Showing posts with label fixie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fixie. Show all posts

Friday, August 7, 2009

In the groove (at last)

It's been a long time coming!
But the past week and a bit has actually seen some quality biking time!
Turns out we are only ging to have one car for a while (shame) so poor old me has to cycle to work..... like everyday, in the words of the immortal (probably) Belinda Carlile "oooo oo heaven is a place on earth" right now that place is Okemos Mi.
So I've cycled to work on the fixie everyday for the past week - only 6 miles (20 min) but enough to get the heartrate up and to log over 50 miles since Monday. With the 20 mile road ride I did with MLW last Sunday the past 7 days have taken in 6 consecutive days on the fixie totalling over 70 miles. Hardly epic but a start.
Thursday was a departure from the norm in that I didn't ride home but was picked up by SWMBO in the Bolluxmobile so we could head to Burchfield and introduce MLW to both Kevin and the local trails. MLW liked Kevin (and his family) more than she did the trails but overall whole thing totally positive!
Another short post but back in the groove.

Later.......

DB

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Making Friends in Michigan

Been here for over a week now - Wow it's been a blast.

Without the beloved family (not moving up here until after "school's out for summer") time seems to be sucked up mainly by work. Hoped to cycle to work but pressure to turn up (i) bloody early and (ii) looking half professional have crushed that ambition! BUGGER.

Still found time on the weekend to hit the roads on the fixie, and what an adventure it was. Searched on line and found a site that gave me a whole host of road rides around Okemos - ranging from well over 100 miles (Crikey!) to 10 milers. Smashing. Chose a 50 miler for Saturday am, headed north into the country with a detailed route scribbled on a piece of hotel writing paper. Not too far into the ride I turn right and wadda you know the road is dirt! What the....! At first I am non-too pleased, as it has rained overnight and still drizzling the road is slimey and soft. But after half a mile it turns out to be massive fun. To the point that by the end of the ride I am disappointed when the road is paved. Biked up as far as Sleepy Hollow State Park and round the lake - checking out the trail heads for XC ski-ing this winter - cos biking will be out and I'll need to find some novel way to hurt myself! At one crossing I see a large yard sale outside a church and stop to check it out - despite my somewhat unusual lycra clad appearance the people at the sale are spectacularly friendly and only slightly bemused when I start eying up a pair of XC skis! "Bit tough on your bike" is one comment -" yeah" I sigh "guess so". But they come to my rescue putting them to one side till I can finish my ride and come back in the Bolluxmobile! Cracking.

As I return to my bike I meet an older Gentleman eyeing up my fixie. "How many gears you got" he asks and is somewhat surprised to hear I only have one! "I've got 26 on mine" he tells me - then if he was surprised by my lack of gears then I was flabbergasted when he revealed that he still rides with a club, did a 400+ mile tour a couple of years ago and that the next day was going to be his 82nd birthday!!

Sunday and I headed south, not so many unpaved roads (only found one section) and the paved roads were pretty straight and flat. Pretty countryside and some nice old farms and small communities but not as cool as heading north the day before. Managed to get another 35 miles in to make it about 90 miles for the weekend and just over 100 miles in my first week in Mi.

Tonight - bugger it it was time to try and find some trails!! Headed over to Burchfield State Park - which is rumored to have some smokin' technical trails. Another website claims it has trails that "are straight out of a B movie". Rode for about an hour - still early in the season so some sections under water - found some "technical" sections, very short and man made rather than the natural goodness of Patapsco. Nothing I was uncomfortable attempting on the Rockhopper SS conversion! So even though I fell my regulation twice the ride was not super taxing, the second half of the ride I followed a young local who I met as he took a spectacular fall right in front on me - on a completely flat piece of trail - my kind of rider I thought!! Will go back and explore some more another night next week - it is 15 miles from Okemos and likely to be my only regular mtbing in Mi for the foreseeable future so I better damn well enjoy it!





Ciao for now

DB

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

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!