interrupting riding time etc. For two weeks the whole riding population (yours truly included) seemed just to have a bad attitude.

First up MLW got all bent out of shape cos I lead a ride that was a bit on the long side - the first time the Sunday group has attempted both HC and BC sides of Patapsco in a single ride. maybe it was a little too much. First I got the ominous silence from MLW, then the hanging at the back of the group, but I knew I was in the Dog House when I waited for MLW to catch us up at the swing bridge (leading back to Landing) and as she passed she hissed "don't even speak to me!" Fortunately by the time we reached the cars she had cooled down and in the meantime I had dissipated my anger on four riders who decided to disregard convention and not give me the right of way despite me being the rider heading uphill just after the rock garden on Cascade. Having cleaned the rock garden for the fist time in ages and looking to go "no dabs" thru the whole section i was less than overjoyed when four mtbers heading down the hill (and having seen me approach) just hogged the center of the trail and forced me off the trail!!! The first guy just carried on but the second guy actually ran into me so we had a brief conversation. I suggested he give way to riders heading up the trail and he was chastened enough for me to feel bad at raising my voice.

But then what goes around comes around and the following week on exactly the same stretch of trail a couple of the guys in our group fell foul of trail etiquette and felt the wrath of another disgruntled mtber. I this scenario our group was indeed heading up hill but had dismounted so should really have gotten out of the way of the rider trying to clear the section. Our first rider did the decent thing and got out of the way as much as possible and received a grunt by way of thanks from the other rider. Our rider two however, being a bit more oblivious did not move from the center of the trail and took the mounted rider down - few harsh words deserved and received.

Since these two incidents though it has all been sweetness and light! I have even decided that the trail builders are not the devil's spawn I had previously presumed. In fact I realize that i have absolutely no bloody right to complain about the trails unless I get my arse out there and do some trail maintenance. However they have just put in a new piece of trail HC side which is absolutely bloody fantastic! Short but the best fun ever - ridden it twice now (first on a night ride) then in the light - LOVE IT! Big obstacles and wicked stream crossing.

The night ride with George was of note only because the aforementioned trail builders have rearranged the Hilton portion so that we got horribly lost (for the second night ride in a row) - no one got hurt this time.

Looking to get out with some night riding newbies in the next week or so - should be worth writing about.

DogBollux

Exactly What It Says On The Tin!!!!

Oh Yeah!!!!!



A 'kin classic!



I knew it would be, a good old fashioned throw down, 2 and1/2 hours of canned insanity!



Night riding as it should be, exactly as advertised. All the cycling planets aligned, the cycling gods were in benign mood and all was well with the world. All present and correct were "Hard Ridin' Rodge", "Todd the Terminator" , George "he who knows no pain" and Yours Truly. The only no show was Doug - who had he turned up would have assumed the monica "Big Man" replacing (in that role) Spence who has abandoned us MTBers in favor of pastures greener (or waters bluer I guess) and taken up white water kayaking!

Well the ride started as usual with a quick skip up through Belmont and over to Cascade - then Rodger took over the reins and all hell broke loose! His first bright idea was a trundle up Soapstone then a ride along the Superhighway and down Hose of Pain. At this point the ride took on what was to be the pattern for the rest of the night - Rodger blasting off the front like the madman he is, Todd not giving a bloody inch and George and me suffering like dogz at the back trying to keep up! Oh what fun.

Having survived House of Pain Rodger (bless his cotton socks) wanted to head up (up mind!) Double Drop to allow us to ride down Sudden Impact! Holy Mary mother of God! Well on the steep uphill of Double Drop the group was well and truly blown apart! Rodger disappeared and closely following was Todd (sporting his shifty tonight - you fairweather SSer). By the top of the hill , when I finally caught Rodg and Todd, George was a fair bit back. We then missed the turn down Sudden Impact and ended up at the road, necessitating a retracing of steps. And here is where the night began to go horribly pear-shaped. George having got to the top of Double Drop and not finding us there had assumed we had buggered off and left him - as if! So in true George "he who knows no pain"-stylee hurtles down Sudden Impact at full speed to try and catch us. The result is that when we finally find our way back to the right trail and negotiate the steep down hill George is curled up in a ball on the road beside his bike! Clearly all is not well......

Half way down Sudden Impact (and I suspect achieving something close to terminal velocity) Georges left hand makes full contact with a protruding branch of a tree OUCH! Initial diagnosis (later confirmed by the kind souls at Howard County General) is a broken hand, bummer. Double bummer actually as George is scheduled to fly out to Utah to ride on Saturday!

As George "he who now knows pain"couldn't even put his glove back on we limped back to the cars - a trip elongated somewhat by the new trail layout on the HC side (which had us riding in circles for twenty minutes) and enjoyed a somewhat rapid beer before George headed off to HCGH for the night.

Good thing is his Doc is sympathetic and casts his wrist such that he can hold his handlebars and tells him that riding on the flat will be fine but uphill/downhill is going to hurt. That's O.K. then...... How much uphill or downhill can be involved in a MTB vacation in Moab?

Keep on Rockin' (in the Free World)

DogzBollux

I Just Wanna Ride My Freakin' Bike!!!!!!!!

"We want to be free!
We want to be free to do what we want to do!
We want to be free to ride.
And we want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man.
And we want to drink soda (or something like that).
And we want to have a good time!
And that's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna have a good time.
We're gonna have a party!"

as Peter Fonda once probably said

Aaaaahhhhhh! It's been a totally frustrating few weeks! Three bloody weekends in a row and I haven't been able to hit the trails! Two weeks up in Pa and this week the bloody babysitter cried off "because it's Homecoming" - "I don't bloody care!!! Get your arse round here so I can go and ride my bloody bike, before I transmogrify into a homicidal maniac and start eating old people and small children!!!!" I screamed down the phone, well actually I didn't, I actually said " Oh that's fine we'll hope to see you next weekend then" but I thought it!

And the midweek ride was a wash too cos no bugger was available and irresponsible as I try to be, I couldn't rationalize a solo night ride.

So it's been just running for me the past week, that and a fair amount of sulking! I talked a friend into a ride last night just around the bike trails in the neighborhoods but to say that wasn't a decent substitute for an adrenaline soaked rip around Patapsco is like saying alcohol-free lager isn't a decent substitute for real beer! And my sodding light battery is playing up too, only gave me about an hour last night before lapsing into a faint orange smudge on the trail ahead of me! BUGGER, BUGGER, BUGGER - and that's the polite version, for the uncencored version watch the first three minutes of "Four Weddings and a Funeral"

Well things can only look up - if the weather holds (and it bloody better do) the nightride looks to have a chance of being a classic - light permitting. It will give me a chance to test out the new elbow pads I've finally succombed to buying, scabby elbows are not the most professional look.

Still on the bright side England beat the bloody Frogs to make it into the Rugby World Cup Final. Way hay!

Cheers for now

Dogzbollux

Another one ride week!

This weekend saw us hitting Pa again! This time to visit daughter #1 at college for the Family Fall Festival - on campus to visit your daughter, that'll make ya feel old!! Anyways this meant it was to be another week without a Sunday MTB ride - bummer!



So a lot was invested, emotionally and physically in the mid week night ride. Park N Ride chosen for the launch point and a rather fine Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale chosen for the post-ride libation, looking good so far! More good news when we get there as George and I have company! Todd has returned from his Ohian exile and we have a "guest appearance" by "Hard Ridin' Rodger", gracing us with his presence for his semi-annual night ride. Rodger is all "blood and thunder" and wants to hit pretty much all the unridable trails, I'm already having second thoughts! When he realizes that Todd and me are on SS's he relents somewhat and with a slightly more relaxed agenda we hit the trials.



Well someone must have upset the cycling gods this week!!! It wasn't me honest! Cos the ride was a riot of misfortune and aggravation. First casualty of the cycling gods wrath was Rodger - he didn't even make it onto the trail proper before his light packed up! Ten minutes of fussing later a knackered battery was the diagnosis and so Rodger's semi-annual night ride came toa premature end after 50 yards! the remaining trio scooted down Soapstone then up the Soapstone climb (only the second time I've ever nailed that one - good job!). Then we did the usual route,half way round which Todd's saddle can loose, on the Superhighway rock garden casualty three was your's truly. Being a pathetically slow decender I was trying to "haul ass" to keep with George and Todd. Misjudged a tree, clipped my left handle bar and wit the bars whipped out from my hands I took a graceful dismount over the bars and directly into another tree. Having slid down the tree trunk into a groaning heap my first thought was "thank god I didn't hit that tree with my bad shoulder" second thought was "oh shit I did!" third thought (after some flexing of the shoulder was " so... guess tha's healed up then" - It's all good.

Got my wind back and headed off in search of my compadres (who thoughtfully were waitying for me). At the base of Patarini hill, we hang a left and for the second time in my life (and the first in Todd's) we take on Mission Impossible, as bad if not worse than I remember, I really don't see how this trail can be riden! So that's the challenge for this winter - to get to grips with Mission Impossible - might actually try it in the light!

Quick (ish) ride up House of Pain and were just about to head back when George broke his chain and Todd had a puncture! The consensus was sod this let's get a beer. Bikes were repaired and the quick route home down the power lines was taken - just as well cos before we made it home Todd's light packed up!

Back at the launch site - beers were cracked, instructions were given to lost (and bemused - by the sight of seminaked men in lycra at the Park and Ride at midnight) motorists and the usual bikecentric chat was engaged in. Then it was time to hit the road back to reality. Oh well until next week!

Cheers!

Dogzbollux

Hectic Times

It's been quite a week! As usual the week kicked off with a night ride, just George and me again (come on guys we could do with some company!). I've been suffereing from a bit of "trail-wander lust" recently, getting bored with trundling round the same old trails. Night riding adds variety and different trail direction/orders spices things up a bit but it was all getting a bit old! Good old George! Adds a new (but familiar) element that made the night ride the blast it should be - speed! He announced he wanted to do the "long route" (ie Belmont, Rockburn park, Ridge and Cascade) twice, once in each direction. Right on!



Hardly an epic ride (approx 7.5 miles each way) but as my faithful light (Nite Hawk Raptor - 10 watts of inexpensive illuminating beauty) only has a burn of just 2 hours (and I'm trying not to burn it completely flat cos its a lead acid battery and they don't like that) the ride was going to need to be at a good pace (for me).



Hit the trails clockwise first cos that's the hardest way, no time for chat tonight, heads down keepin' it movin'. When I slacked off George would push ahead and I'd chase, if George slacked, off I went. Felt bloody great - both of us took on many of the "extra point" obstacles that litter the trail edges. First lap just 55 min - not bad even for a daytime effort. At the entry point, no talking, just turn those bikes around and hit the trals in reverse.



Woo Hoo! Second lap felt a bit move of an effort - LOADS of deer out keeping things interesting. As we entered Cascade my light suddenly dimmed. In an effort to protect mt battery, I turned my bar light off and relied on my $10 EverReady helmet light. This emergency light is just sufficient to ride by on non-technical, well known trails (luckily exactly what Cascade is). The only issue was when George was right behind me - the light from his NiteRider (beautiful light) was so bright that my EverReady light couldn't even cut into the shadow cast by my body in George's light! So I was essentially blind as to what was directly in front of me. I turned on my bar light to give me just enough illuminiation to safety navigate the "loggy section" leading back to Belmont, then flew down the final smooth section in darkness!! Great ride, second lap took just 50 min, wild! Only downer is that this meant my Nite Hawk now has a burn time of less than two hours (as a result of the battery abuse I've given it of late). Maybe it's time for a new light.

Riding Sunday was a no-go (more of that later), so I worked it so I couuld fit in my first ever proper fixie road ride on Saturday. After dropping Child #3 off at a play date I took the opportunity to hit the pavement on my old Peugeot fixie. 25 Miles of heaven and hell, chose a pretty hilly route, Highland Road (MD 216) than Brighton Dam, onto 650 then 97. A straight "out and back" which tested my leg strength at times and my ability to spin crazy fast at others. Max speed 29 mph and average of 16.5 mph =- took it pretty conservatively. A slow flat in my rear tire over the last 3 miles made life exciting (as I had no pump with me - FOOL), meaning I had to stand as much as I could, but I made it back with no apparent damage to wheel or body. Must get out and ride the fixie more often!

Sunday was a "no-rider" as MLW and four of her friends were headed to Pa for an Adventure Race. The Wildlands Challenge Adventure Race was a 27 mile circumnavigation of Blue Marsh Lake in Pa. It involved padding canoes, MTBing, running (sometimes "bungeed" to an MTB) and various "challenges" (mainly crawling, dragging and carrying stuff). The girls did a great job, had a complete blast and canme in third ladies team (in 5 and 1/2 hours)! Awesome job! George and I went along to act as crew and enjoyed a relaxing day eating PB&J sandwiches, cookies and occasionally transfering bikes and other equipment between transition stations. The atmosphere was generally relaxed (everyone happily chatting away exchanging tips, experiences and stories) and everyone seemed to have a great time. Girls are psyched about the whole adventure race scene so I guess my "crewing" skills may become more developed over the next year or so - there was even talk of attempting a 24 h race!

STICKING IT TO THE MAN - OH YEAH!!!

The night ride this week was spiced up a little by a close encounter with a Park Ranger! George and I had headed out for our usual jaunt and had intended to take it easy on the Howard Side, partly due to some neck issues George is enjoying and my wrist being as sore as buggery after kayaking last weekend. Best laid plans of mice and men! Once the mojo got us we were no way going to take it easy! Scooted down the sketchy downhill from the apex of Cascade - over the swing bridge and up House of Pain - whence I took a short "lie down" captured in full technicolor by George on his new fangled camera obsura! Cheers George - like I need any help looking foolish!

Over the top and we are just heading for Double Drop when as we meet up with the roadway a van is on the road - no worries we often see traffic and it's no sweat. Only this time the van has an ensignia on the door and slows suddenly as we approach! Whoops....... We turn off our lights to see how this little sketch is going to play out and then a guy steps from the van (perhaps 25 feet from us) and starts shinnig a flash light inot the trees. "Time to go" shout George and like a couple of school kids caught on school grounds during the summer vacation we high tail it out of there. Looking to "shake the man" - who I'm sure had thought "oh screw this" about 15 seconds after we rode away and just went home - we rode sometimes with lights, sometimes without along Mission Impossible. This is the trail featured in the final minutes of 24 solo where Chris Eatough (spelt correctly note) and Jon Posner take 34 attempts to clear a long log! Yeah, well I walked it and only just made it then! The log is no where near as long as it looks in the movie - perhaps only 12-15 feet, but it is about 4 feet off the ground! And below it are just nasty looking rocks! Other bits along here are unphathomable in terms of riding. Once back across the swing bridge and safely on Cascade we lit up properly and finished the ride, giggling the whole way. Idiots!

I would have felt bad about my illicit noctural riding, but I'm still smarting over the loss of by favorite log at the hands of the overzealous trail guardians so screw them! Sticking it to the man ... YEAH!!

I was back again on Sunday am wit the usual crew, but this time (for teh first time) we launched from the Park N Ride, fun trails, down House of Pain, up Vineyards and down Soapstone - even had a bit of fun catching air half way up the Mile Smile waiting for stragglers to catch up.

Calories in, Calories out balance is swinging the wrong way - no riding to work and haven't got into the habit of training after work/at lunchtime yet. If this keeps up - 300 lbs by Christmas!

Cheers now

DogzBollux (bad attitude and big belly)

O.K. so now it's getting silly!!!

Fun kind of week this one - started well with the usual night ride, just George and me so we decided to mix things up a bit. Started at the Park N Ride and took a slightly different entrance into the park. A nice steep section had me "over the bars" in the first 5 minutes - always good to get the mind focused early in a ride. Then George decided to take us on a magical mystery tour. Perfect! We rode/pushed the bikes up Bull Run (George on his Nomad me on my faithful Redline 29er Monocog). Then navigated some trails George confessed he always gets lost in, nice technical downhill sections, logs you name it! Bunch of new trails - smashing.



Then we headed down Vineyard and hit the paved path as far as the bottom of "Double Drop" from where we did our usual route in reverse - amazing how riding a route you know well but from the other direction makes it a completely different ride.



Great ride - perfectly timed as my Nite Hawk light completely burnt out just as we were making our final climb back to the cars, two plus hours of fun.



On Thursday we had a "film-night" at the Bollux residence to show 24 solo to the Sunday ride crew. Fantstic film, a must for all MTBers, take a look at the preview http://www.24-solo.com/trailer/. Much fun had by all, food, beer and a few laughs at the insanity of the 24 hour riders - Gordo is a kin hero! Is it just me or does Mark Hendershot look scarily like Gollum from Lord of the Rings?



Saturday had me venturing to Harper's Ferry to partake in some white water kayaking with Sunday crew regular Sean (he of the Irish cycling jersey). As complete novices we were assigned "duckies" and spend three and a half hours being inept on the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. Fortunately as there's been no rain this year the conditions were nice and benign, "less white water, more shite water" was Seans assessment. So no getting wet except when we chose to swim a "rapid". Hard work mind as those white water duckies do not like going in a straight line so you end up fighting the bloody thing all day.



Sunday and the usual ride - good turn out with five of us there for a spin. Doug and I took the opportunity to scoot off the front to give us time to "perfect" riding the log at the bottom of the Belmont hill. Few goes each, few successes and a few falls (just as it should be). MLW is still coming on leaps and bounds in terms of technical ability - happily taking on some pretty sketchy downhills that have more experienced riders getting off to walk. She has even manged to get herself a riding pseudonym - apparently she is "Steady Eddy" amongst several of the riders - due to her ability to just keep going at a steady pace regardless of the terrain for hours. Nice ride - just shy of 10 miles.

It is this ride that is the topic of my ire! Now I'm a pretty easy going guy (honest) and I am happy to defer to the trail maintenance guys most of the time - without them yada yada........ But the buggers are getting far too bloody enthusiastic in their pursuit of the smooth trail. They've gone and removed the "much storied" Y-shaped log at the bottom of the Rockburn Park Trail downhill! Roger me sideways! That log has been there for over a sodding year - and yes to begin with it was a real bloody challenge, but like most things/people time had mellowed her and now she was just enough of a challenge to make you concentrate but never (well nearly never) enough to take you off. Perfect bloody log then - and now just another victim of the over zealous chain saw! Didn't just clear a route though but removed the whole deal! What gives! Leave us some obstacle guys.

On that slightly pissed off note I shall leave you - good riding, and may the perfect logs in your lives never be stolen from under your fat wheels.

Dogzbollux

Post-Race Down Time

Well it's been a pretty low key kind of week following the SM100. A time for discovering that (i) I can't spell Eatough! (I could go back and edit my race report, but stuff it, I'll let my stupidity stay a matter of record) and (ii) my time at SM100 really was VERY average. I was kind of happy with a time under 12 hours, but on Monday morning as I made a trip to Safeway for milk - wearing my SM100 T-shirt (Poseur!) a young lady calls across the carpark "hey, you did the SM100?" It's not very often I attact the attention of ladies so I stop to chat, I confirm yes I did it and talk about long rides we have each done - she did a 24 h rtace as a 5 lady team a few months ago etc. She asks me my time.... "Oh about 11 and a quarter" I say nonchalently (rounding my time down a few minutes). Oh she replies - hardly able to disguise her disapointment - "I suppose it is a long way and just finishing is an achievement". Cheeky mare!

O.K. so back to riding.

Midweek night ride as per usual, visiting both sides of Patapsco - the only event of note was George nearly killing himself blazing down "House of Pain" on his Nomad. He cuts a corner at the bottom through some long grass to discover the long grass is hiding a log! Oh Dear - smacks his ankle on the log, flys through the air "sans bike" and both end up about ten yards down the trail stranded on their backs like turtles! A few minutes to gather himself and George (who knows no pain!) is fine. Other than that nice ride a reasonable 11 miles

Sunday and the group is thinning - just MLW, Sean and me. We hit from Landing and do a slightly longer loop taking in a few extra nice climbs and a rooty decent (which MLW nails!). Nice easy paced ride which gave us the chance to try a few new logs - both Sean and I spending time getting to grips with riding along the log just over the water at the base of the Belmont rocky decent. Nice work!

Commuting "au velo" is out for the foreseeable future as I have to take my youngest to preschool - oh well have to take up some of the slack running and other boring stuff.

Cheers - keep it real

Jim

Shenandoah Mountain 100 2007 (race report)

Well midweek reality really hit hard! I entered the Shenandoah M100 last Saturday is a fit of enthusiasm (possibly lubricated by a couple of beers) and was pretty psyched and excited right until Wednesday.


Then I did my usual night ride with George (and Todd joined to make up a happy threesome - oo er). Ride went spectacularly! Todd lead on some trails I'd never ridden - pretty technical and I had a complete blast, 10 happy fast miles. Enjoying the usual post-race libation and conversation turned to the SM100, both George and Todd were adamant that Shenandoah on a SS was a REALLY BAD IDEA! These guys know MTBing so I was spooked!


Well I hooked up with another friend also doing SM100 to travel down together and by the time we got to the Stokesville campsite the butterflies in my stomach were not so much fluttering but trying out advanced formation aeronautics! Having registered (including dropping a light to be picked up at feedstation 5 if I arrived after the 4:20 pm cut off) and got all our stuff nice and early I had a few hours daylight to make sure the faithful old 29er Monocog was in tip top condition for Sunday's adventure. Swapped out front brake blocks, cleaned the rims with rubbing alcohol and switched out the pedals that have been giving me aggrivation for the past two weeks and my baby was in the best shape she has ever been, and I was as prepared and relaxed as possible.



Early to bed (campsite was silient by 10:30pm - good job race director) and then early to rise, roused by gongs and fireworks at 5 am (bet the locals loved that). Stumbled round for a bit in the dark, it was cold but not too cold so just shorts and a summer jersey were spot on. A quick breakfast of begel and banana and soon it was 6:20 and time to head for the start to see if we could catch a glimpse of Landis and Eutough - No luck.



In the mirk at 6:30am the gun went off and the expected mad sprint got underway. The first few miles are on decending or flat asphalt, no place for a SSer when the packs adrenalin is peaking to bursting point. I was spat out the back like a bullet! Within about 5 minutes I was pretty much all by myself tootling along at about 15 mph, with the occasional late starter blasting past at about 25 mph! Bit disheartening. First tight lefthand turn (about 1.5 miles in) and some poor bugger already has his bike upside down by the roadside fixing a flat - it will be a long day for a lot of people.

The long (and I mean long) and short of the Shenandoah M100 is that it is a story of five climbs/decents that vary in length and intensity but follow a similar pattern. Paved flat, followed by paved incline which turns to steeper fire road, steeper forest double track then steep technical single track. Then sketchy steep rocky, rooty and loose decent turning into fast, fun sweeping forest single track. Few logs and water crossings thrown in for good measure to catch out anyone not paying attention.

In my estimation pretty much all of the course is ridable - if you were just riding a section of the course as a normal ride - but in the context of a 100 mile epic ride most of the steep technical inclines were "walk ups" for me. The decents were likewise perfectly ridable but their sheer length made them a challenge (especially on a rigid fork!) by the end of the decents my forearms and shoulders were just about cramping. Every section of the course hurt different bits of my body - lungs and quads on the climbs, calves on the hike-a-bike sections and shoulders forearms on the decents. Trick seems to be to try and stay relaxed and rest the bits that were not being tortured at that specific point.

The big climbs (34-39 miles and 65-80 miles) took their toll physically and mentally but the hardest climb for me was the short final climb at 92-94 miles. I thought it was all over! I was past the final aid station and cruising on the asphalt when - bugger me, the course took a right turn back onto steep fireroad! Absolute misery! As I crawled up this section I edged up alongside another rider. Trying to be cheerful I managed to pant out " Hi! How's it going, nearly there now!" The other rider turned his head to me and looked like a man only just holding on to his sanity! I wasn't sure if he was more likely to dive across and try to rip my eyeballs out or to crawl to the side of the trail, curl up into a ball and start whimpering about the "big nasty creatures" that were coming to get him. Either way I decided that I would shut the hell up and just ride - the guy was enjoying his own private, personal hell without my whittering.

After the final climb I was still sceptical about how far I had to go - little faith in the odometer which had played up a bit - and was being conservative expecting about another 4 miles. By now I had been on the road for just over 11 hours and was hoping to finish under 11:30 if I could hold it together. After the final technical decent which I was too tired to take slowly so I just let the bike go I hit a lovely sweeping double track section which was BIG FUN and allowed me to maintain a nice pace. Then suddenly the course swept into a campground (where people suddenly appeared clapping and shouting), over a couple of bumps and then opened out into a field! I could see orange tape and the Observatory - I WAS AT THE FINISH! Tears welled in my eyes as I made the final hairpin and glided to a halt at the finish line, 11 hours 17 min - slow but still far faster than I had feared.

At the finish I grabbed my "finishers" pint glass and drop my bike next to an older couple I say to them (nodding at my bike) "I'm not sure if I want to kiss it or burn it". The lady replies "well its seems to have done well for you today", I agree that is certainly the truth and head to find a beer keg - thus ended my conversation with Mr and Mrs Landis, parents of the aforementioned Floyd (who was lucky enough to sneak an early break from me and just pipped me at the line by 4 hours).

Afterwards there was great food, great beer (thanks to Old Dominion Brewery) and chance to mingle with the likes of Chris Eutough and Floyd Landis who were stars in that they didn't act like starts at all but just hung around with the rest of us mere mortals.

Big thanks to all the volunteers who were instrumental in making this a fantastic day, I'll remember it for a long time (even after the pain has gone away) and to quote "good ol' Arnie" I'LL BE BACK

Are we bored yet?

Following from my last post - the stats from my Thursday "return commute" on the fixie were:

Distance: 9.6 miles
Average speed: 18.6 mph
Max speed: 29.9 mph

Hum...... Might stop posting these kind of stats - bit boring really isn't it!

Anyway the weekend was blessed with the best MTB ride in ages. Took an early start Saturday and hit Patapsco from Landing Road at 7 am to get an hour in before the ladies joined us. Took it pretty aggressively - nice climbs, crossed the swing bridge and introduced Sean to "the House of Pain". Then rode to Patarini Hill and down the Buzard Rock trail (including the bit at the end that I normally bottle and walk!). As we were running late we ended having to carry our bikes from the road by the swinging bridge up to the waterfall on Cascade then back to meet the ladies. Then we took in the "long loop" HC side to finish with a respectable 14 miles. Hotter'n'Hell though! we all sweated buckets - all good fun. Only downer is the removal of the nice big log at the Landing end of Cascade - not wanting to second guess the trail builders but that log was eminently ridable and not a real obstacle to walkers so I'm a bit nonplussed as to why the old chainsaw had to come out on that one! There are places on the trails now where the "grooming" seems to be getting a bit too aggressive for my liking.

Next weekend it's going to be me, my trusty 29er Monocog versus the Shenadoah Mountain 100! Yes, I finally took the plunge and sent off my entry fee - MLW was all in favor though she doesn't know how much it cost! So planning is afoot for next weekends fun, leaving Saturday early afternoon - should be epic.

Hopefully have a couple of blow outs this week to keep things turning over (might even take in a night ride assuming I can conjure up some company). All this and my eldest daughter left for college this week! To quote the T-shirt "Life is good" at the moment, let's see how long that lasts.

On a completely unrelated note - MIA at the moment appears to be "singlespeed outlaw". I hit his blog every week for my MTB fix (one of the motivating factors getting me out there into SS-land). But where is he now? Tried logging on a few times in the last week and he just isn't there! Hopefully he will return soon to fill the ether with tails of Frederickian SS and fixie fun. If not RIP!

Mindless Statistics

I wa surfing bike related sites last night and found a fixed-wheel dedicated blog where the guy logs pretty much every ride in terms of distance, max speed and average speed - kin genius!

If I can be arsed I'll find the blog again and set up a link!

Anyway thought "I can do that" so here goes - fixie ride this morning (the commute taking in the "killer hill" I mentioned in posts past)

Distance 10.7 miles (yes pathetically short)
Max Speed 29.5 mph (aided by the 52x17 gear I am running)
Average Speed 18.0 mph

Woo-Ho

Cheers

Dogzbollux

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, it's been too long

O.K. so I'm a lazy slacker!

Been on the bike a few times in the past couple of weeks but not got round to writing anything down - now those rides are lost to poor memory and too much beer - BOLLUX!

Th past few weeks have been blighted though - appears the cycling gods are angry! MLW went out on a ride two weeks back and only one of the seven riders made it back unscathed! Bummer. Later that night I got stopped by the cops heading out for my weekly night ride, and even after fluttering my eyelashes at the nice lady policewoman still ended up with a ticket!

But the miles have been going in (though not consistently enough) on both the fixie and the SS 29er, been hitting some new or long forgotten trails at Patapsco and taking on some serious elevation and decending - even cleared the first pitch of Patarini hill and the entireity of the double drop decent (on the same ride) whoa! Met walkers going up and coming down and it was cool to see the "you're riding a bike on these paths!" look in their eyes.

Sunday ride was another bust! With MLW and a few friends, just getting warmed up when one guy actually shears his saddle mount. Just as we were getting ready for some sweet single track we had to be sensible and head back to the trail head or risk serious injury.

Enough of my bloody whinging though - tomorrows night riding time and hopefully the weather gods and cycling gods will have been content with the chaos they have rained down on us for the past 14 days and will let us blow off some steam and release some endorphins. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers

Dogzbollux

The riding week started a usual with the Night Ride. Despite other "maybe's" it was just George and me again at the Park and Ride at 9:45 pm. Both on rigid 29er SS - my faithfull Monocog and George's Independent Fabrication.

At the Park and Ride we bump into two guys also with their bikes - we saunter over to "shoot the breeze" and ask if they are just heading out - thought we could join up (safety in numbers and all that). Tuns out they have just finished - they've been out since 6:30 and got lost, the ride was not intended to involve any nighttime action! When we explain we are just heading out they look at us as though we are insane - maybe they are right.

The route is a bit of a departure from the norm as we take in both BC and HC sides of the Park. Start the usual was up Soapstone but then head down Vineyard and take the road to the Other side. Head up Morningchoice fire road and then take Ridge to the Waterfall on Cascade. The whole way I am convinced there is someone chasing us down as I can see lights shining through the trees as I look back. Turns out it is the full moon shining through the trees! Just before the rockgarden on Cascade (at the waterfall) we discuss what we want to do and Georgw wants to have another go at "House of Pain". W decide the best way doen is the trail just prior to the major rock garden. I have run up and down this trail and found that to be challenging - so on my bike! At night! We both make it though even George (he of no fear) announces that it was a bit "butt clenching" at times. Over the Swingbridge and up House of Pain - fair bit of pushing again, I'm not sure that it is even in my ability level in the light with gears much less in the dark on a SS. Still plenty of fun. Then it's back to the usual, Old Santee Trail and Sawmill Branch (told you I'd look at the map) Then onto Buzzard Rock, where we take the straight route down that George calls "Double Drop" (and I call " get off and walk").

Back up Vineyard and down Soapstone then back to Park and Ride along Soapstone. We take a right turn at some pont o hit a more challenging uphill stretch, good fun - though with an impecable sense of timing my light burns out just as we reach it so i ride the last 10 min with just the light of my $10 Ever Ready LED headlight - just enough to aviod a major wreck.

Nice Ride - just over 12 miles, new trails, mixed it up a bit.

Couple of commutes in the week on the Fixie (here's a picture - isn't she a beauty?). I thought I

was pushing a reasonably major gear (52 x17) but I'm rereading Graeme Obree's Autobiography " the Flying Scotsman" again (a must read for anyone interested in biking - the man is a star) and he casually mentions that he road the British National Time Trial Championships (coming a close second to a certain Mr Chris Boardman) on a Fixie running a 52x12 gear!

Sunday and the group ride is going from strength to strength! Another good turn out at Landing Road for the 8 am start (O.K. 8:15 to 8:30 start depending on when we finally arive - sorry guys). A bit more competitive this week and we mix the route up a bit, Morning Choice to the derelict houses then left to meet the Ridge. Clockwise on Ridge to Rockburn Branch and back through Belmont. We were feeling so good at this point we added a short loop on Cascade, turning left after the first water and up the steep rocky hill. Then back down a nice gravely, rooty decent back to Cascade then back to the cars. Fabulous.

The only other thing to note was whilst we were waiting to set off on the ride I was asked by a lady who had just arrived if I could get her bike out of her car for her - No worries! But as I retrieve the bike I realize why she can't do it herself, she's heavily pregnant! "Wow - how long do you have left" I enquire incredulously "About three weeks" is the answer!! All I can do is ask her to be careful and wish her well. I hope she had a good ride and that everything is cool.

Cheers for now, lets enjoy the summer while we can winter and cold rides will be here soon enough.

Dogzbollux

Night Riding and Back on the Fixie

Well, it's been quite a week really.

Mid week saw me meeting up with George for our first night ride in a while - headed out from the Park and Ride into Patapsco at around 9:45 pm. As always, I had light issues - my Night Sun headlight has been playing up for a while but tonight it just plain died - looks like a dodgy battery connection (may explain the recent piss poor performance).

Nevermind, headed off along usual route, Mile Smile, up the hill from the small car park then along the top of the ridge and down what I have been calling Buzzard Rock but George calls the "Chute". Who knows? I will look up these trails names and be more definitive in future. Once on the roadway George wants to head up a "new trail" he has found right opposite the swing bridge. Well hey, anything new sounds like a sparkling idea! Up we head on a trail George quaintly calls "House of Pain". Yep pretty steep in places (especially at the bottom) which results in some pushing of bikes but we make it to the top. Then we have a choice, eiher head back to the cars or catch a second lap. George's family are away for the week and I knew MLW would be well asleep when I got in either way - so second lap it was. Headed back west towards Patarini Hill (for the second time) but instead of taking the usual trial (Buzzard Rock/the Chute) we head straight on down a trail George calls the "Double Drop". Whow! George makes it look easy but as the trail gets seriously steep and rutted out I decide "Bugger that for a game of soldiers" and get off and trek down (yeah I'm a wuss).

Back at the road we take a left up Vineyard then head down Soapstone - as we hit Soapstone I realize that my rapidly decreasing vision is not related to the heavy spec fogging I've been experiencing all night but the fact that we have been riding for over two hours and my trusty Nite Hawk bar lamp is burnt out! Time flies when you are having fun! Fun decending Soapstone with no lights but no harm/no foul. Then up the Mile Smile with George kindly riding behind me so I cabn scrounge the light from his NiteRider. Kin spectacular ride (approx. 12.5 miles at a steady if not earth shattering 7.3 mph) - best in ages, great new trails, some good wildlife sightings - snake, couple of large toads and the inevitable deer.

Couple of social beers in the Park and Ride and before I know it the time is 12:45am and bed beckons!

Friday I take life by the horns (the bull horns on my Fixie that is) and commute on the Fixie for the fist time since I screwed my shoulder - what do you know? After a tentative start it is all BIG FUN! No isues either way and I love this bike all over again.

Saturday morning and it's time to do the weeks real work! 15 mile hilly run with Sean. Departure time is 5:15 am but Sean oversleeps so we hit the road sometime after 5:30. Bloody hell it's hot and humid! In less than 2 hours running I drained my 70 oz Camelbak. We haul ass a bit more than the last time we did this course (part of the massochist marathon) and due to time constraints I leave Sean at about 9 miles to get home. Averaged a little under 8 min/mile pace so not spectaular but still had sore legs on Sunday.

This morning and another commute on the Fixie - oh yes! Fixed and loving it.

Life is good!

Cheers

Dogzbollux

California and a priceless moment

As mentioned in a previous post my Sunday ride the other week was curtailed prematurely as I had to head off to CA on a business trip. Well the whole trip was rendered completely worthwhile by a single incident on Monday morning.



I flew out on Sunday accompanied by three work colleagues. Now, as I have mentioned in passing I am a scientist and as a result my colleagues are also scientists, although I remain a luddite, to the extent that I eschew both suspension and gears in my choice of MTB (Go my Monocog 29er!!!), most of my colleagues are more typical science types, i.e. techno-geeks.



One young guy on the trip ( a evangelical "Mac-guy" and general Apple-freak) has just got his hands on an iPhone. As you can imagine he is in seventh heaven and spent the whole flight (all five hours) watching video downloads on his iPhone. Even I think it is pretty slick. The guy is clearly in love!



Well the next morning the gods of coincidence start playing chess - to momentous and spectacular effect. First up we have agreed to meet at 7 am in the breakfast roomof our hotel. When I arrive I find that my young iPhone colleague is not in the breakfast room yet. However another of my colleagues is and not only that but has met up with a young lady who works for our company and just happens to be in San Francisco, in the same hotel, on the same day as us but for a completely different meeting! What are the odds! Obviously we sit together for breakfast and soon are joined by the our other colleagues (including young iPhone).



As breakfast progresses Mr iPhone can't help himself but mention that he is the proud owner of the most up to date and indispensible peice of techno-candy available. As luck would have it the young female work colleague is actually impressed by this (even female scientists are geeks) and so Mr iPhone produces his prized electronic gizmo to demo it's "indispensible features" to Miss techno-geek. He leans across to show off the internet browser and as he activates the screen Miss Techno-geek flinches back as though someone has just shoved a spider in her face! Mr iPhone likewise goes into rictus and VERY rapidly withdraws the iPhone, fidgets with it urgently and flushes bright red.

"What's the matter?" our boss enquires to which the young lady blurts out "it was porn!" Oh yes Mr iPhone had inadvertantly left open the last web page he had been viewing! Unfortunately that happened to be a porn-site, very classy I'm sure you agree and just the sort of thing you want to share with your work colleagues over breakfast. His "explanation" was that one of his friends had told him it wasn't possible to access porn on the iPhone as t was blocked and so he was doing some "research". Of course you were mate!

I had heard mention of people figuratively "jerking off" over the lastest and greatest "new toys" but I fear my colleague was perhaps being a little too literal in this instance!

Flight to Ca $500, breakfast in hotel $14 - watching a workmate make a complete twat of himself with a porn-ridden iPhone.... bloody priceless! Almost worth the curtailed MTB ride.

Cheers (remember to always delete your history and temporary files)

Dogzbollux

The Renaissance Continues

Well last post I concluded that maybe the tide was turning (in terms of my riding at least), and so it continues. I spent the majority of last week camping at the Assateague National Park in Md’s Eastern Shore. Original plan was for a “whole family” trip but this was nixed by daughter #3 (the three year old) taking a huge dislike to the tent during a trial run and the tentative trip coinciding with the same daughters “Princess Dance” summer camp. So it was just me, daughter #2 (the nine year old)and her friend that made the 3 hour trip to the Eastern Shore. Company was provided by half of another family (Jen and her two boys) Jen’s husband was supposed to be there but reneged on the commitment to compete in the National MTB Championship in Vt (fair excuse I suppose). With the youngest absent and all the kids being old enough to attend the gratis kids club at the campground the mornings were left free for a road ride. Whoa the Eastern Shore is flat! How flat? I hear you ask. Damn flat, pancake flat – no flatter than that! The result is road riding that is an intoxicating mix of constant high(ish) speed and essentially continual effort. There is no real opportunity to coast as there are no down hill stretches and the continual flat nature of the terrain enables you to reach speeds not easily achieved (by me atleast) without gravity’s assistance. As a result we hustled for ≈ 30 miles on both days available riding. Jen regaled me on both days with accounts of her exploits as a leading roadie “back in the day” including a podium finish in the National Road Race Championships after she had managed to bring down the majority of the leading pack in the final sprint with some borderline shenanagins but miraculously remained upright herself. On the first day I even attempted to initiate a mid-ride sprint at the turn around point. Feeling f,ing great as the extra effort kicked up my speed I felt a little idiotic when I glanced back and realized Jen wanted none of it and had just turned around already and was just waiting for me to catch her up once I had had enough of my foolishness. Looking back I am somewhat relieved Jen took this view of my over exuberance as she is still a pretty mean sprinter and would have undoubtedly kicked my arse and dented my ego if she had taken the bait of an impromptu intermediate sprint. The second day ride followed the same route but was slightly extended coming in at around 32 miles at an average of a respectable (if not outrageous) 19 mph. I must admit I was surprised and disappointed by the average speed as I had been pretty much convinced that we had never let the speed drop below 20 mph for the whole ride, guess those traffic junctions really screw your average speed. The afternoon was spent mainly relaxing in the “Lazy River” at Frontierland a trip to which was the payoff for daughter #2 agreeing to tolerate a second morning at the kid’s club

The longer and more concentrated efforts than usual on the road bike left my MTB accustomed legs feeling somewhat worse for wear after just two days and a third would have been great, but daughter #2 was not in favor of kids camp three days running so the last day at the beach was a “cool down” day on the Boardwalk in Ocean City. To be honest this was not totally unappreciated by “yours truly” after a nightmarish final night which allowed little sleep due to a sudden short but very vicious storm that blew up on the final evening and lifted my tent (along with contents) about four feet off the ground and probably thirty feet towards the ocean before I managed to pounce on it and hold it down – with the help of two over kind souls who came to my aid – until the storm abated. By the time the wind had dropped most of my stuff was wet and I couldn’t be arsed to put the tent back up. I chose to sleep in the car instead, until my daughter and friend woke me around 2 am scared because the wind had risen again and they were afraid that their tent would blow away with them in it. They then slept in the car and I took the duty of sleeping in their tent (after anchoring it to the best of my ability with some large chunks of concrete I scavenged) to ensure it (and I) didn’t blow away into the Atlantic.

The benefits from the Assateague adventure (well the riding bit anyway) were felt on Sunday however during the now regular social ride – wow I felt great! My love affair with my Monocog 29er is going from strength to strength, I just love the way those big ass wheels allow me to ride! Sunday saw the addition of another MTB-rider reborn to the group. Sean another friend was coaxed out of “MTB retirement” and proved to be a very able rider indeed – God the guy looks the part, lean and mean in his “Irish” MTB jersey and he rides with a purpose! In fairness Sean would have been out with us weeks ago if he hadn’t decided to show off “how well Daddy can ride his bike” on his sons new BMX ramp – ramp designed for small wheels and 26 inch rims were a bad combination and so a broken hand was the result.

The Sunday ride took the now regular route from Landing Road, through Lewis and Clarke (where the revelation was that all the jumps and berms have been completely irradicated! Whilst we never really took any of the jumps on it was always kind of neat to have them there just in case the confidence/stupidity was ever found to give them a go. Then on to the “loggy section” that leads to the Belmont loop and the Rockburn Trail. After the third water crossing we again turned left up the insanely steep hill (Sean damn near cleaning it) then back onto the Rockburn Park Trail. A few twiddly bits added probably a mile to make the total distance to perhaps a shade over 10 miles. Legs felt great and MLW complained a couple of times that maybe I could slow down a bit – Yeah right that’s going to happen when the “Mojo” is in full flow, though to be fair to MLW her riding is just going from strength to strength and she is throwing that bike around a fair bit – she can a cropper a bit towards the end of the ride when a sudden last minute hesitation and approaching a log at a sligt angle resulted in a rapid testing of gravity a bruised side and a scrapped elbow. Good on her she never even hesitated and just got back on and attacked the next obstacle – that’s my girl! There was an option of extending the ride along Cascade but the need to catch a plane to Ca in the afternoon vetoed that option – bummer.

Still, life is good, my love for road riding is returning and the MTBing just gets better and better. Hopefully a few longer rides will be on the cards in the next couple of weeks cos the legs are begging for it right now.

Cheers

Dogzbollux

Back on track

It's been too long since I actually put a consistent week together, but maybe the corner has been turned. Though not spectacular by anyone's reckoning last week was the best I have had in a while. As well as the somewhat abortive night ride with Doug (see last post) I also managed the commute to work on the road bike twice - hitting the "killer hill" both times (and it kicking my arse on both occasions). This weekend I decided it was time to get serious - so there was no MTB fun! Instead I hit the asphalt with Sean, a running buddy who is aiming for Boston qualification.

The plan was for a 17 mile loop (which given that I have't run for a couple of months - with the exception of the "Black fly in my eye" - was going to be somthing of a challenge). Things got more interesting on Saturday when, talking to another local runner, an "interesting 17 mile" route was suggested. This took in several sections of the Howard County Striders "massochists marathon" and so could reasonably be expected to be undulating at best. Never one to shurk a challenge the decision was made. So Sunday morning saw me crawling out of the tent I spent Saturday night in as a "test run" for this weeks camping trip with daughter #2 at 4:50 am! By 5:15 am Sean and I were on the road - complete with my EverReady headlight and a flashing rear light mounted on my Camelbak. Traffic was light (as you would expect at that time on a Sunday Morning) as we headed down Homespun to the Folly Quarter circle. Then it was right along Folly Quarter then first left. No idea what this road is but I've never run or cycled it so the element of adventure made it even more fun. This is pretty hilly and dumps us out on Tridelphia just at the bottom of the big hill, so turn left up the big hill and back to Folly Quarter then head back to Columbia. The journey back along Folly Quarter/Homespun was enlivened by the number of female cyclists out training for the upcoming "Irongirl" triathlon. Just Sean, me and dozens of lycra clad females!

Despite the hills and the distance the run was great fun and I felt no major tiredness or soreness - the pace was slow but about what I would want to hit for the JFK 50. Good fun and good run, 16-17 miles (the initial distance was perhaps a bit optimistic) in 2 hr 30 min (somewhere around 9:30/mile pace). This run has really but the bit between my teeth in terms of desire to run the JFK 50 - we'll see.

Cheers (the biking's fun... but running gets it done)

Dogzbollux

BIKES AND BEER!

Yes the title is designed to attract people! Well in a recent post I noted that I was feeling fat and old - this was brought about by a lack of quality riding and my nagging injuries, my shoulder and now a back issue caused when I picked up a waste basket full of water in our basement that had been put there by "yours Truly" to catch the drips from our recent plumbing fiasco - talk about adding insult to injury - or in this case injury to insult!

Either bloody way I've been miserable and not riding enough. Well this last week or two things have not changed dramatically the "beer to biking ratio" is still too low by far. The Sunday ride again was a social affair rather than a "balls to the wall" effort, still it was a good ride with a group of six (including MLW) which included 4 neophytes. The highlight of the Sunday Patapsco ride was that Emil finally got out on his new bike for the inaugural ride! The guy is a kin hero! Having never really ridden seriously before he threw his bike at pretty much everything that he came across - he even left the main trail to take on the "optional" bigger logs at the trail side. This is with platform pedals too! I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. The ride itself ( a mere 8.5 miles) took in Belmont and the Rockburn Branch Trail from Landing Road - fun, even though Emil's enthusiasm eventually caught up with him when he managed to snap his rear deraileur hanger - first ride! Like I said "What a guy!".

Tuesday night Doug and I managed an illicit night ride from the Park and Ride which would have been bloody great if we hadn't conspired to get separated about two miles into the ride! So he did his ride and I did mine! Up the "mile smile hill" lose Doug by the water tower, circle back to look for him?! No sign. On to Vineyard, still no sign so back to Soapstone and down to the road - hoping to catch hinm coming the other way, nope. Back up Vineyard, down Soapstone, back to Park and Ride, no sign. Back to bottom of Soapstone... Bugger this, back to Park and ride, grab a beer and wait for Doug. Final stats about 9.5 miles, nice and hilly if a bit repetitive (but sh#t it's good to ride solid for over an hour without stopping) best ride in a while. Doug finally shows - he isn't dead in a ditch as I had feared and had actually done the ride I had planned from the beginning - oh well next time. Had a social beer and home - I love night riding.

The only other thing to liven my riding mood is a nice hill I've found on the way to work! Short, not especially steep and ........ it kicks my arse every single time! No idea what the issue is, a third of a mile of absolute sheer bloody agony that always ends with me straining to keep my pace above 10 mph and seeing stars. God I love this hill, it makes going to work worthwhile.

Ah enough of my wittering for now, I'm just cluttering up the ether because I have nothing of note worth saying. Still at least if I keep riding, drinking and blogging (hopefully in that order) I am still alive!

Cheers (mine's a pint!)

Dogzbollux

Slippery When Wet

You know the saying "there are only two kinds of cyclists. i) Those that have fallen off their bikes and ii) those that are going to fall off their bikes. " Well I have been a happy member of the latter group for as long as I can remember, but MLW is now a newly inducted member of this hallowed society.

Yesterday out cycling with our 9 year old she discovered that the "Slippery When Wet" signs on all the wooden trail bridges around our house are in fact telling the truth. Her mistake is easy to make (I've made it several times), she was scooting down a hill and round a corner and forgot there was a bridge just around the corner. Result? I think it surprised her just how quickly a bike can disappear from under you in those conditions. Fortunately the consequences were not too dramatic though she is sporting a rather large bruise and graze on her left thigh which prompted our 3 year old to announce that "Mommy's torn herself".

Now she has joined the group of cyclists that have fallen off I am hoping that she will be a bit more understanding next time I do it and with the "first time" over with she will be less concerned about falling off in future.

"Do you remember the first time?
I can't remember a worse time.
But you know that we've changed so much since then,
Oh yeah, We've grown."

Pulp "Do you remember the first time"

Focus and New Hampshire

It’s been a strange old time since I busted up my shoulder. I’ve become lazy! My rides are generally 10 miles or less and are far more social than significant training exercises. In short I’m beginning to feel old and fat! This realization has prompted me to start thinking about scheduling some races for the later part of the year to kickstart some “proper” riding.

In the meantime we (MLW and me) had a trip planned to the White Mountains in NH to do some adventure type activities (including a 15 k trail race on Saturday). Without the kids!! So on Thursday 28 July we set off to NH and set up our base at a smallish hotel in Pinkham Notch in the shadow of Mount Washington. The hotel was selected as it had easy access to Great Glen Trails activity center from where most of our activity would be based. First up of course was hitting thje trails on rental MTB. Well the brochure promised MTBing from beginner to “mud in your teeth extremity”. As so often is the case in life reality doesn’t quite live up to advertised hype. The Activity center is O.K. though the selection of bikes for rental was very limited – I was intending to ask if they had any single speeds available, but a quick scan round the shop as we entered lowered my expectations. “Do you have any bikes with spd pedals?” was my revised question. “No!” was the unrevised answer. Still the staff were friendly – and the guy behind the counter took me through the trail map. I asked about single track and he admitted most was carriageway. Bummer! He did say there were short sections of nice single track at the far end of the trails. Navigation was going to be easy as the trails were clearly marked and the junctions numbered – the lower the number the closer to the center – Easy peasey!

The bikes on offer were consisted of exactly one model – a Cannondale F4 – so we both chose that. MLW quickly discovered how nice her bike at home was. While in the shop we also splurged on some new bike gear and even got MLW a hydration pack – wasn’t planned but the old camelback sprung a leak at the last minute leaving little choice.

Heading out on the trails we hit the run course for tomorrow – all big wide carriageway and pretty boring a few grinding hills were the highlight but then we found ourselves at a junction – 40! Bugger me we were nearly the far end of the trails already and only a stones throw from the “Whiplash loop” promised by the guy in the shop to be "sweet singletrack". Using my limited navigational skills and the trail map provided soon got us to the start of the trail. Very short but quite technical, I struggled with the plethora of gears I had at my disposal – exactly as I remember always finding myself in the wrong one – and the piddly 26 inch wheels. Still good if brief fun and then we were back on the carriageways. In much this fashion we passed nearly two hours. The scenery was certainly more spectacular than we are used to at Patapsco but the riding was not so good. The result was one of the most tedious rides MLW and I have taken yet perversely the best documented photographically as we took it in turns to ride and re-ride the short technical sections to take photographs of each other.

The rest of the day was taken with a “gondola” ride up Wildcat mountain to take in some pretty spectacular views (90 mile visibility isn’t something you get every day) and then a restful afternoon at the hotel nursing legs that were surprisingly fried by the carriageway riding.

Saturday morning and it was time for the second running of the “Black Fly in My Eye” 15 k trail race ( www.greatglentrails.com/Summer-Page-210.html).MLW decided that rather than hang around waiting for me she would also do the race – it is a three loop race so she could do one, two or all three loops (really aiming for two as a 10 k is the furthest she has raced to date) We are a relatively small group that gather in the activity center to collect our race numbers and T-shirt prior to the 10 am start. T-shirts for the first 100 entrants the race info said – and they had shirts left over! Small race, with about 50 solo runners and ten or so 2 and 3 person relay teams.

Just before the start news filtered through that there had been some “animal activity” on the course that morning – which turned out to mean they had to scare a black bear of the trail making up the second loop – could be an interesting day - MLW was somewhat unsettled.

Loop 1
The race sets of along the same carriageways we had biked on Friday! Boring but the steady grinding hills that sucked the life out of our legs on the bikes had a similar effect when running. Not exactly trail running though despite two or three short sections of singletrack. As a result the pace was pretty high and I eventually hooked on to the back of a guy in a red running vest who IMHO “looked like he knew what he was doing”. Try as I might I could not chase him down so we ended the first loop I was about ten yards behind him. This is when bad things started to happen! As we made our way through the lap/start/finish area my friend in the red vest tagged off to a colleague and stopped running. He was part of a relay team. This was a bit dispiriting as it suggested that perhaps my confidence and initial pace were perhaps on the high side. Well the gut who he handed off to set off like a jack rabbit and was out of sight within seconds leaving me all on my lonesome to tackle loop 2.

Loop 2
The path went across the road (behind the activity center) then bucked viciously upward on a very steep rocky piece of single track. After the too quick pace on loop one my legs and lungs very quickly waved a little white flag and I was reduced to what MLW describes as “power walking” but which I more truthfully refer to as “being to F-ing knackered to keep on running”. After a minute or so to gather myself the “power walking turned back into slow running and loop two was actually far nicer and more interesting than loop one. With the exception of a longish and steepish decent down a stretch of carriage road most of this loop was a mixture of hilly rocky singletrack and swampy walking trail. The whole of this loop (and the subsequent third loop) I did not see another runner the whole time.

Loop 3
By the start of loop 3 I realized that I was not going to catch anyone in front of me and as long as I just kept going I was unlikely to be caught by anyone. It has been a long time since I set off too fast in a race and had to just hang on but that is exactly what loop three was all about. Fortunately Loop 3 was like Loop one not Loop two and was a fairly mild mix of undulating carriage road and short sections of singletrack. Many of the bits I recalled from the MTBing on Friday. The only real surprise on the third loop was the stream crossing – not much of a surprise in itself but a Marshall warned before I reached it to be careful of the embankment. Wow, not so much an embankment as a three foot drop straight into the stream! Then directly after the stream was a 30-40 yard scramble up a very steep grass bank (with crowds gathered at the top shouting encouragement). Once at the top the was a short drag to the finish. I finally crossed the finish line in 73 minutes and change, good enough for 7th overall but still a full eleven minutes behind the winner – a thoroughly average performance that would certainly not have impressed Bill Rodgers, and I suspect wouldn’t even have impressed Roy Rodgers. Still good to get back to competing – even if the distance was short and involved running rather than biking. MLW as hoped finished two loops before calling it a day in order to preserve herself for further vacation adentures! Perhaps this was a wise choice.

Sunday arrived with very sore legs and MLW telling me off for running too hard and ruining the vacation. After a leisurely breakfast we decided to go on a short hike then perhaps go to look round a nearby town in the afternoon. Not quite how it turned out – MLW thought the hiking would be on carriageways like to MTBing but when she found they were very thin and sketchy rocky trails she got far more interested. So our short leisurely hike morphed into a three hour trek first to Lost Lake then up to Glen Boulder (a climb of nearly two thousand vertical feet). The boulder itself is above the tree line in the “alpine zone” and gave very spectacular views of the whole valley.

After kayaking on Monday (something neither of us had done before) it was time to return to MD and reality. The reality being a burst pipe in the upstairs bathroom and a flood through the family room and into the basement – Hey life’s no fun if it’s too easy.

So I’m back and energized – hopew to be hitting the trails with renewed vigor and focus once the races for later in the season are finalized – thinking Shenadoah M100 and perhaps the JFK 50, we’ll see.

Cheers (keep it focused keep it fun)

Dogzbollux

INVASION OF THE GIANT SPIDERS

Mountian biking is always an adventure, especially a night ride when even the most familiar trail becomes a challenge. So I was more than excited to be heading back out onto the trails at night after my enforced vacation. I mounted the Nite Hawk Viper bar lights on the 29er monocog, chucked it into the "Bollux-mobile" and headed for the trails, via the liquor store - to purchase the required post-ride libation.



With several of the usual suspects out of town or otherwise tied up it was just George (on his Dos-Niner) and me heading out at around 9-30pm. My helmet light appeared to be playing up - but with the bar light (and no other bloody choice) we set out regardless. George took the lead to make the most of his superior lighting set up and we were cooking along quite nicely when George suddenly lets out a cry of "holy shit" and promptly falls off his bike! The reason it turns out is a bloody great spider perched right where George was about to plonk his front tire on a log. The camera is called for (as I've never seen a spider this big in the "wild" before) and I'm even brave enough to put my hand next to it for scale - George suggested my head but on reflection that wasn't going to happen.



After the spider sighting we cover a short loop on the HC-side (of Patapsco SP) and head to the more challenging BC-side. On the entrance to "the Monestry trail" George hits some rocks pretty hard, losing some skin and bending his rear derailleur hanger, resulting in some ghost shifting, but we quickly regroup and enjoy a nice climb. then it's the usual route (very similar to where I went on Sunday am). There is noting of note really (except that we saw another monster spider sitting on a log) until we cross the stream just before "Patarini" hill when my bar light breaks off it's mounting - BUGGER! For the rest of the ride it is me in front with my headlight (producing no more than a vague orange smudge on the trail ahead) and George behind trying to light both our ways with his NiteRider.



All goes swimmingly however, even down Buzzard Roack - which I hate even in the daytime (not a bit DH fan). I walk some of it, especially that bloody scary drop off at the end. Then we head back to HC-side, take on the Cascade - stopping for a group photo on the way and a gentle ride back to the vehicles. With the light issues slowing the pace we don't get back to the cars until midnight. So we crack open a beer each and George (ever the sophisticate) produces a flask of mojito (rum cocktail) complete with fresh mint - this is the life! Half an hour is happily spent chewing the fat and then it is back to the real world.



Oh, BIG UP for Nite Hawk bike lights by the way. I emailed them this morning and explained in a very hazy fashion what had happened to my lights and asked if they sell a spare part to fix it. Not only did they respond within hours to my email - they correctly identified the bit I had broken and are sending me a replacement part gratis! Now that is customer service! Bear in mind this is an inexpensive set up (approx $80) and I've had it for 2 years or more. If you need an inexpensive set up for night rides this might be for you; 10 watts of power and 2.5 hour burn time.