tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392633784565487102024-03-13T02:14:28.426-05:00Sandals Mountian Biking AdventuresPoor Spelling and ramblings from someone who loves to ride Mountain BikesSandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-78924097509206427902009-06-19T15:13:00.002-05:002009-06-19T15:41:50.168-05:00Back on the WagonI definately fell off for a while.<br /><br />I went well over a month without riding the mountain bike and was not getting much time in before that. A few random road rides on the weekends is about all I could fit in.<br /><br />Saturday I rode on the road with the Montevallo Riders. It ended up raining on us pretty good and near the end it poured so hard I was having trouble seeing the road because my glasses were fogging up. However it was nice that the temperatures stayed more in the 70-75 range instead of the 90+ they have been.<br /><br />Last Tuesday I rode a lap of Oak Mountain Counter Clockwise by myself after work and rode a fast but comfortable lap. I did legs at the gym that day during lunch so I knew it was just going to be a casual ride. The temps were in the 90s so I know that wasn't helping either, but still managed a respecful (for me) 1:35.<br /><br />Wednesday my legs were aching all day. Really makes me realize how long it has been since I have pushed myself at all. I was planning on trying again for Thursday but if they kept aching like this, there was no way I could ride.<br /><br />Thursday came and the aches were gone. Once again work agreed with me and I was able to get out at a decent time and headed to Oak Mountain again. I headed Clockwise this time off by myself (even there was a group ride) so I could just ride. I have been so stressed with work and everything that riding has not really been fun lately. Riding by myself, I can just push myself and relax and not worry about anything. The only problem came while I was descending the hill after blood rock. I got a stick caught up in my back wheel wrapping itself around my hub by the brake rotor. I know I was pushing myself a bit, but apparantly my brain was not working as I put my thrmb on the rotor while trying to pull the stick out. Of course the rotor was still scalding and I have a burn line on my thumb. The rest of the ride went OK and I finshed with a 1:32.<br /><br />I at least have a baseline for each direction and my goal is to try to ride every Tues and Thursday after work in addition to a something on the weekend.<br /><br />Hopefully this will be me getting back into it.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-67854746315765627972009-02-12T22:00:00.000-06:002009-02-13T16:18:16.130-06:00T-Ville Thurs nightActually 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.<br /><br />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.<br />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).<br /><br />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.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-36610620506604377172009-02-09T22:00:00.001-06:002009-02-10T15:45:51.980-06:00Night Ride at Oak MountainI 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.<br /><br />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.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-56145826768181135472009-02-08T22:00:00.000-06:002009-02-10T15:55:05.863-06:00Brian is now a roadieLast 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.<br /><br />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.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-27247956987714760902009-02-04T22:18:00.002-06:002009-02-04T22:24:21.877-06:00Another Great NC TripHad 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.<br /><br />Should be able to see the folders as they get done at:<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm</a><br /><br />Still trying to catch up on sleep<br />Goodnight!Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-24907729454483651642009-01-20T09:11:00.005-06:002009-01-20T15:11:20.893-06:00Trying to stay in ShapeWell, I know this is not exactly in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">chronological</span> order, but early this month I drug out my rollers to try to get in some riding and stay in shape. I have been <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">consistently</span> riding about 2 to 3 times during each week. I was riding one day and the belt for the headwind (resistance unit that blows air at you to keep you cool) broke. I would like to think it was from the massive amount of power I was generating, but more likely one of the cats decided it would be fun to chew on. I sort of like it because I have to put it in a much higher gear to get the resistance. that makes my mileage look better when I am done. The first few times I would get so tired I would usually fall off and that is when i knew to stop, but lately I have been getting a bit better even being able to stand and peddle and stay on (I can't just start hammering, or the surges will kick the bike off the front of the rollers). I have been turning the TV to one of the music video <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">channels</span> and cranking the music while I ride. It has <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">actually</span> been quite fun.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Also, in purchasing the replacement belt, I priced a set of rollers and I paid less than half of what they cost now (of course that was close to 10 years ago), but I think this is the first bike related item that has increased in value since I bought it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I got this picture off of their website, and don't think <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">this</span> is for personal gain so hopefully they won't sue me for stealing their pictures.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EadhznEb39CdZiG2fsTnPawTG2zpGHD2t6fg4PXi7rp55QzscebjSE9m3V4ErIsszqJRmZI51xNEgLJO2_3qPP6nVhjiHGUrsy9bCA1S423oM_yee4Hik5Mv6D8NHmi_4spKbuASD2E/s1600-h/challenger_4_5_with_fan.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293474518901856770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 104px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EadhznEb39CdZiG2fsTnPawTG2zpGHD2t6fg4PXi7rp55QzscebjSE9m3V4ErIsszqJRmZI51xNEgLJO2_3qPP6nVhjiHGUrsy9bCA1S423oM_yee4Hik5Mv6D8NHmi_4spKbuASD2E/s200/challenger_4_5_with_fan.jpg" border="0" /></a>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-26994605199651879462009-01-18T21:47:00.003-06:002009-01-20T09:11:18.537-06:00Rough DayWell it seemed like it was a rough day for quite a few people, but I will start with my day.<br /><br /><br /><br />Went to Oak Mtn. for the BUMP third Saturday ride. Started off well except it was a bit chilly. We rode a loop heading in the clockwise direction. It was a nice lap with Me, Chip, Mark, Jim, DeShazo, Micky, Dee, and Hambone. A change I noticed was that someone added another large log across the trail right before camp road. I was not expecting the this and didn't quite make it over. Didn't wreck, but my back tire started spinning and when I tried to hop it over I had to unclip a foot. I actually like this better as both logs are over a foot in diameter, but about a foot of space is between them. This stepped up the challenge a bit, which is what I needed.<br /><br />We were actually moving at a slightly faster pace than normal and I took the lead on the "Cat, Dog, Snake" section right before the North trailhead. The second to last bridge before the North trailhead has a rooty section leading up and it is a sharp lefthand turn onto the bridge. I was moving through pretty good (just having a good time) and hit a root wrong and my front tire washed out a bit. Trying to not miss the bridge, I ran into a tree that was immediately to the left of the bridge. I didn't think anything about it at the time as nothing really hurt and I just remember putting my hand out and my shoulder hitting the tree (not very hard), so I just kept going. After cruising up to the top of the jeep trail and heading down toward blood rock, I tried to brake and noticed my left finger was a bit sore and I couldn't squeeze the brake easily.<br /><br />Anyway, we started down quarry road and I was once again having a great time. At the rock jump at the bottom, I jumped it and noticed someone had piled a bunch of rocks in the trail where I wanted to land. I jerked the bike and managed to land on the side of the pile, but shortly afterwards my rear tire went flat. I tried to look at it, but due to the rain I couldn't really tell where the cuts were. I tried to put a CO2 cartridge in it and it wouldn't hold. I assumed there were a few cuts, so instead of putting a tube in it there as I no longer had enough CO2 to fill it, I just decided to walk it back to the car. It was only about a mile on the dirt road and I was meeting others to ride later, so I was not worried about it. I walked/jogged a ways and Mark had gone back and gotten his truck to pick me up. He gave me a ride back. Thanks Mark!<br /><br />I took the wheel off and checked it out and it had a couple of cuts including a larger one on the sidewall (that I don't think Stan would have sealed) so I just put my spare tube in it. I didn't have another spare to carry with me, but I figured with the tubeless and the tube, I would be fine.<br /><br /><br /><br />I met Jeremy and Mark and we rode a biot while waiting for Chase to get there. We rode aound and then rode the family trail a couple of times to stay close to the parking lot. Chase showed up and we headed down to the Trail starting across from the canoe rentals. We rode out and had about 2 hours before dark so we figured we would ride for about 45 minutes and turn around. On the double log crossing before camp road, I sucessfully made it over both logs this time (not the most gracefully, but stayed on the bike). We got to the top of the hill before Garrets gultch and Jeremy decided to head back. Chase wanted to keep going, so after chatting for a few minutes we headed on. At the bottom I jumped off the log and of course popped my back tire. I had only put about 45 lbs in and I should have put closer to 50. As that was my last spare I decided to once again walk back. I headed back and once again walked/jogged back to camp road and to the road. The front of my ankles started hurting so I had to walk (biking shoes were not made to do much hiking). I made it almost to the trailhead by the lake when Chase drove up. We threw my bike on the back of his car and he took me back. Thanks Chase!<br /><br /><br />Of course All this came at a price. When I got home and showered to warm back up my finger turned a nice purpke blue color and swole up. I guess being outside effectively kept it iced all day. I also had bruises on the front of my ankles from trying to run in the bike shoes. As well as being sore from hiking I guess. I feel like I am getting old!Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-43002991306775074752008-11-22T23:05:00.000-06:002008-12-09T11:32:41.969-06:00Got back to RaccoonWe finally got back to Raccoon Mountain. I rode up with Tommy and Moran after we decided to put one of my trays on the roof of Moran's car so we could all ride together. It was so cold this took much longer than it should have, but we still managed to stop by Chick-Fil-A and make it to Raccoon before everyone else. We tried to warn everyone that we were<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3pmmZVJ4I/AAAAAAAAFuY/_pXP6egirnA/s800/IMG_7324.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3pmmZVJ4I/AAAAAAAAFuY/_pXP6egirnA/s800/IMG_7324.jpg" border="0" /></a> going to be doing a lot of playing, and I don't think they believed us, and decided to ride with us. We went clockwise from the visitor center lot as I like this direction better. The trail was so covered with dry leaves it made it really slick. I had to quickly learn to stay off the brakes in the turns or the wheels would wash out. We had a nice casual lap stopping to play in a few places and got some decent pictures. Tommy said he was going to jump off the rock.<br /><br />This One: (it is not as high as it looks)<br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3q_76qDtI/AAAAAAAAFxw/XQMX2qVe0gY/s800/IMG_7340.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3q_76qDtI/AAAAAAAAFxw/XQMX2qVe0gY/s800/IMG_7340.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3rKPcRq6I/AAAAAAAAFyI/zjRKNqCIkhY/s800/IMG_7342.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3rKPcRq6I/AAAAAAAAFyI/zjRKNqCIkhY/s800/IMG_7342.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />But decided this was not the day. Mark decided to have a go at it and made me look like a wrecking ball. I am not the most graceful and he definately landed with much more style than me.<br />We ended up splitting up with those of us who wanted to go ride the tree and those ready to head on. We went to the tree and rode across quite a few times. <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3suWja4bI/AAAAAAAAF1g/fTL_tWD4K-8/s800/IMG_7358.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3suWja4bI/AAAAAAAAF1g/fTL_tWD4K-8/s800/IMG_7358.jpg" border="0" /></a>last time I was here, the tree <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3tjk64nmI/AAAAAAAAF3k/9xNuoYEJKdI/s800/IMG_7367.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3tjk64nmI/AAAAAAAAF3k/9xNuoYEJKdI/s800/IMG_7367.jpg" border="0" /></a>was slick and I slid off a few times, this time I had a much easier time. On around to a nice jump in the trail for a few more pictures and then we headed back around the loop.<br /><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3qRL9HmlI/AAAAAAAAFvw/X8IU75SVu_s/s800/IMG_7331.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3qRL9HmlI/AAAAAAAAFvw/X8IU75SVu_s/s800/IMG_7331.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3txc4XZrI/AAAAAAAAF38/fV1Yl-nrhRM/s800/IMG_7369.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3txc4XZrI/AAAAAAAAF38/fV1Yl-nrhRM/s800/IMG_7369.jpg" border="0" /></a>wanted to explore some of the new trails they had opened, but Moran started having bike problems and I think everyone was getting ready to head back. We rode on and near the end I starteed cramping pretty badly. I realized I had not been drinking enough water and at this point it was too late. I tried to use some hammer gel and jelly bellys, but nothing would make them go away. Fighting throught the pain I climbed the final hill out and going up the last dirt section my legs said no. I tried to step off the bike and that was a huge mistake. My leg cramped and I crumpled to the ground. I had to sit and recover a bit before going the last 50 yards to the end. It looked like I had been in a wreck because I was all dirty. It was a fun ride and I will definately pay better attention to staying hydrated.<br /><br />All the Pictures:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/RaccoonMtn2008_11_22">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/RaccoonMtn2008_11_22</a>#Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-38731094239115347352008-11-17T17:21:00.002-06:002008-11-17T17:36:31.610-06:00No Riding but took a big stepWell, it seems I am slowly moving farther and farther from Mountain bike riding in my posts (moving to the road bike and now this) but I think I will be back on track shortly. I have not been posting lately and wanted to offer a brief explanation.<br /><br />I got married on November 8. It was incredible how much stress this put on me. I realize I was probably pretty snappy for a few weeks leading up to this and apologize to everyone. I just got back from the Honeymoon on Sunday and am feeling much better. I was not planning on taking a honeymoon immediately but some friends offered us a condo in Rosemary Beach for the week and we jumped on it. I really needed the week to just relax and I think this really helped me get my sanity back and I believe things will be getting back to normal soon.<br /><br />I missed quite a few rides lately (including a night ride they had at Oak Mountain) and now am really wanting to get back into it. I think I am going to build me a small "skills" park with a few skinnies, a see-saw, and a few other items to help me with my technical riding here at the office. I just need to keep my bike here so I can play at lunch or whenever I need a break from staring at the computer.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-25300799696598215272008-11-02T10:29:00.003-06:002008-12-09T11:02:14.880-06:00Red Lizard at Monte Sano<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>A couple of us packed up to go to Monte Sano. A couple of us had ridden there last year after the 24 hours of Conyers race and we got slightly lost and ended up on the Red Lizard Trail. Jay had heard about the trail that was "unridable" and had been talking about going up there ever since. Lately I seem to enjoy the challenge of a technical trail than just riding a smooth flat trail as quickly as possible.<br />We met up at Cracker Barrell (I forgot about the time change, so I got there in time to have a <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3ufYE3kXI/AAAAAAAAF6M/uF1jg4vRJ7E/s800/IMG_7070.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3ufYE3kXI/AAAAAAAAF6M/uF1jg4vRJ7E/s800/IMG_7070.jpg" border="0" /></a>nice big breakfast) and we headed up. We played on the rock wall in the parking lot to warm up before hitting the trail. We cruised down the family trail an went down Warpath to get to the <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3vNlgq3JI/AAAAAAAAF8I/UET7WRvlJts/s800/IMG_7084.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3vNlgq3JI/AAAAAAAAF8I/UET7WRvlJts/s800/IMG_7084.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3utG-oR1I/AAAAAAAAF6w/AQExRzI5xAs/s800/IMG_7077.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3utG-oR1I/AAAAAAAAF6w/AQExRzI5xAs/s800/IMG_7077.jpg" border="0" /></a>desired trail. Warpath was a fun littel section also and I have some movies of Lee and Joe riding down one of the rocky sections. We ended up on Red Lizard and spent a good bit of time trying to clean each obstacle. There were some that only 1 or two people cleared and only about 2 that nobody was able to make. Both me and Jay ended up with jacked up derailleurs. I just bent mine <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3xYCAtnLI/AAAAAAAAGCc/2y5j_Z2i3qc/s800/IMG_7114.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3xYCAtnLI/AAAAAAAAGCc/2y5j_Z2i3qc/s800/IMG_7114.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3wrbOvV1I/AAAAAAAAGAE/mWRJRzKjfT0/s800/IMG_7103.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3wrbOvV1I/AAAAAAAAGAE/mWRJRzKjfT0/s800/IMG_7103.jpg" border="0" /></a>bad and was able to bend it back enough to keep riding. Jay broke his hanger completely off (along with a piece of his bike), but he had a spare hanger and we were able to continue.<br /><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3vj1U5TCI/AAAAAAAAF84/UpZssqD2Kog/s800/IMG_7088.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_plOAO6e-2tc/ST3vj1U5TCI/AAAAAAAAF84/UpZssqD2Kog/s800/IMG_7088.jpg" border="0" /></a>The rest of the trail was just the flatrock trail that was much more smooth (still makes Oak mountain look like a road bike would be more at home). We ended up cutting up through a powerline trail due to time and rode back on mountain mist just to avoid the road. It was a really good time and I was supprised at how much we were able to ride. It is unique to see how different riding styles allowed some people to clear certain obstacles while others could not do it.<br /><br />I keep saying it, but I relly need to practice my hopping/trials skills as they would have been really helpful on a few of these things.<br /><br />Pictures (Yes I finally got the pictures up!) at <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/MonteSano2008_11_2">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/MonteSano2008_11_2</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-32560051888686289682008-10-20T23:00:00.001-05:002008-10-22T16:04:19.647-05:00Helen Octoberfest TripWent to Helen GA for Oktoberfest/Biking weekend. We drove up Friday and settled in by trying a few of the German brews. We went out and had a few drinks before retiring back to bed (I think we were home by 10, such party people!).<br /><br />The next morning we headed up to the Unocoi Lodge to eat breakfast. It was a breakfast buffet, so we all got our fill. I even resisted the urge to eat a biscuit, however I could not say no to the french toast. We got back to the townhouse and got ready to ride. <br /> We had scoped out the trail head from town so we would not have to ride around and on the road this time. We took the Helen-Unocoi trail and got on the Unocoi Mountain bike trail. We rode this around and eventually got over to the field (the real start of the trail). We played in that area a bit as there was a small drop by one of the bridges that we jumped off of a few times. We rode around the bridges and tried to ride the railroad ties before heading back onto the trail. Finishing up there were some nice downhills and some short, but steep climbs. It was a decent short course. We headed back into town and stopped at Big Daddy's bar and sat out on the porch and had some Hopdevil while the sun started to set. There was a woman a few tables over with the most tattoos I have ever seen. She was wearing a tank top and had angel wings on her shoulders and a HUGE tramp stamp. She was there with her baby (at a bar!) so yes... Anyway, it started getting cold when we were in the shade so we headed back to the townhouse to go out for the evening. I sat in the hot tub for a few minutes and it felt great as it was a bit chilly outside. I was a bit tired so we decided to rest and go to the fest hall at about 9. I fell asleep and woke up about time to go. Moran decided to skip this time so he dropped us off and we went inside. This was definitely the place to be as it was packed. We got a couple of pitchers of Erdinger Octoberfest and enjoyed the music/dancing/people watching. Tommy actually got on stage and did the chicken dance with everyone. The fest hall closed and Tommy decided we needed to go to Huddle House. Of course this was the most packed place in town and we finally got to eat. While we we eating I got up to go to the restroom and I missed a fight right by our table. They said that the Huddle house ladies broke it up and threw the guys outside (don't mess with the hh ladies!). We walked home and went to bed.<br /><br />The next day we tried to eat at Hoffers, but they made us wait 45 minutes for a table (when there were a couple of empty tables) and then said it was too late to order breakfast. I was a bit mad, but Grumpy Grund was not going to make an appearance this weekend so I just ordered lunch. Tommy was not feeling well and Murf was a little sore, so me and Moran decided to ride the Unocoi again as we couldn't really find anything else close. We rode a quick lap and called Tommy and Murf and they were riding around town. We met them and rode around some of the back streets and explored a little before heading back. We went back out, ate dinner (Tommy actually tried some German food and liked it!) and then looked for a place to hang out for a while. Pretty much every place in town was smoky and after last night at the fest hall I had all the cigarette smoke I could handle so we just went back to the townhouse and hung out.<br /><br />The next morning we got up and packed to go home. Murf was trying to make it back to work a half day and I think Tommy was missing his Baby so me and Moran tried to find somewhere nice to eat. We ended up not waiting as all the local places we looked were covered up and hit the road. On the way, Tommy called and told us there was a place in Gainsville. As a last minute decision we looked it up on Moran's phone and somehow with the phone and 2 GPSs made it there. It was called Chicopee and we changed and got ready to ride. <br />We were looking at a map and started talking to one of the locals (Randy) and he offered to let us tag along. He was a pretty good rider and helped us tie the trails together to ride most of them. These trails were AWESOME! The place was a SORBA/IMBA trail and all the trails were just a lot of fun. I am definitely going to make it back there again. We headed on home afterwards and it was definitely a great weekend.<br /><br />I will try to update the pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-74335892987041765852008-10-18T23:00:00.001-05:002008-10-22T16:59:40.825-05:00My First CenturyI decided to ride in the BBC Century just to see if I could do it. I had a couple of 90 mile weeks when I was biking to and from work as well as mountain biking on the weekends but had never hit the magic 100mile number. Last weekend I had met at Cahaba desiring to get in a 50 mile ride to see how I felt. I got there at 7 and only 1 other person showed up he only showed up last minute and I was going to be a little upset if I had gotten up early and no one else showed up. He was sick and not feeling well so we just did a slow 20 mile loop through oak mountain. We got back and I was told the ride time had moved to 9:00 so I hung around and figured I would hang with the beginner group and do another 30 or so. Unfortunately there was only about 7 people riding so it was decided that there would be one group. There was talk of a 50 mile ride and some of these guys looked pretty serious. I asked what the pace would be and I was assured no one would be dropped. They said they were riding to Vandover and I had no idea where that was so we headed out. I was feeling pretty good after my warmup and managed to stay with them while they had their "slow" pace. Vandover ended up being about 29 miles away and I got dropped a bit before we got there. Brian? (hope that is correct) from Cahaba, hung with me and the other rider till we got there. After a short rest we headed back and I was not ready to hang with them this time, so us slower ones and Brian (decided to keep us company) rode back. It was a good ride and I had ridden over 77 miles. I actually fely pretty good so I was determined to do the century the following weekend.<br /><br />I had to get up early to be in Springville by 7, but registered to do the "easy" (bypassed a few of the bigger climbs) century. I ran into Lee and Joe C. and they said they were doing the mountain goat century and I should join them. I was not keen on this Idea at first, as I still don't really know what a steep hill is on a road bike but they assured me they were going to ride at a casual pace so I joined them. It started off really nice as it was pretty flat and we had a nice pace going, until the first big hill (walker's gap). I started off good, but as the hill kept going I started falling behind. As I was pushed closer and closer to my limits, my only goal was not to put a foot down. Lee and Joe pulled away, but I kept chugging along mostly having to stand during all the steeper sections. As I crested the top I managed to push it a bit and catch back up to them (It helped that they were waiting on me). This climb had a nice long descent down the other side and I played a bit drafting Lee and letting the wind slow me back down. I have only gone this fast on the Mtn Bike once (40mph) and I felt really uncomfortable then. The road bike however was much more stable feeling and I quickly felt comfortable going so fast.<br />Almost immediately we started the second climb (horse pens 40). As once again I began to struggle I had plenty of time to contemplate a few things such as: Why do I have to stand up? Why is he peddling so much faster than me? WTF, his front chainring has a much smaller gear than mine does! Why did I not research this? I will not put a foot down!.. Wait a minute, wasn't there supposed to be a rest stop between these hills..... We took a wrong turn! Is it getting steeper? I WILL NOT put a foot down! Is that the top? Thank the lord! What is wrong with my vision? After I recovered I caught up with them (as they peddled slowly waiting on me). And mentioned we missed the rest stop. This second hill had a better descent (it had a few slight turns and was not just one long downhill, but had sections. We continued on and finally after more than 50 miles we reached the rest stop. I still had a bit if drink left which I knew was bad. I was not drinking enough water so I knew I would have to start drinking more or I was going to have problems later. I think I was pushing a bit too hard through some sections and forgot to hydrate. The next section was pretty flat and we had a nice ride to the covered Bridge rest stop. A really nice lady there gave me a ziplock bag for my camera as I was starting to get it sweaty. The weather was just incredible. it was cool and overcast which kept the sun off us and I am sure helped my ride. I filled up my bottles and ate a snack and we once again set off. This part had the climb everyone had to do, but it was in sections of a bit of climb and then flat and then climb again. I handlesd this much better as I could power my way up the short hills and then recover on the flats for the next one. I must have gotten my second wind around here because I was really feeling great on this section. <br />At the very top was the last rest stop. It was at a small church and I decide to eat something. I am not usually a big fan of tomatoes (i will eat them but don't usually ask for them on my food) I ate a tomato sandwhich (tomatoes, salt, and bread) and it was perfect, just what I needed. I think we hung out here a bit too long as I was a bit slow feeling when getting back on the bike (or it could be that I had ridden about 90 miles). We were told it was mostly downhill to the end and I seem to remember that not really feeling true. I finally started to cramp a bit with about 5 miles to go. As long as I kept spinning I could keep them at bay. After a bit they started to pass. I got back to the end and my computer only said 98.5. Since we missed a bit on the rest stop I decided to get my 100 in so I continued up the road and went to the intersection of the first turn of the route. I figured this would be far enough and turned around. Somehow the small hill at the beginning had turned into a mountain. I rode back up it starting to feel the cramps again, but managed to make it to the top. Finally heading back in, I had right under 101 miles on the odometer. I was pleased and grabbed a beer to celebrate. There was a bluegrass band and I sat and listened to them while eating a Chick-Fil-A sandwhich or two. <br /><br />I had a great time and am glad they talked me into the harder route. I don't think I would have been as chalanged on the easier one. I headed home with a smile on my face (probably from deleria) and knew I would sleep well.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-83645215353984725912008-10-11T21:09:00.004-05:002008-10-11T21:35:00.849-05:00BBC CenturyFor now:<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SPFcc3_7x-I/AAAAAAAAFGs/L_eaaKXgHCY/s1024/IMG_6929.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SPFcc3_7x-I/AAAAAAAAFGs/L_eaaKXgHCY/s1024/IMG_6929.jpg" border="0" /></a> Could those calories be correct???? All data (Age, Sex, Weight, Max HR) is correct. <div>I think I may have lost 1mm of backfat!</div>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-69648026095979412552008-09-19T22:00:00.000-05:002008-10-03T19:04:15.360-05:00First Time at TsaliWe headed to Tsali and found the Left and Right loop was open so we planned a route which included a loop around the outside of the penensula starting with the left loop, senic overlook and then back on the right loop. This was to be about a 20 mile ride so I assumed it would take a while.<br /> The trail was relatively flat and flowed pretty well. It skirted around the edge overlooking the lake. The water was down a good bit, but it was still a nice view of the water. The left loop was a fun trail. We headed up to the overlook. There was a small bit of climbing, but still just a smooth fun ride. We stopped at the top to grab a snack and enjoy the view. We cruised back down and got to the Right trail. <br /><br />I think I liked this part best as it was cool in the trees and the trail had a really fun flow to it. We found a spot with a side trail and a jump and of course had to stop and play for a minute or two. We headed on and I think this was the part with some nice climbs and some really nice downhills. We finished up the trail and stopped by the Nantahala center on the way back. I really wanted to get into the water, but it was quite chilly when i put my hand in. I decided I must come back and canoe/kayak this river as it looked really fun.<br /><br />We headed back to the cabin and I got some good pictures of the view off the back porch. Karl and Mark wanted to hike over to the nearby hill, so we headed down the road to see if we could get there. This road was a bit more than I was expecting and pretty steep, but we eventually got to the crest of the hill. I tried to take a picture of the cabin from the hill, but they didn't come out too great because of the trees. We hiked back and got back right as the sun was setting. I got a few shots of this and you really had to be there to appreciate how incredible it looked.<br /><br />We played a few games of pool and then headed to bed.<br /><br />Pictures Here:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/MontySTripDay29192008">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/MontySTripDay29192008</a>#Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-91344476907263215702008-09-18T23:00:00.001-05:002008-09-27T12:44:26.423-05:00JackrabbitI ended up staying up prettylate trying to wash clothes and get ready for the trip. I had a broken spoke and didn't have time to get it fixed, so I tried to cary it by Cahaba Cycle at Trussville on my way. I knew this would make me a bit late, but I didn't know what we were going to be riding and I didn't want to mess up my wheel. I got to Cahaba about 9:30 and luckily Parker got there early. He said they didn't have any spokes but he offered to look at it and saw the nipple was broken and the spoke was still ok. He managed to fix it for me (even though he had to rob a nipple off another wheel). I cannot say enough good stuff about Cahaba.<br /><br />I headed on my way and finally got there about 3:00. The cabin Monty had choosen had a better view off the back deck than most senic overlooks I have seen. We headed out quickly and went to Jackrabbit to ride. This was a relatively new little trail system that was mostly level and very flowy. It was covered by lots of small berms that made this trail trememdously fun to ride. It kept begging to be ridden just a bit faster than I could go. The trail allowed one to carry so much speed, but was curvy enough to really be fun. There was one trail (I think Orange) that went up and over the hill. This was a bit technical and had a small rockly climb and even a relatively narrow bridge at the top to ride over. This was followed by a quick descent back down to meet the Blue trail.<br /><br />We ran into Robert (A local) and he joined us as I think he was happy to have someone to ride with. We rode out to the beach area and this trail was much more winding and we had to go a little slower through the trees but it was built up on a raised path so it was interesting to ride. We got back as thsi was an out and back and Robert wanted to ride the new section of trail. I don't think everyone was up to it, so me and Robert took off. I mentioned we could just hammer through it before we started and he took this literally. I managed to keep up for a bit but he started pulling away from me. I actually just couldn't get through the trees fast enough. We kept going with him having to slow perodically to let me catch back up. Eventaully we came to the small hill at the end and this got me. I was huffing and puffing when we came back out and I stopped to rest a minute or two before riding the Yellow loop. We cruised around this and back to the parking lot. We stopped on the way home and picked up a pizza, and got back in time to catch the sunset. I was exhausted and went to bed early.<br /><br />Pictures here:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/MontySTripDay19182008">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/MontySTripDay19182008</a>#Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-75276763653036910692008-09-17T23:00:00.000-05:002008-09-27T11:43:11.862-05:00A Few RidesOnce again I am getting behind. It seems like all I have time for these days is one ride a week.<br /><br />Sunday September 7<br /> Met Tommy and Brian at Oak Mountain for a lap. We went clockwise and enjoyed the nice weather. Tommy had a bit of trouble relating to his recent clipping. He decided to turn around because he was in a lot of pain. Once again at the bottom of the Jeep trail I put the bike in 2-5 to try to ride up. For some reason it really seems like I use less energy doing this. I think Oak's hill is nice because it has a few steep sections followed by flat areas that we can rest. Gives me time to recover after the steep areas. We rode on around and finshed up. I am pretty sure I went to McAllisters for a sweet tea and something to eat afterwards.<br /><br />Saturday September 13<br /> I had to be home to take care of some wedding stuff today so I met Randall of the Montevallo riders for a road ride from Montevallo. We rode a loop out towards Maylene circled around and went out to the airport exit before heading back. It was about 30 miles and really felt good due to the nice weather and just sitting on the bike and peddaling. Afterwards we went to Eclipse and I got me a smoothie and enjoyed sitting on the porch for a few minutes and relaxing before heading home. The rest of the weekend I got caught up on a lot of the wedding stuff and went into work for a bit to try to catch up on stuff I was behind on. I was looking forward to riding to work a few days the following week.<br /><br />Well, I carried clothes to work and my bike monday in hopes of riding home. The week got really busy at work and I did at least get to look at my bike in my office. Wednesday I had had enough and called Monty and asked if there was still room to join him for the weekend. I decided that night to leave the next day. Saturday is my Birthday and I needed to get away, so I am going .Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-23884688327884327822008-09-01T21:14:00.001-05:002008-09-15T22:34:00.268-05:00Last Day at DupontWe got up relatively early so we could eat then be at the tailhead by 9 to meet Woody. We made it right on time (which was a small miracle for us). Jay had a route planned out and Woody took that and added a bit onto it. We started out and headed out and towards the power lines. Unfortunately I was at the rear of the group and someone must have run over a yellow jacket because I got stung a couple of times. Of course I quickly moved to the front of the pack so it wouldn't happen again. We cruised up the power line trail and it had a few steep climbs that I could not ride up. We came out and rode up cedar rock and stopped at the top to enjoy the view. We then headed down the steeper side which was a lot of fun. There were a few nice drops in the trail that really make it interesting. We took Shole river trail (this may be right) and made a loop out so we could ride burnt mountian. This trail was incredible! It flowed incredibly well and had some perfectly spaced hills that you could jump. Woody told us a bit about the changes they had made when redoing the trail and it really opened my eyes to the a few of the subtlties of the trail. There was a climb up an old road that had been turned into singletrack. It was amazing how well it was routed to shead water, but still flow well enough to allow a fast pace but nowhere near a straight line. Jay had said how much he liked the downhill of this trail, so I was pretty excited when we reached the top. We started down the trail after a warning to be careful (I actually like hearing a warning because I know I am going to enjoy myself). The downhill was excellent with a lot of rock armoring and a few nice drops. it kept getting progressivly more difficult untill we got to the bottom.<br />At the base Joe said he had no brakes. Since he had a spare set of pads he changed them and we headed on our way. We rode back around to Cedar rock to climb back up the steep way. I started up and made it to the technical rocky section. Joe was in front and he hit a big step up and almost lost it. Soemhow he hopped the bike around and got up it. I tried to go a different route and it did not work out for me. I had to put a foot down. I remembered the rest of the climb being pretty tough, so I just continued on up the hill. However this time the climb seemed much easier adn I had no trouble making it the rest of the way. I kindof regretted not going back down to see if I could clear the whole climb. Once again we rested at the top and when we were about to take off Joel realized he had a flat. He quickly changed it and we took Big rock back down to the parking area.<br />We headed back to camp, packed everything up and showered before heading home. Once again it was a great trip and I am already lookng forward to coming back.<br /><br />Pictures Here:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/DupontNC2008_9_1">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/DupontNC2008_9_1</a>#Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-78121684582372689552008-08-31T23:00:00.001-05:002008-09-15T22:36:11.788-05:00Dupont Day 1The second day of our trip we hit <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Grammys</span> on our way to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dupont</span>. We made a loop around <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Reasonover</span> Creek Trail around to Lake <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Juliard</span>. I remembered to snap a picture of the lodge this time as I thought it was pretty cool. We headed on up to the old runway on top of the hill so we could take airstrip trail down. This section had recently been redone as it was very soft soil down near the bottom. At the base there were a couple of logs that we tried to ride. I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">don't</span> think I made it without dabbing a foot when trying to switch logs.<br />We then rode down the trail to the base of the waterfall. We parked the bikes and walked out on the rocks at the base of the falls. We caught site of a snake and I almost jumped on a wasp so I took a few pictures. There was a short log ride on the trail back up from the falls that was neatly integrated with the rock. We then rode up to the stream via Shoals trail and stopped to check it out. A couple of riders waded over from the other side while we were there. We headed back up and took Laurel Ridge to Mine Mountain. At this intersection there is a log up of the ground about 4-5 feet. Jay got up on it and contemplated riding it. I am still not that confident with my balance and since we still had a whole day of riding I did not ride it for fear of falling off and not getting to enjoy the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">rest</span> of the trip. We rode mine mountain and rode back to the parking lot. We really wanted to get a few more miles in so headed up mine mountain backwards with the intention of looping back around the lake. When we got to the other side we decided to go back over mine mountain again instead of riding the road out. This last time it was much easier and I even got to stop and snap this picture of a turtle crossing the trail. As there were some horses coming Joel helped it off the trail. We got back to the parking lot and ran into Woody Keen. He runs the company in charge of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Dupont</span> trails and I believe is one of the most <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">knowledgeable</span> trail builders around. We talked to him for a while and he offered to be our guide for our ride tomorrow. We agreed to meet him tomorrow morning and headed back to camp to get cleaned up. We ate dinner at a local <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Mexican</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">restaurant</span>. It was very <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">interesting</span> as they could <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">not</span> serve alcohol because it was a dry county, but they allowed you to bring in your own "drink" for a dollar and even mix it with a virgin <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">margarita. Something was wrong in the kitchen because we were wondering if we were going to get any food, but it finally came out after we ate about 10 baskets of chips. We headed back and had a few drinks before turnng in for the night.</span><br /><br />Pictures:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/DupontNC2008_8_31">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/DupontNC2008_8_31</a>#Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-49293412772795314302008-08-30T17:08:00.000-05:002008-09-15T22:35:08.401-05:00Squirrel Gap at PisgahJoined Jay for a trip up to NC for a weekend of riding. We drove up yesterday night and decided to hit Pisgah today as this was to be our most difficult ride. We started with a breakfast at Grammy's and I got the Big Cedar Mtn Breakfast. It had a bit of everyhting and was just what I needed to get me through the ride. We started at the parking area by the creek and rode up the road, down 476 and into the trails. We were following the book, but due to the poor markings on the trails, we ended up taking a wrong trail. It was very overgrown but ended up having a nice little descent down to the creek that was a lot of fun. Somehow we managed to get back to where we should have been, but didn't realize it and ended up backtracking the trail (South mills river) we should have come down. about 50-100 yards from where we origionally took the wrong turn we realized our mistake and turned around. This actually worked out well as the part we went the wrong direction was all uphill so we got to take the nicely flowing trail back down to the swinging bridge. This section had a few nicely bermed turns and had great flow. It was a lot of fun, but Jay had derailleur problems and we stopped briefly to get it fixed before heading on.<br /><br />After crossing the bridge, we finally came to the whole reason for the ride... Squirrel Gap. This section was rated one of the more difficult rides so that certainly got Jays attention. This trail was really nice. It had a few water crossings (one of which I stopped to refill my water bladder (Thanks to Ted for allowing me to bring his water pump so I did not have to carry 2 bladders of water). I generally only last about 2.5-3 hours max on my 70oz bladder so I knew it was going to be a problem since this was to be a 5-6 hour ride. The pump weighed much less than an extra bladder so it worked out well. Squirrel gap also had a few sections that were rocky and rooty right on the edge of the mountain. It definately had me concentrating on my line.<br /><br />Our next trail was Pounding Hill. It was not nearly as punishing as the name implied. However this started our series of encounters with the local wildlife. We came to a huge tree across the trail and had to hand the bikes over as it was about shoulder high. It took a bit to crawl over it and not slid down off the side of the hill. Everyone had climbed across except for Joel, and as he was crawling across he got stung by yellowjackets. Ted was holding his bike and got stung also. We all started running and I had mine and Ted's bike and Ted was running with Joel's untill he got frustrated with me for struggling with the 2 bike and dropped Joels and grabbed his so we could run. Somehow only Ted and Joel got stung and Joel had to make a detour up through the woods to get around them. We headed on our way.<br /><br />We decided to take a shortcut from the suggested trail in the book and take Bradley creek instead of the fireroads. It looked a bit shorter and more importantly was singletrack which I prefer. We started to realize why this was not suggested in the book as there were probably close to 10 creek crossings that could only be done by wading through. Most of them were not any deeper than the knee, but riding with wet shoes was a bit awkward. Also, on one of the crossings as I was heading down the bank toward the water I got stung. As I was realizing what was happening I got hit again. I started running through the creek and gotr stung one more time. I was yelling at Joel so he would not get into them and waited as he had to go around that area of trail and meet back up. As we finally got back to the road by the car, everyone (well at least me) was pretty exhausted. We got back and had riden just over 25 miles in right at 6 hours. I was filthy and were going to stop on the way back, so I headed a little ways upstream and stripped down and sat in the creek to wash off. It was cool, but not cold and felt great. We had a beer and headed to a Bar in town so Joe could watch the Alabama game. We hung out for a bit and headed back to camp. I was so tired I went to bed before the game was even over.<br /><br />Pictures:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/PisgahSquirrelGap2008_8_30">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/PisgahSquirrelGap2008_8_30</a>#Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-40682117128777547322008-08-19T20:22:00.002-05:002008-09-02T21:07:27.658-05:00Bad Blogging: Time to play catchupWell 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-80296491233741033152008-08-02T15:43:00.003-05:002008-08-02T16:33:21.716-05:00Four laps of Oak. OK maybe just 2I carried my bike to the bike shop yesterday evening to schedule getting the rear hub fixed. They scheduled me for Monday, so I took my bike with me so I could ride for the weekend. I will have to get it back to them Sunday before they close, but I did manage to get a ride in today. At the bike shop I ran into Brendan and he said a few people were meeting Sun morning at 7:00 to ride. This is one reason I took the bike back. I was actually planning on meeting the Montevallo riders for a road ride as I though I would be without the Motolite. I am glad I kept it as I was wanting to ride at Oak.<br /><br />I was a few minutes late but met Brendan, Lee, Jay and Ted. Lee was talking crazy talk about doing 4 laps, and I thought I might be good for 3 so I said I would try to hang with him for as many as I could do. We rode a lap Clockwise and moved at a pretty good pace. We stopped to ride on or over just about every fallen tree near the trail. As we didn't start till almost 7:30, Brendan had to take off when we hit the Jeep trail to make it to work at 9. (I don't think he could have made it iin time unless he was flying. I wonder if he bailed out on the road or was late.) There was a fallen tree across the road near the green trail intersection on the top of the ridge. Lee was trying to cross it at a pretty high point and got caught in his pedals. He gouged his palm and I am sure was in pain the remainder of the ride. Ted showed me the hip jump coming down from bump where you can jump up on the wall to set you up for the turn. I attempted this and managed to get on the wall a bit. Definately something I can look forward to practicing going this direction. Ted had also set up a new log ride in foreplay that we tried to ride. I was only able to ride it successfully in one direction, so I will have to try again next time. At the parking lot, Lee's bike was not shifting well and we were unable to fix it, so he ran it by the bike shop.<br /><br />Me and Ted decided to do another lap as I was feeling pretty good at this point. We headed Counter-clockwise for this lap and he set set a good pace at the start. I started to lag behind climbing up quary road but pushed myself a bit harder than I should. I had to rest at the base of Blood rock but luckilly Mark came by and we chatted with him for a few minutes. This gave me a chance to rest and we headed on . I was feeling a bit better for a while and enjoyed the ride down the jeep trail. Ted picked up the pace and I started struggling a bit to keep up. He kept up the pace and I tried to keep up as best as could, but I could tell I was holding him back. I really started struggling on the Garret's Gulch climb but kept going and finally made it back to the parking lot. I really don't like being the slow one, but appreciated the ride and the motivation to push myself to ride faster. I definately need to do this more often and hopefuly I can get a it faster.<br /><br />I went to McAlisters after the ride as usual and met Steph for lunch. My legs (Hams) tried to cramp a few times while I was siting there so I had to keep my legs stretched out. I drank 3 glasses of tea trying to rehydrate. I got home and took a cool shower and feel much better now. I think three laps would have killed me, and am happy I quit at 2.<br /><br />Also: I put links to the pictures of the rides for the past few (that I had forgotten). All my public galleries can be seen here: <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm</a>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-8443758246844449832008-07-27T22:00:00.001-05:002008-08-02T16:42:37.454-05:00Ocoee Brush Creek Trail<div><br /><div>We woke up this morning and headed to the Ocoee Campground area so we could ride the <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6GuAYaUGI/AAAAAAAADi0/gh5bdwFRzlI/IMG_6209.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6GuAYaUGI/AAAAAAAADi0/gh5bdwFRzlI/IMG_6209.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>Brush creek trail. This time I remembered to pack some energy bars and we headed out. We took the trail beside the river up the Rafting center. Then we took the old copper trail which also paralleled the river. There were a lot of people <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6HrqEUHwI/AAAAAAAADkI/9zgMggsirDQ/IMG_6219.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6HrqEUHwI/AAAAAAAADkI/9zgMggsirDQ/IMG_6219.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>rafting and kayaking as it was a beautiful day. This part of the tail was nice and cool as the wind was cooled as it blew across the water. The next section was a short but steep climb. This part of the trail was a bit overgrown and I got my arms slightly torn up as some of the briers were crossing the trail and got me as I was leading the way. The top was a nice view and we stopped to catch out breath for a few minutes. The n<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6HNbw4B8I/AAAAAAAADjk/lv0lzCxJNfE/IMG_6215.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6HNbw4B8I/AAAAAAAADjk/lv0lzCxJNfE/IMG_6215.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>ext part was a roller coaster of a trail. It was about 7 miles of rolling, twisting fun. The tail finally ended up near a bridge crossing brush creek. There were some blackberries at the trail head and we enjoyed a few as we sat in the shade and relaxed <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6HB0ciysI/AAAAAAAADjM/77PXDq8DLkY/IMG_6212.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6HB0ciysI/AAAAAAAADjM/77PXDq8DLkY/IMG_6212.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>for a few minutes. I figured that we had a climb ahead of us as it seemed like we had been going downhill for most of the time. I took the lead and was cruising through the woods pretty good. I kept expecting a hill, but somehow it never came. I actually think the trail flowed a bit better this direction than the other. There was a small climb at the end, but this is definitely a trail I would recommend to others. We scooted down the section we had to climb earlier and rode back to the Whitewater Center. Mitch and Monty went in the gift shop and I payed around on some of the stairs and rocks. I found a <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6H9tEATrI/AAAAAAAADkY/KlZtWKn32Oo/IMG_6221.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6H9tEATrI/AAAAAAAADkY/KlZtWKn32Oo/IMG_6221.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>short section of 4 sets of stairs that I was able to ride up which I haven't tried to do since college. Made me feel good that I could still do it. The ride back to the c<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6IS00FjaI/AAAAAAAADkw/CfK8Q5lwOTM/IMG_6224.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6IS00FjaI/AAAAAAAADkw/CfK8Q5lwOTM/IMG_6224.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>ampground was nice and I got to watch some of the rafters going down the river as was riding beside it.<br /><br />When we got back Monty told us there was a shower and I decided I would make use of it instead of riding the 3 hours home in wet bike shorts. The shower was actually pretty cool as there was two shower heads. One was normal height and the other was waist high. Perverted thoughts aside, it worked great as I was able to get the dirt and grime off my legs much easier. I would really like to have a shower in my house <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6JhP6VHnI/AAAAAAAADmM/VzHV4SGlJ0c/IMG_6237.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6JhP6VHnI/AAAAAAAADmM/VzHV4SGlJ0c/IMG_6237.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>with multiple shower heads. Maybe someday I <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6J3fHqsCI/AAAAAAAADmo/cH2wYZuKbKs/IMG_6242.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6J3fHqsCI/AAAAAAAADmo/cH2wYZuKbKs/IMG_6242.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>can afford such luxuries. The drive home ended with a stop at McAlisters where I met Stephanie for dinner.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>Pictures: <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/BrushCreekTrail2008_7_27">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/BrushCreekTrail2008_7_27</a></div></div>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-41911722069005969092008-07-26T22:20:00.005-05:002008-08-02T16:46:50.433-05:00Racoon in the Rain<div><br /><br /><br /><div>Went up to Raccoon for Mitch's weekend trip. We met at Cracker Barrel in Trussville and it was raining pretty hard on the way there. I was pretty worried it would rain out our ride, but when <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6Lw-2pVTI/AAAAAAAADpk/bOd-SZlICb8/IMG_6201.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6Lw-2pVTI/AAAAAAAADpk/bOd-SZlICb8/IMG_6201.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>we got to Chattanooga it did not look too bad. We starter riding and went counter-clockwise from the visitor's center. It stated sprinkling on us, but only stayed a sprinkle the whole time we rode. I carried my camera, but it as so wet out I was afraid to get it out of the zip-lock bag. I had a pretty good ride as I didn't have any wrecks this trip and successfully dropped off the 3' rock on the one way section. I landed the slightest bit sideways and burped the air out of my tire. I was running pretty low pressure so I decided to put a bit more in it for the rest of the rid<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6L0z2b2zI/AAAAAAAADps/MN0IuhPmm7c/IMG_6202.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6L0z2b2zI/AAAAAAAADps/MN0IuhPmm7c/IMG_6202.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>e. I was shaking as I did this and it made me realize how I am still not completely comfortable jumping off stuff yet. I guess I will have to keep it up till it doesn't bother me anymore. We took a nice slow lap and stopped to play on a lot of stuff. We did swing by the log ride and rode across a few times, I rode across successfully and then started getting sloppy and had to jump off. I don't know what was wrong with me, but when I was trying to stop on the log and start back up again and locked the back tire and slid off and landed on my butt. I guess it was a little too wet to try that.<br /><br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6L3GwU6UI/AAAAAAAADp0/XJVMkU6GO3k/IMG_6203.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6L3GwU6UI/AAAAAAAADp0/XJVMkU6GO3k/IMG_6203.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>We then moved on the lower chunky section. This section was more difficult and being wet only made it more fun. I stopped to jump off one of the rocks a few times, but could not convince anyone else to try it. I thought for sure Jay would at least try it. We finished up this section and decided to lap the intestine section in the opposite direction we were going. This direction seemed to be much faster and have a better flow. I was scooting through pretty fast just trying to keep up with Jay and at one point came to a small drop with a stream going through it. I just jumped without thinking about it and cleared the water and almost cleared the whole dip. This is definitely something to look for next time I am there. Finally we finished out the loop with the climb up and then coasted down to the parking lot.<br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6L7wf5OtI/AAAAAAAADp8/XYj2S-5qlNY/IMG_6204.jpg?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI6L7wf5OtI/AAAAAAAADp8/XYj2S-5qlNY/IMG_6204.jpg?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a><br />We headed to the hotel and after checking in and taking a nice cool shower we headed out to get dinner. We decided on Big River Brewery and sampled a few of their beers while waiting for our food. I ended up getting a steak and it was quite tasty after a long day of riding. We headed out, but stopped at Sticky Fingers for another beer before heading back to the hotel. I tried a Sweetwater Blue (it was a Blueberry beer) and thought it was pretty good.</div><div> </div><div>Unfortunately, these are all the pictures I took.</div></div>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-3421409565951517002008-07-20T21:12:00.001-05:002008-08-02T16:57:07.332-05:00Hot at Hurricane<div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>We met at hurricane creek at 1:00 to check out the new stuff that they had built. It was only me, <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8RYA0VVNI/AAAAAAAADqo/LoJ6zoJIEGc/IMG_6138.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8RYA0VVNI/AAAAAAAADqo/LoJ6zoJIEGc/IMG_6138.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>Tommy, Lee, and Monty. We started into the trail and I heard a terrible sound behind me. I knew someone had crashed and immediately turned around and went back. Monty was about 30 feet down the hill. I sat in shock as he got up and said he though the was ok. It appeared he only had some minor scratches. After a little time to recover we headed on and went to the mountain bike race course. We rode up around and found the new 5' drop that he had built. I was not feeling it this early into the ride and decided I <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8RgHYyL-I/AAAAAAAADq4/lMp4ifOP5Zw/IMG_6140.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8RgHYyL-I/AAAAAAAADq4/lMp4ifOP5Zw/IMG_6140.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>might come back to it later. A short ride later we found the new structure right next to the wooden berm. It was pretty interesting to ride as it was pretty high even though it was plenty wide. We started off slow and finally after Lee rode the skinny I decided to try it. It is about 3' off the ground and is 12" wide. It is really intimidating just because of the height. I managed to make it even though I was really shakey. Another thing that made it difficult is that it is at a right angle off the wide part so you couldn't get lined up before going across. The second time I hit my helmet on the wood above it as I didn't duck enough. I still managed to make it without falling. I decided to ride around some and found a 3' drop on the course right up the trail. It had a ramp up and a short level section before ending. I jumped off the first time and came down on the front wheel a bit more than I wanted. It scared me a bit, but I didn't crash. I went back as there was a short gap jump that I really wanted to do. I looked at it quite a while before deciding to try it. I was told to be careful and not <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8Rrd22QMI/AAAAAAAADrQ/J6hgSkeuwwk/IMG_6145.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8Rrd22QMI/AAAAAAAADrQ/J6hgSkeuwwk/IMG_6145.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>pull up to hard because the bike could kick out due to the angle of the ramp. I gathered my nerves and headed down the ramp. I didn't pull up at all and was not really going as fast as I should have been. Anyway my back tire came down right on the edge of the landing ramp. If I had come up a inch or two shorter it would have been bad, but I did land it and stay on the bike. I checked to see if John (the guy who runs the place) had gotten a good picture and he said he <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8Ruz6Y-SI/AAAAAAAADrc/IS8aERaWLoA/IMG_6146.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8Ruz6Y-SI/AAAAAAAADrc/IS8aERaWLoA/IMG_6146.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>was waiting to get a picture of me crashing. I somehow felt insulted, but didn't mind that I had let him down. We finally headed on around the rest of the race course. I jumped off the 3' drop again and this time landed correctly. We circled on around and headed out to the top of the Gauntlet run. I went second as me and Lee wanted to ride the whole thing without dabbing. I made it all the way to the start of the woden section. I made it around the rock , but was going a bit fast and tried to hit the wood instead of hanging to the right. My front wheel dropped off the outside of the wood pathway and I had to put a foot down. I hiked back up to take pictures of everyone else coming down. We tried to stop at the dirt jump section. but it was soft dirt and we <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8R6L51E5I/AAAAAAAADr0/ctaUDjdK868/IMG_6150.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8R6L51E5I/AAAAAAAADr0/ctaUDjdK868/IMG_6150.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>couldn't really play on it. We rode across the skinny bridge and hiked the bikes up to the short loop on the other side of the valley. I ran out of water at this point, so I knew I wasn't going to last for much longer. We rode a lap and headed back down the mountain. I passed the rock as I decided I was doing to well and didn't want to wreck now. I rode back across the bridge again. I actually made it both directions over this bridge. I was unable to make it last time I came. I think having Lee there to set the bar helped encourage me. I had to try after I saw him make it. Lastly we rode across the <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8R_4yloxI/AAAAAAAADsE/WU6cUbjjgjQ/IMG_6154.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8R_4yloxI/AAAAAAAADsE/WU6cUbjjgjQ/IMG_6154.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>normal bridge (about 18-24" wide) and rested at the picnic area before trying the hill. We finally headed to the hill and I locked out my shocks as well as dialing my front down to 110. I went ahead and put it in a low gear and followed Lee up the hill. He made it about 3/4 of the way before wheelieing off the side of the trail. Somehow I made it to where he was and was so tired I was about to quit, but he was yelling encouragement and I managed to make it all the way to the top. It took me about 10m minutes to recover afterwards, but I actually made it. Lee went back down to the bottom to try again and I couldn't believe he had the energy to even try. He rode all the way to the top this time. I definately owe him a beer as I <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8SN3sF88I/AAAAAAAADsc/iNzOKqBvvA8/IMG_6157.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8SN3sF88I/AAAAAAAADsc/iNzOKqBvvA8/IMG_6157.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>promised anyone who could ride it a beer. We went on back to the entrance and watched some helmet cam videos that some of the other riders took while we cooled off. After a nice beverage in the parking lot we headed back home. I don't know if I want to ride there again till it cools down a bit. Most of the time my clothes were so wet it looked like I <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8SR7wTfSI/AAAAAAAADsk/0jSMA1RJD9o/IMG_6158.JPG?imgmax=1024"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/grundcm/SI8SR7wTfSI/AAAAAAAADsk/0jSMA1RJD9o/IMG_6158.JPG?imgmax=1024" border="0" /></a>had just gotten out of a pool. my clothes were so saturated they were dripping. I weighed when I got back home and I had lost over 5 pounds. Me and Steph decided to go to Longhorn and get a steak to help me recover.<br /><br />Check out Tommy's blog as I know he has some video's up of a few things. I am going to have to see if he got any other videos. I wil have to get picture up later as this is the first chance I have even got to Blog about it.</div><div> </div><div>Pictures: <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/HurricaneCreek2008_7_20">http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/HurricaneCreek2008_7_20</a></div></div>Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239263378456548710.post-70669288759690892882008-07-19T23:59:00.001-05:002008-07-24T21:12:10.540-05:00Like a kid againThe day started out nice as I was able to get up early enough to meet some of the other BUMP folks at Oak mountain. I got there only a few minutes after 7 and they waited on me to get started. We rode a lap clockwise and I was feeling pretty good. We got back to the parking lot a little late and missed the group that was meeting at 9. I talked them into going the reverse direction for the second lap (counter-clockwise). We headed up <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">johnson's</span> mountain and I could feel the heat getting to me a little. I actually noticed a bit of difference as I came to the rocky section leading up to Blood rock. I climbed this in a bigger gear than I have in a while. I don't know if this was just due to not riding Oak in a while, or the road biking making a slight difference. Once again I tried to climb blood rock. I am going to try Joe's method some day of getting enough speed to carry you up the first section, but today I just tried to use technique to climb it. I almost got to the tree, but once again I got stuck. We got to the top of the mountain and met up with the 9:00 riders. After a short rest we headed down the hill and finished out the lap. I was slightly debating doing a third as I was feeling <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ok</span>. I didn't really want to ride by myself so I sat and had a tasty beverage out of a plastic cup in the parking lot. Joe pulled up and was going to ride a lap, but I knew I would just slow him down so I headed to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">McAlisters</span> to get some food. I sat outside as I was pretty sweaty so as not to disgust any of their other customers.<br /><br />I talked to Joel and decided to meet him at his house to head to Bottle Tree. I had never been to his house before and he lives on the mountain beside downtown <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bham</span>. He collects old bicycles and I spent a good bit of time just looking at all the bikes he had. He also gave me some of the beer he made and it was really good. The only other person I know who made beer was in college and it was not the best. We waited for one of his friends and headed down to the bar. I took the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">IndyFab</span> and I have to say I was not very comfortable. They would haul ass down the hills and through the intersection and I was so busy trying to pick a line to avoid the bad road I kept falling behind. I was still a little uncomfortable on the road bike. We got <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">there</span> and had a beer and ate. I was really impressed by how good the food was. they had <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Cajun</span> sweet potato fries that were really good. I will probably go back just for those. We hung around for a few give aways (they were giving away shirts, and bike stuff) before deciding to head out. It was pretty late(for me that is past 10) and we put the lights on the bikes. I wanted to ride around some and everyone else wanted to also. We followed Joel around downtown and just had fun. He took us on a tour of some of the art as well as riding up a ramp and through a parking deck. I started feeling much more comfortable on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">bike</span> and started hopping on and off the curb (this sounds crazy as 3' drops don't bother me on the mountain bike). We finally headed up 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">th</span> street to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Vulcan</span>. This was a pretty steep hill and I used granny gear on my bike for the first time. We rode down <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Vulcan</span> trail that is on the edge of the mountain overlooking the city. It was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">awesome</span> and the moon was near full, so I turned my light out and rode for a short time by moonlight. We headed back to Joel's house and I headed home. I really enjoyed this ride and would <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">definitely</span> do it again.Sandalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479006851454803872noreply@blogger.com0