T-Ville Thurs night

Actually got out for a second night ride this week. I actually left the office at 4:15 and still managed to be late as we didn't arrive till a bit after 6 but everyone waited on me.

The ride did not start off well as I was trying to reset the bike computer in the parking lot and somehow fell over and bloodied my elbow as well as scratching a hole in my seat. I wish I could say I only wreck while going less than 1 mph, but that was not the case for tonight. We rode a lap clockwse and I was definately having trouble keeping up on the technical downhills. I need to ride out there more to get to know the trail better.
I actually met Eric Glidwell out there and he was in our group for the first lap. I have not really seen him since high school other than a brief encounter on the trail at Oak Mountain. We played soccer together growing up in Trussville (He was on my team almost every year from when I was probably 8 years old through highschool).

Most of the group took off after the first lap, but a couple of us decided to get one more in. This time we headed Counter-clockwise and things were going well untill I got to the new technical section. I couldn't make it up the rock and at the top I tried to jump back on and ride, but the next thing I knew I was in a nice endo. I though I could bring the back down, but I slowly went over and had to bail over the bars down the rocky hill. I must have missed the rock I was trying to put mu hand on because I have a bloody scratch from my wrist to my elbow. (I did not realize it was so bad till I got home and in the shower and it started burning pretty bad). We stopped to play in the camp area and I just didn't have it in me to do much. I tried to ride up onto the rock, but somehow bounced off and ended up with the front wheel in the air and my back against a tree. I decided to not try anything else at this point as apparantly my skills dissapear with the sunlight. We rode on out and I did make the slightly technical climb from the road to the top of the hill without dabbing. It was a nice ride and I definately want to get out there again for a Thurs night ride.

Night Ride at Oak Mountain

I finally made one of the "Full Moon" night rides at Oak Mountain. The weather was beautiful being in the mid to low 60's. A couple of things I noticed from this ride: I know Oak mountain so well that even if I couldn't see very well I knew where the roots were. The headlight (which I kept on low except for the downhills) did seem to flatten the trail. It seemed like the climbs were not as long or steep as well as the downhills. I don't really know why this was. It may be that I was just riding slower so I was not as tired. Lastly, I freakin love riding at night. Hearing the sound of the stream beside the trail, but not necessarily seeing it; and seeing the city from the top of the mountain at night are two things I really liked.

Hopefully this went well and Oak can see the potential to make a little extra cash and open the park up in the future to more night rides.

Brian is now a roadie

Last minute decision to head to Chief Ladiga had me rushing this morning to get ready and meet everyone in Anniston. I met Brian at his house and we headed to the trailhead. We met everyone there and had a nice ride heading for Georgia. The weather was about 70 degrees and was perfect for the ride. Everyone else decided to head back about 8 miles from the Ga Line, but me and Moran decided to ride the whole trail. We practiced drafting and generally just had an enjoyable ride. My legs were starting to burn near the end, and were much more sore than I thought they would be for such a flat ride.

However I looked at the Garmin after the ride (as I wore my heart rate meter) and it said we rode 66.5 miles and I burned over 4500 calories. Me and Steph went to Iguana Grill or dinner and I decided to try the Flan for dessert after Balliet talked about it the whole weekend before. I was a bit skeptical on the custard thing, but it was really good. It had a bit of bourbon splashed on it and reminded me of Christmas Egg Nog.

Another Great NC Trip

Had a great trip. The riding was once again incredible and once again Jay's choice of trails was definately the best Pisgah had to offer. Hopefully I can give a brief rundown on the trails later, but pics are currently uploading.

Should be able to see the folders as they get done at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm

Still trying to catch up on sleep
Goodnight!