Bad Blogging: Time to play catchup

Well I am going to try to play a little catchup. Work has been pretty bad and just getting time to ride has been a struggle.

Started out on Friday the 8th when the weather was so nice I just decided to head to Oak after work. I got there a bit late to do a whole lap but met Mitch and Corb in the parking lot. We rode up to Blood rock CCW and back to the South Trailhead. The weather was so incredible that this ride really made me want to get on the bike more.

Saturday the 9th I went to Trussville for the workday and after a good day of working on the big mountain section we decided to test out our work. We rode 1 lap doing an out and back on the new section before riding a lap clockwise. I have not ridden Trussville since right before the Dead Dog last year and really liked Trussville. It is a really fun trail when just out for a casual ride. Jay showed us a tree near the camping area (I don't know how else to describe this spot) It gets high enough off the ground to not be able to drop a tire. I tried many times to ride it, but was unsuccessful. Jay made it across after just a couple tries. We also stopped at the parking area by the baseball fields and we rode the poles that were laying on the ground as well as down and up (yes up) the stairs. Finally there was a rock on the edge of the pavement that we jumped off of a few times. The landing was very soft on the grass and was a fun place to play. Finally we finished up with the difficult new sections. I was able to clear them on the first try with only a bit of trouble on one of the rocky turns, but was able to hop the bike back into motion. I was a bit dissapointed as I was expecting to have to study the triail and learn how to ride it before doing so succesfully. This is a difficult section, but another trail may have to be built to really give people something they have to work hard to be able to successfully clear.

Sunday the 11th I found a few people going to Ladiga. I had been wanting to plan a trip and mentioned it to a few people and they said they were going tomorrow. I was excited about going and we met at Joe's house and carpooled there. We headed out and the road bike is a completely different experience on this trail. Last time I rode it, it was not paved all the way so I had to ride the Mtn bike (the GF Sugar). I got some practice pacelining and we scooted down the trail at a pretty good pace. We stopped at the visitor center. It was not open last time and it is a pretty nice little place. Continuing on we actaully went a littel way past the line as I don't think everyone was ready to turn around immediately. On the ride back we once again stopped at the visitor center for a rest. This time the guy that rant he place was there wnd we chatted with him a bit. We rode on back and I really didn't have as many aches and pains as last time. The only thing i remember is a bit of hand numbness near the end. I was pretty pleased as I was also nto as tired as before. On the mnt bike I was so sore I walked funny for a few days but I really got nothing on the road bike. I had been considering buying a better seat (as it has a really cheap one), but I was pleased and now I am not in so much of a rush.

On Sat 8/16 I met Bump for the 3rd Sat club ride. We rode a lap CW of Oak mountain and I played around a bit and practiced riding the logs more than usual. This was a nice casual ride and felt nice after the week at work.

Tuesday 8/19 James told me to bring my bike to work so we could ride afterwards. There was some drama that kept me at work late, but we decided to go anyway. We got there around 6 and headed off CW. We were expecting to turn around as James had not ben in so long, but he just kept going. We realized the darkness was going to be a problem during the climb up the Jeep. It started getting dark as we got to the descent down to the BUMP trail. by the time we got to blood rock I had to take off my glasses to see. It was actually really fun as I could barely see down quary road down to the road. We got off on the road and it was almost completely dark. Other than almost getting hit by a car on this road (the car came off the road after me) this part was awsome. The lightning bugs were all in the trees and down the road adn we could just make out the gravel to stay on the road. I was expeccting to get repremanded at our vehicles for being out late, but no one was there so we took off quickly.

Thanks to the weather there was no riding the weekend of the 23rd. But I am soon going to NC for some serious riding. I am really looking forward to this and hop my lack of riding is not going to hurt me too much.