Fast Lap

Well, I just got home from a ride to set up the Fish for the race this weekend. The Bike is a Gary Fisher HiFi Carbon that Cahaba let me borrow while mine is being fixed. I seriously doubt I will have mine back by Friday, and I wanted to at least get a rough tune on the suspension before I end up in a pack of people trying to descend a technical section. I roughly set up the rear at 150psi and the front at 90 psi. I took off into the trail heading counter clockwise and don't know exactly what got into me, but I set off on a pretty good pace. The front was bouncing everywhere so I kept decreasing the rebound. I was relatively happy with the rear (a bit stiff but ok) with the rebound in the middle. I saw Omar and a few other serious racer types getting ready for Bump N Grind as they were all making good time going the opposite direction from me. I got to Blood rock a little before 30 minutes, so I knew this could be a decent lap, so I pushed myself a bit. I finally realized that the rebound became better by tuning the dial more toward the +. I still was not particularly fond of the shock as I headed down the Jeep trail. I just let the Titus go and point where i want to go. This bike would bounce around a lot and not absorb as much. I decided I needed less air in the shock, but I was not going to stop. I could have probably run this section at least 1-2 minutes faster on my bike as I was going pretty slow. I ended up slightly shouldering a tree between Chimney ad the BMX track as I was trying to go a little faster. I pushed myself and got back to the parking lot and I was amazed at the time. I had run a 1:27:12!! This is a good minute faster than my fastest recorded time so I a quite happy. Also my average heart rate was 177 with a max of 196. I tried to keep the max down a bit (i have seen as high as 202 when I was pushing really hard) and was surprised the average was so high. I think this is close to my max time as far as pedaling, so I have a ways to go to get in the hour teens. I am pretty happy but I just got through weighing this bike and it is ballpark 26 lbs even (on the bathroom scale) which is a little less than 2 lbs lighter than mine (27.8). I could feel a slight difference during the ride and it makes me want to lose a bit of weight off of mine.

Biking on the road?

After going to bed at 7 last night (I really do need my 8 hours of sleep and I was lacking after the trip to Mobile and Atlanta) I was feeling much better. I carried the Crown Jewel (Road Bike) to work today in hopes I would be able to get away in time to make the Watermelon ride at Oak Mountain. I was able to leave and got there a bit early. I got ready and decided against wearing the camelback as I knew we had to be back before 7 and that limited the ride to about an hour or so. I really didn’t know what to expect but Barbara suggested I ride with Cal so I took off with them. I have never riddent his bike on the road before (other than the test ride that was just up an alley and back). It felt really good and I was a lot more comfortable than I thought. We were moving at a pretty comfortable pace and with the weather very nice, the ride was very comfortable and relaxing. I noticed I was very comfortable and had no trouble with any of the climbs (yes I was actually a bit worried as the bike is geared differently.

A couple of things I noticed on this ride:
For some reason I seemed to fall behind on the descents. Even if I was tucked down and Cal was sitting up, I would not gain on him at all.
I also was getting a bit sore in the arms and shoulders. This may just be because I am not used to the riding hand position. I tried to keep my shoulders and elbows loose, but I think I may be stretched out just a bit too far. I will have to ride more to see.
Lastly, I think I could stand to have a larger gear. This is not something I will be changing at any time in the near future, but I may check to see what my options are. I was wishing for one more gear a few times, but I may just need to get use to spinning at a slightly higher RPM.

I had an excellent time and will definitely go for a few more rides. I can definitely see how it would be easier to train on a road bike. My average HR for this ride was 140 for an average speed of slightly over 15 mph. This is significantly less than a normal Mountain Bike ride. I think I have a bit more, but I don’t know how much, so I will have to go on a few more rides to see.

Sending back the bike

Ran the bike by Cahaba Cycles tonight and dropped it off. Chris told me Titus had thought they would have it done in 2 weeks or less. He also tried to loan me a Fish Hi-Fi, but I didn’t want to take it as I am about to go out of town and I see no reason for it to just sit at my house since I will not be able to ride it. I think I will wait till I get back and see what the status is. If I will not have the Titus back before the race, I will probably take the Hi-Fi to Oak for at least one lap to get it set up right and get a feel for it. I was thinking about riding the Botanical gardens ride, but I ma so tired I think I am going to just go home and go to sleep.

Showing Crack

Just a quick update. Here are a few pictures of the crack. I called Chris Leven at Cahaba Cycles and he assured me they would take care of it. He said I could take it to any store, so I e-mailed Chris Storie at the Pelham store letting him know I was planning on bringing it back to him Tuesday Night.

Nice Double but a bit of trouble

Well, I did end up missing the first lap at 8:00 as there was no way I was getting up at 6:45. I would have made it to Oak around 9:40 however after I had to turn around and drive back because I forgot my jersey I ended up getting there about 5 after 10. Linda and Mitch were getting back from their first lap just as I was getting there. I got ready and we took off heading Counter-Clockwise. Linda had never ridden this direction and was willing to give it a try. We cruised around the loop and I was feeling better than I thought for riding yesterday and not getting my regular 8+ hours of sleep. I also had to tape and bandage up my wound from yesterday’s wreck and I was afraid it would slow me down as I could feel it whenever I bent my leg, but after I got going I did not notice it anymore. We finished up the lap and I ate a bit today. After yesterday’s cramps, I knew I needed to eat between laps. After a quick snack Mal rode up. Monty and I decided to ride our second lap with him. We headed out for a clockwise lap. Mal set the pace pretty quick and it was about perfect for pushing me a bit, but still keeping me from wearing myself out. We made it to the North trailhead in about 41 minutes. This is just a few minutes behind one of my best times. We headed up the jeep trail and I could tell Mal was taking it a bit easy as he was turning a bigger gear than me (and the fact I was huffing and puffing at a few points when he was barely breaking a sweat). We cruised on down to blood rock and down to the base of Johnson’s mountain. Monty decided to head on back at this point and I was surprised that I was feeling pretty good and had no signs of cramping. We cruised on through this last section and for some reason I usually feel really good and like to push myself from here to the end. Mal continued to set a nice pace and we finished in the high 1:30’s riding time. I think we stopped for about 10 minutes, but I felt really good about such a quick second lap. I drank a beer in the parking lot while we relaxed. Monty was going to go to Chipotle to eat and I decided to try it instead of my usual McAlisters. It remided me of Moe’s when I first saw it, but the food was really good.

I got home and washed my bike as I finally had a little time and it was filthy since Saturday’s ride. As I was drying it off I found a crack in the frame. It is in the titanium part where the rear pivot connects right above the bottom bracket. I snapped a few pictures, but I have to go to Atlanta tonight and will not be back till Tuesday, so I will have to handle it then. I am a bit worried as I wanted to do the DSG race on the 3rd, but I am afraid it will take them a while to get it fixed and I may not have it back in time.

Saturday ride

Today, I met Ted at 8:30 for a “quick” lap. We have both been wanting to ride with someone faster because I want to get my lap time down a bit. Ted started off and said we were warming up slow, however I thought we were moving pretty good. After camp road he said we were going to pick up the pace. I tried to keep up, but I was slipping and sliding around on the roots and muddy turns. Ted seemed to not even notice them as he slowly pulled further and further away. I finally started trying to close the distance on the straight aways. Well, I shouldn’t have, because I hit one of the bridges and next thing I knew I was on the ground. Most of the time, I can feel the bike starting to slide and easily recover, or at least have time to put a foot down for balance. This time I went from riding to a pile on the ground instantly. I knew I hit pretty hard and must have yelled because Ted stopped. I had to recover myself for a minute because it was a little disoriented. I really didn’t check myself but just jumped on the bike and started riding again. We got to the North trailhead and somehow we were about 3 minutes slower than I wanted to be. ( I think it was because we rode the road pretty slowly because I felt like we were moving through the first part pretty fast).
I slowly recovered on the climb and was able to hit the steep sections with a bit of energy. We rode on and descended blood rock. I was a little cautious because of the wreck, but we scooted on down and reached Johnson’s Mountain. I pushed it pretty good but every time I looked back Ted was right there. We finished on out and I saw Joe, Lee, Joel, and Brennon on the parking lot about to ride. I decided I would try to keep up and turned to ask Ted if he wanted to do another. At this point I realize he had not come out of the woods yet. I knew he was behind me at the beginning of Toads so I started back to check on him. He came out of the woods right as I got there and his chain had broken on him. He decided not to do the second lap so I refilled the camelback and ate a pack of sport beans. I had not really planned on riding two because I had a wedding to go to tonight in Mobile so I knew I had to be back. Since it was 10:15 and I had to leave the park at 12: 30 I figured I had time. I did not bring anything to eat between laps like I usually do. This ended up getting me later.

We headed Counter Clockwise and rode Mr. Toads before Lee’s friend realized he dropped his phone. We rode back and Lee found it near the entrance to the trail. We headed out again and amazingly I was able to keep up. At the end of Johnson’s, Lee and his friend decided they were going to head back and get in some rock climbing. The remainder of us headed on up to blood rock. I had to put the front in granny for this climb, but I managed to stay on the bike. Joe managed to make it almost all the way up the Blood rock section even with all the water. He only got caught on one of the top rock steps past the toughest part. I have never seen anyone ride up it before, so I was pretty impressed.

We stopped to play on the log at the top of the BUMP trail for a while and talked to a couple of riders from Tuscaloosa. Cruising on up to the top of the mountain (where the sign is) I realized I was running short on time. It was almost 12:00 so I headed on by myself. The trail was in much better shape than this morning and had dried out a good bit. I was still being cautious on the bridges but for some strange reason my brain did not register the log as being slick. I tried to ride across it, but apparently got too far to one side and the front tire slid off. Generally this is no big deal as you ride right off, but when the front slid off, the back followed suit and I ended up on the ground again. I jumped back on the bike and finished out the trail. I cleaned myself up and went down to the BUMP pavilion since today was the day of the Spring Social. I grabbed one of the homade cookies, but as I was late (it was about 1:00 and I was supposed to be home at 1) I didn’t grab anything else to eat.

When I got home I finally assessed the damage from the wreck. I knew my hip was bruised pretty bad because it was hurting, but when I looked at it I have a huge section that looked like road rash. I managed to scratch the bottom of my arm as well as my right leg has tire marks all down my inner thigh. I really found out how bad it was when I got in the shower. I have not felt pain that bad in a while.
I am on my way home and it looks like it will be 1 before I get home. I may not make it to Oak at 7:45 for the ride tomorrow. I think I may just join Monty at 10 and see if he wants to ride 2 laps then.

Thursday Ride

Now that the time has changed, I am able to ride after work. I met Moran toady out on the trail and he was going to check his baseline time to see where he stood. We headed clockwise and Brian started off with pretty good pace. The trail was a bit dusty and I was sliding in the turns a bit, but otherwise the weather was perfect. It is nice to ride in the afternoons again. For some reason I always feel more relaxed on these afternoon rides. (could be because I am limited to one lap and don’t have to feel guilty for not riding more). We rode around with not much issue. We turned a 1:52:30 lap with a small wreck where Brian’s handlebars caught a tree. We got back before the park police need to hassle us for being in the park after 7. I can’t wait till they change it to 8 so I don’t have to worry about it.