AZ Trip-Day 2 Phoenix Mountain Preserve

For Easter Sunday, I wanted to be able to have dinner with my aunt and uncle, my two cousins and their families. I knew I couldn’t spend all day on the trails. I had ridden the Phoenix Mountain Preserve more than any other trail system in the Phoenix area, so I knew my way around the park. Plus, it was only about seven minutes from my cousin’s house.

I got up early and was on the trail by 8 o’clock. As usual when it comes to Phoenix, there were tons of hikers. I must have passed 70 throughout the day; everyone was nice and courteous, which was always good to see on a shared use trail. I started at Dewey Dream again, which is the middle of the park, and decided to do the eastern half, which has more trails and variety. As I went along, I was never lost, but sometimes I wasn’t quite sure which trail I was on. I ended up going on the 302 toward the south end of the park, which has some pretty steep drop-offs that caused me a scary moment or two. I had to walk down two of them—better safe than sorry. I went up the 8A trail, which was where I dealt with the most hiker traffic. I got some encouragement from the hikers—or was it just strange looks?—as a mountain biker going up a really steep climb. I did pretty well, but I had to walk some of the rocky stair steps. After that I worked my way to the eastern end of the T100 trail, turning around when I realized I needed to get back soon after. I took the fenced trail that parallels the T100, which I think is the smoothest in the park. I ended up trying to do a rocky cut-through, where I had my only wreck of the day. I got hung up and couldn’t unclip—and the park boundary fence made a nice purple tattoo on my ass. I got back to my cousin’s house within 1 minute of the time I said I would be there—go me :)

Side note: At Easter dinner, I experienced my first earthquake. It was in northern Mexico and was a shallow quake, which I guess reverberates more and allowed it to be felt all the way in San Diego and Phoenix. It felt exactly like the effect of the ground “swaying” when you get off a cruise ship. At first I thought I had low blood sugar from the hard ride, but then the pool had water sloshing out of it.

AZ Trip-Day 1 Dewey Dream Park

This was my third trip to Arizona to get some good mountain biking miles in before spring came to the East Coast. Usually, I go in February or early March, but this year since I was attending a wedding in Vegas April 10^th, I moved my trip to coincide with the wedding. In 2009, I had to forgo all but one day of riding since I got the flu and ended up with a temperature of 104 degrees. This year I was hoping for a better trip.

Day 1 Dewey Dream Park

After getting to AZ late on Friday, I leisurely put together my bike Saturday morning, got the bike rack set up on the rental car and decided to do a shakedown ride with Kennedy, my cousin’s daughter. I had ridden with Kennedy two years prior, but we rode on the street and a paved trail. I decided this year to try to take her on a light foray into mountain biking. We went to Dewey Dream Park, which is part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. We did some of the trails, which were harder than I thought they’d be, and considering that her bike did not have low gearing or shocks, she did fairly well. We rode a little bit on the trails and the paved bike trail that goes along the park. All-in-all, it was a good little spin—I got to spend some quality time with Kennedy and make sure that the bike was working well after being taken apart fully and then put together again.

First Long Ride of the Year

From March 20th

I hadn't ridden with the PPTC crew over the winter cause of the snow and whatnot. This was to be the first big ride of the year. The ride that was chosen was ZapMan. This ride starts from Marshall, VA and does Chester Gap before Front Royal. The big monument of the ride is the 6 mile climb up Blue Mountain with the last 2 or so miles being dirt/gravel.

The day was a great spring awakening with a high of 75+ so that shorts and even a short-sleeved jersey could be worn. There were around 8 of us at the start. I had carpooled with Chris and it was good catching up with him on the way there. We went out of Marshall at a leisurely pace, with me going off the front a couple of times on some of the rollers. Once on Chester Gap, Jonathan took off on his own with the rest of us following. Rudy set a good tempo that was right around where I needed to be up this gradual climb, terrain that doesn't really suit my talents best. Once at the top, we started this descent with Glen trying to catch Jonathan, followed by Rudy and me. With my winter weight, I was able to plummet down the mountain at sixty pounds over Jonathan's 135, passing and catching Glen in the process. The five of us bridged up together and rode into the rest stop at Front Royal. (At the rest stop, I tried to talk Ed out of getting the Hostess cherry pie while I got the Dutch apple danish. The cherry pie would later not feel so good on the Blue Mountain climb.)

We then left Front Royal, going through a neighborhood that has two streets "named after" two of the guys on the ride--Ross and Cook. We went along the railroad, then the Shenandoah, to the bottom of the Blue Mountain climb. The Blue Mountain climb is around 1,600 ft. vertical but doesn't really bite until the last four miles. We started up the climb, which is some uphill rollers, continuing until the first switchback--from then on everyone is going his own pace. I wish I would've talked to some people a bit more about the climb. I had done it once about four years ago and remembered that it was pretty steep and gravel at the top. Beyond that, I couldn't recall much else. I started off going at a pretty high cadence, distancing myself from the rest. I wasn't trying to be first as much as just trying to keep a fast candence and keep it smooth. Jonathan and Ed were around me, with Jonathan creeping closer to me. We hit the gravel, where I started distancing Jonathan again and really began to feel the climb. I was happy that it would soon be over, since the crest was just ahead. DAGGER--that was only the first crest.

Jonathan caught up to me on the slight downhill, as I lamented the fact that no one had told me there were two summits. Nonetheless, the short downhill and flatter section helped me get my breath back. I had to accept the fact that a man who weighs 135 lbs is almost always going to be faster going up a big climb than someone who weighs close to 200. I then got into my own rhythym with Jonathan slowly distancing himself from me. I finally hit the pavement, which signals the top of the climb. I had lost sight of Jonathan completely and Ed was a ways behind me. There is a county sign that's at the bottom of the downhill. I thought maybe if I could see Jonathan, I'd be able to catch him on the descent. Yet again, my lack of knowledge of the climb prevented me from being aware that there were two more big rollers on the ridge. With Jonathan nowhere in sight, I decided to just go down the mountain at a comfortable pace, practicing my techniques on the switchbacks. Unfortunately, I was riding the Michelin Crylons, which are very durable but don't have the best grip--so I wasn't as confident as I could be on the corners. As I came out of the last corner, lo and behold, Jonathan was in front of me. I thought, "shit--I might catch him," so I started speeding up. He still had not noticed that I was getting closer to him. I ended up passing him and gaining the county line by 20 ft.

We then waited for everybody else to finish the climb and I put down a double shot espresso gu and had some of the tasty throwback Mountain Dew (new retro Dew made with sugar cane, not corn syrup). People headed out, and I ended up with the second group since I was still messing with the bottle. The first group was really charging along, while my second group was a little slower. Rudy was not on his best day, as he had not gotten a chance to eat at the bottom of the climb. I decided to try to bridge the gap solo. I jumped out of the group and was going about 30 mph, which only lasted about a minute or so (I guess all that caffeine really kicked in). With the first group up ahead, I continued to whittle down the distance over the next couple miles. I finally caught them about 3 miles from the finish. We completed the ride totally dead, knowing and feeling that we had done our first long ride of the year. I ended the ride with a good meal at home of meat, pasta, and vegetables.

Friday with the Boys

I went on Friday for a quick ride with Kevin and Leland. I wanted to go do a Mt. bike ride since I was riding road on Sat. My back was not in the best of shape since I had taxed it a lot during the week, riding a little too much. Leland and I got there in time, then Kevin took his sweet time even trying to fix his front brake. Out on the trail I wasn't really feeling it, and it might have also been I was running too low of a gear ion the SS cause I couldn't really keep up with the boys. After one lap Kevin and I went and did another 1/2 a lap and ended the ride around dusk. I am looking forward to riding with Kevin at 12 hour hours of Lodi in the SS class. I will see him next weekend at the Ride the Ridge Race down south.

First Hard ride of the year

On Sunday I went out with the DCMTB boys(Kent, Tom, Mike, Jonathan, and Mike) and we did this 45 mile ride with 5000 feet of climbing. The weather was to be nice, so it was a good day for a hard ride. In hindsight I would of done my "The Good, the bad, and the Hilly" ride out of Riley's since Frederick was about 10 degrees cooler and over the mountain was even colder. I rode up with Kent, and we ended up parking in snow at the ride start at the bottom of Gambril rd.
The ride started rough right away going up Grambril park road. I had put on a 11-28 cassette and I was happy I did. The Gambril climb was definitely a wake up call. I rode the climb mostly with Tom and I would ride most of them with him. We re grouped and then went down the mountain, where Mike K. really seemed happy with the ride, compared to the uphills. The next climb was Harp hill, and Mike K. was giving me a hard time so I went at Harp hill, and I think I blew a gasket on that. I went up the climb a bit faster then the rest, but at the same time I was just trying to keep the pedals moving. I had to tack to keep any kind of cadence going.
After Harp we regrouped and then went to Catoctin mountain park, there was climbing as well, but more gradual. We did a lollipop and the climb coming back, I almost had to give up and have Tom go on his own. Once on the downhill Mike K. came out of nowhere, showing his great descending skills. The last climb on the agenda was I believe something School that we had done coming down. The climb was a little broken up which helped. I went up on my own and Tom yo-yoed with me. I almost wanted to get off the bike at one point but 20yds later I saw the stop sign ahead sign so I knew the top was close. That was it for me I did well on the climbs, but the endurance was gone. So when we regrouped I rode fine for a bit until I got the leg lock on my quads, so Mike K. and Mike S. and Tom fought it out on the ridge to down back to the Cars. I think Tom would of had it if we both just kept on going after the climb.
Observations of the ride:

• Jonathan does this route a lot, well it isn't a shocker he has a triple!
• Mike K. Showed some good descending skills and that he kept some of his condition in the winter.
• Mike S. seemed to riding a little better this year then last.
• Tom seems like the person I should try to train with we were around the same speed.
• Kent get the Iron Man reward he was riding a 39-23 while I was riding a 36-28.
• Don't go so hard on Harp hill
  

Snow riding before Snowapocalypse

f


Sat.
I went out riding the last weekend of January in the snow on Sat. and Sunday. The Sat. ride had promise, but turned out to be not that good. I went riding at Wakefield. I had been at volleyball and was going to get some more of my workout on with some riding in the snow there. By the time I got there the snow had gotten too deep. I like to ride in snow that is like 3-4 inches. The snow was closer to 5 or so. With my SS I couldn't stand on the hills so I was slipping. I had an ok time of it on the flatter stuff. The snow was slippery and not very good at cushioning the fall. I was hating life going down the bermed downhill where I fell twice hurting my knee and arm.










Sun.
I was to ride with some folks on the CCT and Fairlakes, but after Saturdays's adventure I decided to just ride the C&O canal. I rode the SS and the canal had a fair number of users walking and CX skiing. I was able to ride fairly well with my SS, I had a leaking ft. valve so I had to run the front tire a little higher then I would like. It was sometimes faster to ride in the fresh powder and hit real ground then to ride in the ski tracks. I started from chainbridge, and then by the time I got to 495 I decided to ride with a Bike Doctor rider who I be playing leap frog with. He was bolder then I riding a CX bike in like 6 inches of snow. We rode together with me gaining on the rougher sections, and Eon gaining when going through fresh powder where he could get to the real ground and use his gears. We rode to Great Falls, and I then turned around. Ended up doing like 2 hours of non-stop pedaling(and I really couldn't stand up). I am glad I ran into Eon, who I found out was on the rain ride I had done the week prior with his teammate Evan, and the DCMTB crew. He gave me the extra motivation to get to Great Falls, cause once I was there I had to ride back to get to the car :-).

Arlington Hills

Well I have found myself in the bad situation that many cyclists see themselves in. I am out of shape and heavier then I would like to be. I had hurt my back doing the SM100, so didn't do CX but did running instead. I was doing well with the running then I got plantar fictitious- corrected kevin Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) ! To add insult to injury I was sick most of December. This added up to me being the heaviest I have ever been. At this rate I can race the clydesdale class!
I play volley ball through out the year, but in the fall and winter I play on the weekends as well. I still need to get some biking in so what I have been doing is a afternoon Saturday ride. I did my first one, and it ended up being a DCMTB west ride with Tyler, Vince, and Mark.
Tyler had never biked in Arlington so I decided to give him a tour of some of the hills I do. Mark was running late, so Tyler, Vince and I did the double banger of Walter Reed and then Oxford. We then went to Mark's house which was harder then I thought it would be top find.
After Mark's we did Wilson, then up to northern Arlington for the hills there. One hill we did I call it Jim's hill after Jim York who showed it to me, Mark had never done so that was a little treat for him. We finished the hills with mini Alpe d'Huez then took George Mason back home. I will try to keep these rides going if the weather is good enough, and hopefully people can join me.

Tyler Arlington Hill Tour

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Laural hills only trail dry

From Jan. 15

Well there was some warm days and people thought all the trails would be too messy, I thought maybe Laural hills would be dry enough. I went out there on my SS which always makes trails like this more fun. I met up with Dave(might be wrong) from MCEngraving a MORE sponsor. I rode with him for a bit, and then went on my own little adventure. I found that the place was totally ridable, there were a few muddy sections, but not many. The only issue was that trail rode a lot slower then usual. I have a 20T on the SS right now so I was able to do more climbing seated, which I am not sure was a good thing. So did my laps and was able to get done before it got dark, was nice to do a January ride in knickers.

2009 Year End Totals and thoughts

2009 was an OK year, I didn't push my back as much and was feeling good late in the season. I did one of my goals which was the SS class at Wednesday at Wakefield. I had much better time in that class which wasn't as fast as the expert class. I was able to actually race people and some top 10 placings and then the final week I got a 1st so pretty cool. I had my best race in August with the 18 hours of Scouts Honor. I also had my fastest solo ride the week before the SM100 I did a 40 mile ride without stopping with a avg speed of 21.6 with no time trial bars at my parents house so I was pretty stoked. The SM100 hurt my back again(had not trained enough), so I only did the DCCX and did not ride much in the fall, and I have been sick for most of December.

Tandem- 140 miles

The good news about the tandem is that I think we have Sara's knee issue figured out for a bit. I think she pushed herself too hard and then the clipless pedals were hurting her knees. I had her ride with her normal shoes and toe clips, and haven not pushed the distance as much and things seem to be going better. Sara has started to do some spinning classes, so hoping to have over 500miles on the bike next year. Will have to see how Sara's body holds up.

Single Speed 29er- 266 miles

I like riding this bike on some of the trails in the area(Roseryville, Fairfaix CCT, Schaffer, Fairhill) . I had a blast riding the bike at the 12 hours of Lodi. I don't like the bike at Patapsico where there is too much elevation change. I improved the bike greatly with some Stans wheels and setting it up tubeless for the W@W events. In 2010 I will have a Rock shock Reba to use at events like Lodi or to have more versatility riding.

Dual Suspension Mt. - 643

My mountain bike had some good miles on it but if you take out Bakers, Big Bear, Iron Mt, Scouts Honor and the SM100 I think I only did like 400miles on the bike.

CX Bike - 1007 miles

Usually my CX bike doesn't get that much mileage since I stopped using it as my commuter bike several years ago. This year after I cracked my Raleigh last fall I road my CX bike as my road bike for all of spring until I got my Moots. I was bummed that CX season didn't work out but I did like riding it with a tubeless setup, only issue was that the rims were wide and were painted so did not brake very well might get Stans wheels for this bike next Fall have to see. I did not ride it much this fall. I hope to do some dirt road rides on it in the spring and then the Wintergreen ride/race in late August followed by the Iron Cross in October along with like 5 CX races in the fall.

Fixed Gear - 1022 miles

Pretty happy with how much I rode the fixed gear bike this year. I became my go to bike for commuting to work. With its 32mm SERV-T tires it can be ridden on the C&O Canal or cruddy city streets. I also didn't have to0 worry to much about the bike being messed with.

Race bike - 1379 miles

This was the biggest disappointment, I think I did a fair bit of riding, but not the distance. I stopped doing the PPTC Tuesday ride which brought my mileage down by quite a bit. I got my Moots in the early summer and I was able to pound out to OMGWTF Shepardstown Rides. Will plan to do that ride again with the more direct downhill. I was able to ride the bike on some good rides but would like to get some more mileage on the bike for 2010.

Snotcycle Pre-Ride

With the trails frozen, I was pleasantly surprised to hear there would be a snotcycle pre-ride. I am not doing snotcycle cause it sold out and I wasn't sure because I am out of shape. I put an email out to people about doing the ride and ended up riding with the Bike Lane boys. I got there, early and it was cold but at least it was sunny. I did a warm up with Todd from Bike Lane, he was rocking the bling GF superfly100. We were riding nice and easy then got back to the start, and I lead us through the first part. I went out too hard, and then my water tube froze so I was toast! I ended up doing the 2nd part of the lap solo. I then went back got my SS Rigid out to do a loop on that too. The course is ok on a rigid, and I think with my front shock the Bakers course would be great on a 29er hardtail. I didn't get into Bakers, so it was a good thing I was able to ride it when I did. I had a good time seeing the guys, reminds me I need to ride more with them.