A Year Ago

The last time I raced MX was a year ago this weekend at the Vet Nationals in Reddick Fl. I have only ridden my dirt bike once since then and that's really hard for me to believe. I once thought I could never give it up, that they'd have to pry my cold dead hands off of the handlebars. But alas, I just stopped wanting to ride it.

I started out in 1981 racing enduros which is a timed event run over single track through the woods. Back then it was mostly new trail at every event and we only made one pass over the trail. The events usually lasted 3-4 hours and were run rain or shine. Man I was so unprepared when I first started but over the years I learned the ropes and ran the whole FTR series until I got tired of enduros and starting racing MX, then I got tired of that and went to Hare Scrambles, then back to enduros, and then; well you get the picture.

We had a good group from this area that would go to all the events so that kept the interest up. Running a series where you race whether you really want to or not isn't always fun. I can remember sitting on the starting line in a torrential downpour at Daytona and not being able to see dry ground as far as I could see. Or hearing the driving rain and thunder in a Charleston S. C. hotel room while trying to get to sleep the night before the Swamp Fox Enduro. Wow I can think of a bunch of them now that I got started; waiting to get into the Crooms State Forest while the sun beat down at 7:00 in the morning and knowing it was going to be 95 by 10:00, the way the van smelled filled with bikes, gas, and old Wendy's bags when you first got into it the morning of the race in the hotel parking lot. How damn nervous I would get waiting for my row to start!

So I've done the race thing for a long time. I never made a dime doing it; in fact it cost me thousands of dollars and untold years chasing little plastic trophies. While most of the people I knew outside of moto started families and did the "normal" thing, I couldn't be bothered with all that stuff. I just wanted to ride. Well, over the years the land to hold events on went away and the enduro trails became crap. The Hare Scrambles were mostly south of Ocala on land that was flat as a pancake and usually a swamp. The MX tracks just had to put in more supercross style obstacles, run shorter motos, and have a class for everybody who came through the gate so it took 12 hours to get through the program. At that last race a year ago, after I finished my second moto, I rode the bike back to the truck, got off, and threw my gloves in the truck bed. I knew then that was the beginning of the end.

I squeeze the clutch lever every now and then when I walk by the bike in the shop. I still haven't put up my helmet and gear bag from that last ride; in fact the bike still has Reddick mud on it. I rarely look at it as I pass by on my way to load the Stumpjumper and the Epic up for another ride. When I started this cycling thing my moto friends said "it's another one of his phases, he'll be back" but I don't know about that. It's been a year and I'm more enthused about my bicycle now than I was when I started.

Isn't it great to start something new at 54? My point in all this old man's rambling is that unless the ride puts a grin on my face I'm not going to be doing it. Life's too short to spend much time worrying over your hobby.

Gorilla

I was too tired to even lift the massive burrito I'd ordered at Moe's. Perry Mason was talking but I wasn't able to follow the conversation. I didn't even order a post ride beer and that's really rare. We'd just finished the Urban Gorilla ride which started from the Tallahassee City Hall and hit most of the single track in the area before returning to downtown. A little over 55 miles at a pretty steady pace with very little stopping. In fact I got left behind every time I stopped for nature's call or needed to grab something to eat. These guys just don't understand what it's like to be 55. Yea I could'a gone with a more sedate group but I wanted to ride with Perry and the rest of the crew. I think we were the first to finish at the actual start and do the whole route, yea, we're bad.











The day started off with driving around trying to find a place to park near City Hall. Being from Havana I'm really not familiar with downtown Tallahassee, so I parked at the Civic Center and rode up the hill. I estimated the number of riders at around 20 when we rolled out at 8:00 and we collected more as we went through town. It was quite a site from the back of the pack as we weaved down side streets on our way to the first single track section of Fern.











I was surprised at the pace and it wasn't long before riders were on the side of the trail waiting for another group who would ride at more comfortable speed. I kept my customary position at the end of the conga line which worked well until we go into a little more technical stuff in Cadillac and the riders in front of me failed to clear so we had to push some. Then we'd peddle like hell to catch the pack. Once in Alford we managed to stay together pretty good until someone in the front took a wrong turn, BW hit the brakes, Perry Mason hit BW, and the chain reaction started. I used the stop to take off my winter gloves and a layer of clothes which was my mistake because by the time I was ready to roll most of the pack was gone. Fortunately a couple of guys had stayed behind so we all began a chase that didn't end until we caught the main group at the Miccosukee Greenway. Where I once again tried to grab a bite to eat. No sooner had I opened my pack of Shot Blocks than we were rolling again.









Along the way we had started to drop a few who were not feeling it that day and we continued to loose riders until we got to Forest Meadows. Here the leaders had planned to do torture loops around Phipps, some decided they'd had enough and turned back, so only three of us headed out on the lake loop. Someone had made a call to the slower paced group and they were at least an hour behind us. Three of us made the loop and started back towards downtown. Somewhere on Thomasville Rd. Jason cut out and headed for home hoping to get in a metric century. That left Perry Mason and me to climb the mountains that seemed to make up the paved ride back to City Hall. We were so blown that we resorted to pushing our bikes across the streets that had uphill stop signs. I didn't take my camera which was a good thing because I would have never had a chance to use it. I had to change in the Civic Center parking lot to the amazement of a throng of people all dressed up in their Sunday best and headed for some kind of event.









That's how we ended up at Moe's. I went home, took a shower, and fell asleep. Perry Mason was having second thoughts about doing the 12 hour solo at Santos since we had just done 5.5 hours and we were both cooked. Well he may say he wasn't but I know better.

Amsterdam Tour

I trimmed a lot of trail and put up flagging to mark the route. I'll wait until a couple of weeks before the ride to put up the arrows. I found some more interesting trail we didn't ride when we did the Big Jim tour. Even with all the rain I can lay out a course that will be enjoyable. I've collected some good prizes from our local bike shops for the poker run so now all I need is for somebody to show up and ride.

Poaching

Ah Friday afternoon, cool temperatures, clear sky's, slip out of work early, and poach the hiking trails. I can't help it! I mean just look at the pictures! It's some of the best trails in our area. I would never have started this but someone in the crew introduced me to these little gems and I keep being drawn back. I never planned to ride them when I left the house. I was just going to do my regular route with maybe a hill repeat at the end to get the blood flowing. But at the intersection I told myself "I'll just roll down here a little ways". I should have know better.





Yea the mountain bike trails are fun and I appreciate the opportunity to have a place to ride. And no I can't come up with a good rationalization for disobeying the rules and poaching. Hey, they do hike on our trails don't they? I even ran into some horse riders on Red Bug! But still, two wrongs don't make a right.









I rode slow, well, slower than normal. I tried to be real quiet and I stopped every now and then. I admit I've ridden these trails before but I've never really looked at the woods we ride through. I guess that's one reason I don't have the urge to ride a road bike I just like the woods better.

I almost got busted toward the end of the ride, man that would be embarrassing. I eased out of the woods and onto the multi use just in the nick of time.

I'm going to miss this time of year. I do look forward to longer days and riding without lights but I know I'll miss just this type of afternoon.

To top the day off we ate at my favorite restaurant that night.

Sometimes Fridays are the best, even better than the rest of the weekend. It's the anticipation of things to come that make it so fun.

Snake Boots

If you look real close you can tell the guy not on the bike is wearing boots. It was a cold clear day with temps in the mid 40's when we headed out to do the Munson/Twilight thing. The gentleman in the boots, let's call him Cowboy, is a relative newbie to the sport of mountain biking and had agreed to join us on a slow paced lap. This was only his second time on single track and his first trip to this trail system. He got out of the truck with these boots on and I thought he was joking. Turns out the place he normally rides (he's not from around here) has a lot of water and areas he has to hike a bike so the boots come in handy. He just assumed we'd all be wearing them. Not that we all didn't look odd in our cold weather gear, well they did, I looked as perfect as I always do. If you notice I'm not in any of these pictures.

I didn't know what Cowboy's fitness level was and after seeing the boots and heavy jacket he was wearing I was concerned he might have trouble doing the loops we had planned to do so we headed out easy. At 4 miles we lost our first rider who was getting tired, it wasn't Cowboy. He was hanging on just fine, boots and all. Bob Marley was missing the gaggle of women he's been riding with lately and Jwheel was huffing and puffing by the time we got to the 15 mile mark. Cowboy never complained.

I've known Cowboy for a long time, in fact we raced the FTR motorcycle enduro series for years starting in the early 80s. He has always been tough and a much better motorcycle rider than I ever dreamed of being. I can remember riding for 2 hours at a time during the spring part of the series back before we had Camelbacks. The only water on the course was at the check points and it consisted of a trash bag lined trash can that you dipped a paper cup into. It worked out good for the early riders but the later rows got to dip through a layer of spit to get to the dregs at the bottom of the can. At one particularly brutal event down in Crooms I got back to the truck to find Cowboy curled up under it like a dog. He would eat ham sandwiches at the lunch stop with extra mayo. I can still see the mayo sticking to the dirt on his lips. I could barely choke down a cracker.

Oh, sorry about the trip down memory lane, you tend to do that as you get older. Anyway back to the bicycle ride last Saturday. We didn't stop much, it was too cold so we really went faster than the usual beginner pace and finished up the 20 miles in a little over 2 hours. Cowboy was hooked. Even though he was tired he was glad to see his fitness was up to riding that long. In fact the longest ride he'd ever done before Saturday was 12 miles. Even in the amazing shape I'm in I could tell I'd ridden.

We stopped at Moe's for burritos then went by the shop where Cowboy bought pedals and shoes. He'll be back again.

Amsterdam Trail Ride

I've figured out the trail layout for the Amsterdam ride so the bikes won't catch the ATVs. I'm just going to put in mostly separate trail. This will result in a little more pavement and some two way bike traffic but should make the ride experience better. I've already collected some good prizes. I'll post some trail pictures as I lay it out.

Poncho and Lefty

I knew something was wrong when I first heard the little squeak from my shock as it bottomed out on the rollers on Twilight. Then there was the little bit of oil on my rear tire. And finally after riding Kudzilla Saturday, I reached for my water bottle, and my hand slipped off, it was drenched in oil. Stumpy had blown a seal. I know my massive legs deliver a lot of power but I am surprised how quickly these bicycles wear out components. Stumpy will be down for a while.



I won't get into how I came to possess this trick Cannondale. Suffice to say if you spend an exorbitant amount of money locally, and cry and whine enough, things can happen. Lefty is only mine until Stumpy gets a new rear end but I have enjoyed riding something different. It's made of carbon fiber, has only one fork, and is pretty to look at. No it hasn't made me any faster or better (I was secretly hoping it would) but it has opened my eyes to how different bikes handle and ride.

Somethings missing here.

Nice to look at isn't it?




We attended the Trek Demo last weekend, got to ride some very exotic bikes, and eat free pizza. I discovered that $9,000 mountain bikes are wasted on someone of my skill level. It was good to see some faces I haven't seen in a while, the shops should do this more often.

T. C. has the ability to always make me laugh.

For some reason the regular crew has been hard to get up with lately so I've been forced to find some new folks to ride with. Fortunately they have allowed me to tag along even though I have the habit of insulting everyone withing the first few minutes of meeting them. It's a talent I have honed with years of practice.

All of these different groups have their own ride rituals, their own trail selections, and a preset pecking order in the conga line. I usually take my place at the rear unless it makes someone else uncomfortable. Some like to talk while we ride and sometimes I get the impression they wish I wouldn't. Everybody has been friendly and we're fortunate to have so many fun people to ride with.

The Tour of Amsterdam is shaping up. I already have one large sponsor and there's been some interest generated from the Facebook posting. I found another section with some serious hills and feel confident I can get the mileage to 30 with the addition of more trail. The single track will be short but the additional ATV trail should make up for it. My only real concern is that the faster bike riders might catch the slowest ATVs. They know it's not a race but I saw the pace at San Felasco.

I'm toying with the idea of doing the 12 hours of Santos and maybe the Adventure Race scheduled for Tom Brown in April. Isn't it great to have so much to look forward to?

Perfect

What a great day. If you wanted to write a perfect prescription for the weather you would have prescribed a day just like last Saturday. We have been looking forward to this event ever since we got into cycling a year ago and we were not the least bit disappointed. In fact I may be spoiled. I'm having trouble getting up for our local trails after San Felasco and Santos.

SteveA, Rupe and I headed down Saturday morning, getting there with very little time to spare before the crew was scheduled to leave. I had no idea what the pace might be and I was a little concerned about Rupe following the lead crew and blowing up before we got to the lunch stop.

It's different when you have your kid along. Mingo and Little Mingo were going to ride to the lunch stop and then come back in so I figured if Rupe lost the main group he could fall in with them and at least make it back to the truck. He had only planned to ride to lunch anyway so we headed out into the cool clear morning.

It was congested at first but we soon cleared most of the traffic and were into the first section of single track. The pace was a little faster than I had anticipated and since I had never ridden 50 miles off road I didn't know if I could maintain it and still enjoy myself. After some arrow confusion and a flat tire the main group stopped so Rupe and I went ahead. It was the last time we saw most of them until we got back to the truck.

I'll let someone else tell that story but anyhow we hadn't been at the first stop long when Mingo and crew came in along with Bob Marley. We rode with them for awhile until we got separated by traffic and then we all met up again at the second sag. Rupe and I rolled out together so we could be at the lunch stop at the same time and managed to catch BJS and Lil Ball there where we learned of the groups uh, shall we say, adventures.

At lunch we sat on the ground, stretched, and munched. After a little rest Rupe decided he didn't want to bail and wanted to finish the whole 50 miles. BJS and LB were riding faster than we were so they headed out. I knew the Mingo crew was finishing at lunch and there'd be no one behind us so I decided to ride in with Rupe.

The trail before lunch had used the new Conquistador section which runs up and down the side of a large hill. Beech and oak bottoms with pine on the hilltops. Ground conditions, like the weather, were perfect. They threw in a few freshly cleared sections which were tight and soft in places but even these put a grin on my face. I should have stopped to take pictures and was telling myself that as I rode but I was just having too much fun. I remember a single track along the edge of an old field that had brown broom sage in it and large oaks. The oaks had moss hanging from them and against the deep blue sky would have made a perfect shot but I had just passed 5 riders and hated to stop and have to pass them all over again. And so it went all day.

After lunch the trail opened up and we ran through some large pine uplands then a section of hickory hills. For state owned property this place has some amazing views. It's a shame we can't ride these trails all the time. The single track toward the end flowed and I kind of got into a trance or a rhythm; pedal, coast, brake, lean, and pedal again. Rupe had no problem keeping pace and my worries that he might have trouble finishing were for nought. I was pumped to be able to ride our first 50 miler together. I couldn't help but think how fortunate I am to be able to do this with my son.

What a day!

Santos! and A New Year

Wow, two weeks off is a long time to be away from work. It makes me a little uneasy not having to get up and go somewhere every morning. I miss that routine. That's not to say I didn't enjoy my time off I just think that two weeks is enough for me.

We started out the week cycling at our usual trails then on a beautiful, clear, and cold Christmas eve I rode with the crew on the Grapevine loop which took us from Forest Meadows to Tom Brown and back again. It was one of those perfect winter days and the XM was playing all of my favorite songs on the way to the trail head. Mr. Silk led the ride and we were able to stay off of the busiest road sections plus the pace was easy but still consistent for the 36 miles.

We had Christmas at home then spent some time at my brother's lake house. Of course it snowed and the wind blew at 40 miles an hour so the fishing we had planned to do never happened but we still had a nice visit.

On Wednesday we headed for the Santos trail system near Ocala. It was cold and partly cloudy when we arrived that afternoon but I figured we'd warm up as we rode so none of us packed a jacket, we wore just arm and leg warmers. Steve A. just happened to be in the area so we met him at the start but decided that we would split up since our pace was likely to be slower than his. Did I mention Bunky was with us on this adventure? She's on a 32 pound 26" hard tail and hadn't ridden more than 12 miles at one time in her life plus she hasn't ridden lately due to the cold weather. See where this is going? Steve A. mentioned that they were going to the land bridge and said something about it being about 24 miles round trip. I thought that was a little far for my crew so we rolled out behind them on the most perfect single track.

Santos has 3 trail options; easiest, more difficult, and most difficult. Well there's a fourth option that has black diamonds called expert only and the free ride area which in my opinion is for crazies only but most of the trail falls into the first 3 types. I had imagined the easiest would be like our multi use but fortunately I was wrong. It is winding, flowing, single track which weaves through a scenic forest. Before I knew it we had gone 9 miles and were looking at the parking lot for the land bridge trail head.

Here's where I made my mistake. Rupe and I were amped by the trails and not the least bit tired. I knew we had ridden for 45 minutes and still needed to get back before sundown and that our pace was less than 8 miles an hour however I neglected to take into account that Bunky hadn't been riding that kind of mileage lately but I figured we had an hour and a half to make it to the actual land bridge and still get back before it got dark. So we headed off for another three mile loop to the bridge and back. I started to see the error in my plans as we started dropping Bunky even when we got down below 7 miles an hour. She was getting tired and even though she was still enjoying the ride she was unable to pick up the pace.

Okay so I shouldn't have said something about our lack of progress. But it was getting cold plus I had visions of trying to ride in the dark. After 20.45 miles we got back to the truck, no it wasn't quite dark but it was cold. Needless to say not everybody was happy on the ride back to the hotel. The mood improved after hot showers and pizza and I vowed (again) to take everybody's pace into account when I plan a ride.

Thursday dawned cloudy but warmer. We all went for a SHORT ride and met Steve A. when we circled back to the truck. Rupe, Steve, and I headed out for a little more aggressive riding which we found. The clouds had cleared and the temps were in the 70's when we hit the red trails in the Vortex section. This was by far the hardest most technical stuff I had ever done. Some of it scared me but it didn't seem to bother Steve and Rupe who would call back to me "big down hill, watch out" and "steep climb, just keep pedaling". By the time we were ready to head back I had done things I never thought I could do (even though I never did try the qualifier).

We never touched even half the trail on this place. All of it was well marked and taken care of. The Bunny trail was like riding a street bike on a twisty road, perfect flow, you never even noticed you were getting tired. It was well worth the 3.5 hour drive and to quote Arnold "I'll be back". What a great way to end the year. San Felasco is next weekend, sounds like a good way to start the next.