Time Trial

I don't want to make this bicycle thing into something competitive but I thought I'd give the Munson time trial a shot just to see how an old man can do against a group of (much younger)guys that ride and race a lot. TMBA had a tent and clocks set up at the benches, you gave them your dollar and they set you up to go in 1 minute intervals based on how fast they thought you were, I was slotted last with only the guy running the TT behind me. For some reason I was nervous at the start, I mean it's just for fun but still.

After starting dirt bike races the quiet after he said "go" was unnerving. I started off in too low a gear and ended up shifting like crazy for the first 100 yards. Trying to ride fast at Munson made everything look different as I missed corners and had to get hard on the brakes for unexpected trail twists. About 10 minute in I began to feel like I needed to burp which turned into feeling like I wanted to puke. Why does the bike do that (I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with that burrito I had for lunch)? It took another 10 minutes for that to go away but I was panting like a dog on a hot day.

I didn't finish with the slowest time which was like winning for me. I don't see how those guys go so fast. I did win the award (only in my mind) for being the oldest rider which isn't unusual.

I'll do it again, it was fun, and I enjoy the challenge. I got a tip after the ride that I should try using the big ring at Munson so next time maybe I can cut a little time off.

Full Moon

The night ride at Munson was a let down at first since only 4 of us rode but it turned out to be a treat.

Rupe wanted to try the bar mounted light instead of running the helmet mount. He didn't like the way the battery felt in his jersey so we put the light on and took a trial run. Good thing we did because before we even got to the benches it had rotated around on the bars. Back to the truck we plugged in the helmet light and after it got dark he was really glad he had that light even though the battery seemed to weight 2 lbs. it put out an amazing amount of light, more than my little Night Rider. As they say when the sun goes down "you can never have enough light".

We plugged in the lights about 1/4 of the way around Munson and enjoyed the 78 degree temperatures along with all the night sounds of the forest. We did a lap of Munson then Chuck peeled off at the benches and the three of us did Tall Pine and back around counter clock wise for a 13 mile ride.

It felt weird driving home at 10:30 at night it seemed like it took us an hour to drive the 20 miles home. We hit the sack at 12:00 and slept till 9:30 Sunday morning. Night riding was tiring just concentrating on that little beam of light not to mention the pedaling.

Bob Marley is hardcore when it comes to the MTB thing but his flashlight set up made him glad to ride behind Rupe and vampire off his light.

Thanks to Giant for lending us his lights and I hope we get to do this again maybe with a few more people.

4 Rides

A good week on the bike!

Saturday at Forest Meadows on the new Silk Trail (I have no idea why they call it that).

Sunday by myself at Tom Brown where I ran into Speedracer running his rock climbing RC truck down by the mother of all playgrounds. That was pretty amazing to watch.

Tuesday at FM again with the TMBA crew for a "kids ride". Met some nice folks and had a good ride. It's more fun with more people. Rupe seemed to enjoy finally riding with someone close to his own age. The single track was slick on the rooty sections so we stuck to the multi-use for most of the ride.

Wednesday out at Twilight with Bob Marley and Jwheeldeal. It was 99 on my truck thermometer as I turned off of Capital Circle but the sky was blue and around 7:00 we had a little breeze so all in all a good ride. Jwheeldeal is sporting a new ride. Twilight is like a road bike ride, you rarely stop pedaling, if it's not sandy it's up hill but you never seem to find the downside. Makes for a good workout.

Rupe and I are planning on riding the TMBA night ride at Munson this Saturday. Haven't ridden with lights since the winter so it should be interesting!

The Mountains (Tsali)

I usually do too much on my time off. Try to cram a lot into the days. This works good for me but it's sometimes hard on the fam. During our trip to North Carolina we rode off road bicycles Monday and Thursday, rode the Cades Cove Loop on bicycles while it was closed to cars Wednesday, and hiked 6 miles up and down a mountain on Tuesday. We enjoyed every minute of it but we come home tired, not rested and refreshed like you should feel after a week off.

It sounds like I'm complaining but I'm not. The off road rides were both at Tsali which is near our base of Bryson City N. C. Good trails along the edge of Fontana Lake. The first day we rode the Right Loop which had more shelf trail than I remembered and that made for a few anxious moments. There was only 1 rocky climb we couldn't clear until we got to the Windy Point Overlook where the combination of shelf, rocks, slope, and roots got the best of me and I went to hike a bike. 13 miles in the mountains is a lot more work than covering the same mileage here.

The other off road day at Tsali was on trails we had never ridden before, Mouse and Thompson. Mouse had an overlook option which had us walking on an up hill and bull dogging a couple of rocky loose downhills. The switch backs just spook me. The rest of the trail was easier than Right Loop with a good amount of lake side trail and not much shelf. After a lunch stop Rupe and I left T at the trail head and did Thompson which was an absolute blast, good flow, and not near as technical as the other sections.

All in all a great trip. I'd recommend Tsali to any beginning rider with the advice to take your time and enjoy the scenery. We've been there two years in a row now and haven't ridden all the trail yet. Faster riders could easily do 2 loops in a day. The location has some excellent places to eat and stay without the crowds that come with all the tourist crap that's on the North side of the Smoky Mountain National Park.

Greenway Again

Another 15.2 miles of the Greenway done a little bit faster than we did it last time, which made it a little bit more enjoyable.

We joined a father and son team for the ride and we all had a good time. Both exhibited skills neither Rupe or I could duplicate. Nice people.

It was as nice an afternoon as we get here in June with temperates in the low 90s and not much humidity. The woods sections had a sweet smell to them that you don't notice when the humidity is up.

We stopped for Smoothies on the way home and saw Giant and Little Berg coming home from their ride. I could have gone on 3 different MTB rides last night, sigh, when it rains it pours. Bob Marley went to TB and Alford while Giant and Blank went on the big east loop with the fast crowd. Maybe next time, I feel an obligation to go with Rupe and see if we can find a group that has riders more his age. He says he doesn't mind riding with old men but I think he'd enjoy somebody his age.

A Little Longer Ride

I'm in the mood for a longer ride without doing laps of the same trail and since I'm a noob at this MTB stuff I laid out a route, that on paper anyway, looks interesting. I know there are trail systems in Tallahassee that I haven't ridden that can make up a longer ride but riding in town doesn't seem as appealing to me as the ANF does. My proposed route starts at the St. Marks trail head, makes it's way over to the Silver Lake Rec. area in about 15 miles, then a loop down to Springhill, back across on LL Wallace, across 319 , onto the St. Marks trail, back to Munson, and back to the trail head. All in all about 40 miles which should make up a good half days ride IF the roads are all passable. I can resupply water at Silver Lake and at Trout Pond if necessary.

Well what do you think? Anybody up for something like this? No? Well I think I'll wait till it gets a little hotter around the end of June and give this a try.

It Does Rain on Munson!

Company kept me off the bike Saturday but I decided to give it a shot Sunday after church. After looking at the radar I figured the only place that wouldn't be muddy was the forest and it looked like the rain heading that way was going to be light. I had all my electronics charged and just in case I stuffed a baggie in my camel back.

There were few cars at the trail head and no sign of any off road bikes. I talked to a gentleman who I had ridden with a couple of weeks ago who was on his road bike and had just gotten back from St. Marks he said they had ridden through some heavy rain and lightning.

The sand was packed on Paper Cup and I plugged my MP3 in as I made a left on Munson. I picked up the West Conn. and after a half mile it started to sprinkle. I could see the black cloud building to the West and the wind had picked up but no lightning or thunder. I turned right when I hit Twilight since I wasn't as confident in my weather predictions as I had been when I left the house and the rain started to get harder. Okay I thought, this is not a monsoon, if it gets any harder though I'll need to stop and put my music in the baggie. Well it got harder, a lot harder, so hard it hurt. I stuffed my keys and MP3 in the bag and pedaled on slowly. Sometimes these showers can be refreshing but not this one. The rain felt warm, and never really cooled me off.

After 20 minutes it stopped and the sun came out.

I've worked in the Florida woods my whole career and I'll admit I'm getting a little older but I don't remember ever being as hot as I was after that sun hit the ground. Everything I had on was soaked. Even moving it felt like I was riding under water in a hot bath, no make that a hot tub. I finished the North half of Twilight, rode across Munson onto Luge, turned right on Munson and looped back to the benches at the intersection of Munson, Short Cut, and Paper Cup. By this time I had cooled off a little so I rode Short Cut then left on Munson and back around again. I plugged the music back in and got in as much of a groove as I ever do. It's nice to ride the trail when it's packed like that.

At the end of 15.6 miles I was out of water and my fingers were pruned, and I could see another black cloud building in the West, so I headed back to the trail head. I told myself if somebody was there to ride with I'd fill up the camel back and go again. The parking lot was empty. I changed in the steaming hot sun, opened a cold Monster, then let the AC run. Welcome to the jungle!

Barbed Wire

Another Wednesday evening ride at Forest Meadows with Rupe and the Giant. We started on Overstreet, down the secret trail to the multi use around the lake, back to Overstreet, onto Rootbug, down to Lake Jackson on the multi use and back to Rootbug. A 13.65 mile loop in about 100% humidity.

On the long downhill before the soccer fields Giant and I were ahead of Rupe, we passed a young lady running, and when we got to the soccer field parking lot Rupe was no where to be seen. I doubled back and when I met the jogger I asked if she'd seen another bike. She said "you mean the one that crashed?". Turns out Rupe had somehow gotten a strand of barbed wire wrapped around his rear cassette and into his derailleur right as he reached terminal velocity on the downhill and just as he passed the young lady running. As the back wheel suddenly stopped turning Rupe slid down the lime rock road and managed to reach the edge before going down. Nothing hurt but his pride as the runner stopped to see if he was alright. It's tough being 14 and falling right in front of a pretty girl.

By the time we reached him he was pushing up the hill still shaking. I bent the derailleur back close to in line but it was enough to allow him to peddle back to the truck. Looks like Sunshine will get some business today.

The Long Weekend

I was able to feed my bicycle addiction over the long holiday weekend. Saturday morning I got up early and was at the Munson trail head by 7:15. My goal was to do at least 25 miles and be back at the house before noon and I was able to accomplish both.

Does it ever rain on Munson? Parts of the trail were like beach sand. The feds have done a good job on the trail reconstruction even though I miss some of the sections they took out. Twilight has some new reroutes that have only been mowed and flagged and they were a little soft and hard to follow but it'll pack in.

I was almost finished with my loop when I ran into Wheeldeal and a friend at the soon to be demolished kiosk. He's the only person I've met who actually reads this blog and I was very flattered that he took the time. After telling me he enjoyed reading it he added "of course I'm not going to spend time out of my life reading about yours" which I thought was very prophetic. I enjoy reading other blogs and I had to wonder why do I like to read about other peoples lives?

Sunday we joined the TMBA group for a beginner/intermediate trail ride on the Miccosukee Greenway. I was a little apprehensive about taking the fam for their first group ride as I wasn't sure how accepting the group would be of our varied skill levels but as it turned out it wasn't a problem. Everybody was very cordial and even though some of us had trouble keeping up nobody complained. I was surprised how well some of the "beginners" could keep a pace. The Greenway was more of an off road road ride, not much single track and quite a few long hills but still a nice ride. The 15 miles we rode took a little over 2 hours. Rupe had the only spill I got to see as he neglected to unclip from both pedals and of course fell to the clipped in side; right in front of the whole group. I could see the look on his face as he realized he was going down. Nothing hurt but his pride. We ate lunch at Los Amigos on the porch under the speaker blaring modern country music "fangs, fur, and hot country" my gosh who listens to that crap?

I was looking forward to a relaxing Sunday afternoon which became completely impossible when the fire pager went off and I spent 3 hours at a structure fire. We managed to save most of the house. We've really improved, 5 years ago we would have probably lost the whole thing.

Monday I woke up at 5:00 and decided to hit Root Bug and explore the trails on the Overstreet side. I love a good cup of coffee on my way to a ride but my early morning glow was dimmed when I realized I had left my MP3 on the charger at the house and hadn't charged my Garmin. After my initial aggravation subsided I got into the rhythm of the ride and didn't miss either toy.

After the ride, as I was loading up, a couple was making their way towards the Red Bug trail head tentatively trying to decide where they should enter. They appeared to be new to the sport and it looked like their first time on the Bug. I hope they had a good ride, that place could be rough on true beginners.