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
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
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
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
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
Monday, July 16, 2007
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
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
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
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
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
Friday, July 6, 2007
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"
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"
Thursday, July 5, 2007
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
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
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