|
| First ride out here this year. Here is Platte, SD. In the central part of the state, right near the Missouri River. Only had time for 30 miles today. It was really windy, even more so than normal. But it felt great to turn some pedals again. I also need to keep this short, have to get back to work. But here is a view that I had today:
 
| | |
| Saw a very dear friend today. I first met her a few weeks after I had moved down. She is resides a few miles south of Clemson, SC. I hadn't seen her in a few months, but I had thought about her often. She's naturally beautiful, unspoiled. She is quite a handful as well. She has gotten the best of me many times this year, but has also brought me joy and satisfaction. I have missed her, and as I will likely not see her again for sometime I was very happy to have visited today. We spent a few great hours together, and like every other day I have ever spent w/ her I was happier for it.
I brought a friend with me, someone that also knows her well, but doesn't have quite the attachment that I do. He left not nearly as happy as me. She can be very unforgiving. Whom is it about which I speak? Her name is a forerunner to her beauty. She is Issaqueena State Forest............. And now you know, the rest of the story 
Yes, about the ride. I stopped by E's house about noon to chat with my buddy and wait for his wife to get there and relieve him of his parenting duties. After she arrived the three of us talked the required amount of time (just kidding, she is very cool) and the E and I were off. I was sporting a Michigan gear ratio today, 38/16. To give you a frame of reference I ran 32/16 in the cross country race here-and won. So, I knew I was over geared. But I was looking forward to the challenge. And for the first time that I recall E had gears on his bike.
Because of driving, socializing and working I hadn't ridden a bike since Tuesday. Normally that would make me sluggish, but not today. I felt good, "Real Good"! I was riding a rigid singlespeed and in no time at all my hands were feeling the sting of sharp rocks and protruding roots. It never went away, but I dealt with it. The bike felt good under me though, my first ride on the Geisha at "The Queen". Eric like normal was right on my wheel though all the rough stuff, he is a great bike handler.
After a warm up of the mostly flat Dam Trail we hit the first long climb, a 2/3 of a mile rough two-track climb. I was a little leery of it, having such a big gear for the conditions, but had no problems. The super light bike was great going up that climb. We came back and did the climb again a little later. Then we followed the race course to a very steep climb, and I made it up! I was very pleased about that.
We then shot down the decent on Double Logging Road at scary speeds. My hands nearly went numb from the fast, rocky decent. I had to really force myself to hang on. Then some cool singletrack led us to the base of the 1+ mile climb. It starts out as quite steep singletrack, and I doubted I would make. I went around a few slippery sections and was able to keep momentum and not stall. I continued to tractor up the hill, made a rooty little section and got to a place were it levels out. I couldn't believe I had just climbed that piece with that gear! But the climb had just begun. I had some trouble with a sort of steep section with loose rocks but was able to keep my balance. The rest of the climb was gradual enough that I knew I could make it-but still had to be out of the saddle to do it. This was the same climb that helped me win the XC race earlier in the year, it brings me pain, it brings me joy.
We then took a cool downhill and some singletrack over to a section that E calls "Niel's Loop"! It starts with a 1 mile climb that isn't very steep until the very end, then it's a bear. We made it over to a very cool little section of sweeping trail that E really loved. After that we did the dam trail again, up the climb and then finished up with a little more singletrack.
I had made everything there with my full rigid, tall geared singlespeed. I'm still smiling about as I write this....
here is a recycled pict to give you some of the flavor:
| | |
| and I only brought my MTB. I still have Michigan gearing on it to. 38 in the front and 16 in the back. I guess it will be good strength training, plus make me sound tough when we are talking gear ratios in the parking lot! Actually I did bring stuff to change the gearing, but don't know if I will get around to doing that or not. Full sunshine and in the 80s today. Very nice.
I also wanted to give a shout out to Brian at Village Bike Shop in Cascade for letting Jody and I use the tandem last week. We had a blast and I learned a lot. We raced it on Sunday at Fort Custer after our 1 bike races, but got another flat. We were really flying to, I'm starting to get it. Learning how to handle it a little better. I see a tandem bike being added to the stable in the future.
Just a quick update, need to get back to work. Kind of burned out from the long drive yesterday, plus work to do, but tomorrow I will be riding bike in the Carolinas again.
Here is a picture from the start of the Fort Custer TT:
| | |
| This might be my favorite place to ride, or at least one of my top 5 in Michigan. It's a place that I get to ride often. It always reminds me of riding my motorcycle because it's pretty fast, but yet still technical. If you have some guts you can carry speed through areas that are difficult when you are going slow. This time trial course had at least 12 miles of singletrack in it. Although I have been in better shape, I am in pretty good form, and few people that I race against know the trail as well as I. I was looking forward to seeing if I could beat the best in Michigan there, while riding a bike with just one gear.
We got there about 8:45am, got signed up, changed, ect., and I went out for some warm up miles. Saw Chris Goddard, a long time racing buddy, and we went out together for a while. I have missed the interaction with all my racing buddies this year, much more than the racing. I did about 1/2 of the 15 mile course and then went back and refilled water, took some gel, and just spun around for a while. The trail was moist but not muddy. The temps were in the 60s, it was going to be a great day for racing.
I was the 5th rider to take off. I had the favorite to win right behind me, Christian Tanguy. Christian had just won a national 100 mile race the week before. My plan was to see how long I could keep him behind me, then see how long I could hold his wheel. Mark Parmelee started 30 seconds in front of me. Mark has finished second to Christian at a few time trials this year, and it was my guess that he would be tough to beat as well. I lined up, reset my computer, and waited for the "Go".
I got a great start out of the gate. Got my second foot in my pedal without missing a beat. The Geisha (my singlespeed) was geared a little easier that in the past, I was hoping to make myself spin on the flats and hit the climbs and the singletrack hard. After spinning at my max for that first mile, I hit pay dirt-the singletrack. After about 2 1/2 miles I had Mark in sight. He was still a bit ahead of me, but I could tell I had pulled back time on him, and Christian hadn't caught me yet. I was feeling pretty good. After another couple miles we emptied out on to a two track, and I had caught up to Mark, but I couldn't spin fast enough to get by him, so I settled in. I could now hear Christian behind me. We got into the singletrack again, and I let Christian go by. The three of us rode together for a while. The pace really wasn't that bad. Eventually we caught Greg Kuhn, I was really surprised by that. He has been REALLY fast this year. Then there were 4 of us, riding together, at a time trial! Christian then put in an effort, and Greg was able to go with him. Mark wasn't, and I was kind of stuck behind Mark. But I knew that I was in good position. I had 30 seconds on Mark and 60 seconds on Greg.
A little over 1/2 way around I fell back a few seconds. I was having trouble breathing and my legs were feeling heavy. Then we hit the green section of trail, the section I like most. A little more sandy than the red section, I like sand. Plus, fewer two tracks. There had been some trail work done the day before, smoothing out some rough spots, and taking away some of my home trail advantage. Not deterred, I charged ahead. I had given back about 10 seconds to Mark. It took a few miles, but I cut that down to just a few seconds with a few miles to go. Greg was off the side of the trail with a flat tire, bummer. Never like to see that.
At the end of the green trail we turned and had a grassy .3 miles left. Mark was still about 5 seconds in front of me, I caught up to, and followed him into, the finish line. My time was 56.16, the course was .6 longer than last year and I was 1 minute slower. I rode a little faster this year. Christian had beat me by 1:10. After all the racers had finished I saw that Jason Lummis got me by 15 seconds. I would like to have finished second, but I think I rode well considering I hadn't raced in 2 months.
I just didn't have the ability to maintain a high heart rate. A small price to pay for having just ridden my bike when I like, how I like and with whom I like this Summer.
Ed and Cathy Serrat hosted a little cookout afterward. Great food, great conversation. It was a great day doing what I love to do.....
Pictures later...
| | |
|
