Testing, Testing, Is This Thing On?

Saturday was test day.  A 20 min. time trial on a flat course after 30 min. of warm up.  I chose the Bloxham Cutoff as it was the flattest long road I could find.  Plus I figured traffic would be light.  Parking at the Trout Pond facility in the Apalachicola National Forest wasn't a problem, I've never seen more than 2 cars there.  That's kind of a shame as the place is set up nice with bathrooms and good drinking water, not to mention picnic tables and a lake with a dock.  The paved "trail" that leaves from there makes for a pretty ride.  Unfortunately it just goes about 2.5 miles and stops.  Could be why the parking lot is empty?

In that 2.5 miles you won't have to worry about running off the "trail".  Five foot high aluminium barriers separate you from certain...well...let's say scratches.  This would be soooo much more interesting if they'd made some kind of loop out of it.

Anyhoo, I did the test which was about as much fun as it sounds.  Then rolled back to the truck easy, thinking about how un believable it was to be riding in 72 degree weather in January.  If it didn't get blisteringly hot during the summer we'd be up to our armpits in people down here.  Sometimes I think we already are.  I had the urge to get off the bike and roll in the pine straw like a happy dog but fear of chiggers kept me from indulging.

                                                         

Night Time

Saturday night we went to Johnny Ringo's to watch Terry's band Neil Alday and Further South perform.  The music was great.  It had been years since I spent that much time in a real bar.  Even longer since I saw so many cowboy hats.  I thought I had been zapped back to the 80's. 

Sunday

I rode alone Sunday also.  That's the problem with the OMTP  it doesn't always match the crew ride set up for the weekend so I end up solo, which isn't always a bad thing.  Riding by myself doesn't necessarily mean I had the trail to myself.  Being as it was another pretty day walkers, joggers, dogs, and other cyclists were out in force on the north side.  I almost wore my bell out.  How (or why) they get those foo foo dogs way back in the middle of Cambodia I'll never know.

Don't Want to be a Fat Man

I'm a little frustrated with my weight at the moment.  On the days after the OMTP has me in the gym I mysteriously gain a half a pound.  No, no Big Meat pizza or extra beer consumption.  In fact I am taking in less calories (starting after last weekend) than I normally do.  Maybe it's all this awesome muscle I'm building?  Zac seems to always notice how tight my shirts are.



"Wow, doesn't the old man look buff!"

 

 

 

 

Zac's dog seems to have issues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amsterdam

I'm thinking about a long clay ride around the Amsterdam property now that hunting season is over with.  Maybe some kind of a race?  Unofficial of course.  No money.  Sometime after the 4 wheeler event the first of March?  Interested?

Big Meat

Photo cred. Zac

Saturday was supposed to be an hour of skills and then 1.5 hours of zone 2.  Ah, the OMTP is a wicked master.  I left the Higher Ground parking lot alone and rolled over to Cambodia to session the little rooty climb on the back side.  The coaches instructions were to ride a section that I was not smooth over and to keep riding it "till I rode it like a pro".  Now if I did that I'd still be there.  But I managed to make a little circle out of it, and the next climb, and got to where I could get through it.  It's funny though the more you do something over and over the harder it seems to get.

I crossed the road to Red Bug and bumped into Paul who was down with a little skills work, so we sessioned some more rooty sections until I fell over.  We then just rode the normal Torture Loop before heading back to HG.

 

 

 

Once back at the shop I was hungry even after downing a bottle of Endurox recovery drink.  I could smell the pizza at Momos.  I tried to resist but it was futile.  I brought the huge slice back to the shop.  That's when Ryan mentioned that the beer keg was full and cold.  Once again my resistance was low and I poured myself a glass.  The pizza was loaded with all kinds of pork products (hey, that's like a paleo diet right?) and loaded with cheese.  My mouth's watering now just thinking about it.  The beer went down like spring water.

Unfortunately apparently beer and Endurox don't mix well, as I soon discovered.  I had a company function to attend in a couple of hours, complete with a full prime rib dinner, and more beer. 

I won't go into the details here, suffice to say it wasn't a pleasant evening for me.  My stomach moved around like a scene from Alien.  I was not in a happy place.

Photo cred. Zac

Sunday morning came quick.  When the crew schedules rides they tend not to care that I have 30 minuets more to travel than they do.  That's the cross I bear for the pleasure of living in Beautiful Downtown Havana.  Anyhoo, I made the 9 am roll time from Joe's with seconds to spare.  I always whine about riding my CX bike through Tallahassee but this ride took me places I'd never been.  Very little dirt but still quite enjoyable.  However I utterly failed to keep my tempo up to the prescribed level.  It was such a beautiful day and the company was so pleasant I just got lost in the ride.

Big Worm lets me have the finish at San Felasco.  Unlike last year.  The kid rolls his first 50 in 2013.

This will probably be the reason I get stomped in the Georgia Series this year, but every now and then you've just got to say; what the heck.

Darkness Darkness

 

I set out on a short ride last night.  As usual I had trouble getting everything together and was rushed to get in the truck.  The OMTP called for an hour in zone 2-3 with no stops.  I am still sketchy about the Quincy loop after my Yukon run-in last week so I decided to do what I call the Farm Loop on my CX bike.

It looked like an easy hour when I laid it out on Map My Ride.  18 miles, mostly dirt roads, sunset at 6.  What could go wrong?  I had a blinky light on the seat post and a headlight in the truck just in case.  The route is mostly on private land, hunting season ended last weekend so the woods are deserted.  Nobody to chase me on 4-wheelers hollering "what da hell ya doin up har?"  I left the truck tucked down a little two track road at a little after 5.

The weather was perfect, 72 and cloudy.  The county road had just been graded so it was as smooth as pavement.  Apparently the deer hunters didn't do a very good job.  Deer were as abundant as squirrels.  I was concerned one might run me over.  Hey, it's happened.  I have never seen so many of those four legged bush maggots scurrying about.

 

Anyhoo I reached the northern most point of the loop and noticed it was looking a little dark.  Oh, no problem, I've got my..., oh hell, I left the headlight in the truck.  Which was by now a good half hour behind me.  If you're not over 50 you don't have any idea how hard it is to see in fading light.  I decided to do a reroute and take a power line road back to the paved road.  This road is usually wet but it hasn't rained in weeks right?

Not only did I miss estimate the amount of water on the road, I failed to correctly calculate how long it would take me to ride the mushy, muddy mess.  I finally made it to the paved road as darkness settled in completely.

Now folks up in these woods are not accustomed to seeing old white guys wearing Lycra with little flashing red lights on bicycles after dark.  Or anytime for that matter.  I could hear the roar of mud grips approaching, the driver slowed way down, then eased around me, I could see faces pressed against the window, mouths hanging open, as they passed.  The 3 foot law is apparently not enforced in Georgia, I was glad they were going so slow since they were so close.  I can just imagine how the conversation was going in that truck; "Deddy, why's that there ole man aridin hes bike away out har in the dark?"  "Ain't he got no brains?"

I managed to make it back to the truck ok.  Even if I did have to creep along the two track at a crawl.

 

San Felasco was great this year.  I enjoyed it more than in years past.  The single track seemed more fun.  No cramps except for in the restaurant after the ride where I almost knocked over the waitress jumping up out of my chair.

Cramps are sure fun for everybody who isn't having them.

And you can still have an adventure in South Georgia, just wait till it gets dark.

Little Pink Houses

 

Southwood, where the houses aren't little or pink.  A planned subdivision on the south side of Tallahassee it has a little bit of everything.  Sort of an engineered small town.  You could live in Beautiful Downtown Havana and have the real thing.  We rolled through there on the nature trail (no, Havana doesn't have one of those) on the way to Munson from Tom Brown.  I wonder what some of these folks do for a living who live in these upper class neighborhoods.  Anyhoo it was a good ride on a winters day.

As prescribed by the OMTP I needed to put in 1.5 hours of moderate pedaling last Tuesday so I decided to do what I call the Quincy loop.  It's mostly paved with a short clay road section so I took the cross bike.  I was just riding along on the bike path next to state road 12 when a brown Yukon blew past me inches from my left elbow.  He was actually IN the bike lane.  I yelled, gave him the traditional salute, and pulled off the road shaking.  I had the first two digits of his tag and called the sheriff's office.  They patched me through to the Highway Patrol.  By this time I felt like I might be overreacting and apologized to the dispatcher.  She was nice about it and said she would've called if it had been her.  She even called me later to say they had not seen the truck in the area.  I don't like riding on the road.

As far as the OMTP goes she has me spending 3 days a week in the gym.  I am getting seriously buff if I do say so myself.  On the bike she is very adamant about staying in the prescribed heart rate zones.  I tend to want to do more and worry that I'm not getting enough high end work in.  Especially when my cohorts are out doing intervals every other day.  Not to mention the temptations of Strava.  But I gotta keep the faith.

This weekend is the 50/62 mile San Felasco ride.  I'm not as enthused about it as I used to be.  There's 400 riders of all types of abilities on the trail so it makes for some slow going at times.  Once again the plan has me staying in the lower heart rate zones so I'll be one of the slow ones.  The Kid is going, he's been off the bike while playing basketball so he should be seriously suffering by mile 30.  I guess I really shouldn't complain, heck it's going to be 80 degrees, and I get to ride my bike all day.  At least I don't have to worry about getting run over by a Yukon. 

Something Different

Guess what Santa brought me for Christmas?  I don't really know how to insert the video on the blog but I think this will work.  Forgive me, I'm still learning.

I have had a blast with this little Gopro.  I plan to film every ride.  Well, maybe not every ride.

I had the last 8 days off from work.  And yes, we had a good Christmas and a happy New Year, thanks for asking.  The weather didn't always cooperate with my riding plans but we managed to get in some good rides.  It was difficult to stay on my new OMTP with all the holiday stuff, which I let frustrate me a little.

Anyhoo, we rode local the whole time.  I didn't feel like spending hours in the truck.

The highlight was an easy day on the north side followed by beer and pizza at Momos.

 

 

To quote Big Jim "I could get used to this".

Oh, and Mom, just click on the arrow and the video should play.  No it won't hurt your computer.