Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Shenandoah Southern Traverse In The Sun


So, I admit it. Yea sometimes I get swayed by Strava. I know some of you love it and some of you hate it. Well I don't go out to cherry pick, but when I do a ride and I miss the KOM by a margin that I know I can make up, it is enough for me to do the ride again. Even less than 48 hours later, instead of a local shop road ride. Only few dozen riders have uploaded this ride to Strava, but still!
I started in the morning, instead of my usual noonish or later start times. This was to beat the heat coming later. It was still a bit damp and humid, but the fog had burned off and most of the rocks in the gardens were dry. My short warm up was a little better too. I took 30 seconds off the 28 minute climb at the start, Still in 2nd by 8 seconds, oh well. I knew I could take the loop KOM as my Rolling time was better than Levi's KOM from last year (I bet he is faster now) and I spent a lot of time finding a cell signal to ward of my wives worries. I was happy getting a total time under my previous rolling time. The conditions did help. I was able to see more than a hundred feet, so I could go a little faster. Except for the trail near the edge of almost a cliff, but not quite. I still have a hammer mentality and am happiest moving at a healthy clip. I actually road more of the rock gardens the first time around. I am glad I went back. I had much more fun the second time around. I downloaded an app, so Tammy could follow me more closely via the phones GPS. This app did not need a cell phone connection. I also down loaded an app to tell me when I had a signal, so I could make more efficient use of stop time to check in. Helps my wife worry less when I am out there alone.

I got video of the final down hill. I edited out the fire road though. Fun to blast down, but makes for boring video.


I was treated to a nice view when leaving the National forest as well.

 

Sunday, May 19, 2013

SST Epic not so Kwik Stats

Due to the SETI dishes, the only cell service is via DSL at businesses and some residences. No cell towers as they may cause us to miss a call from ET.
It was very humid and cool. Not my favorite conditions. But it was not cold. It rained some and the rocks were wet. But I rode most of the rock gardens. I stopped towards the end of one and as I went to remount, I almost took a tumble down the steep embankment that most of the trail ran along. I stopped at an overlook and forgot to turn on the GoPro for the main 5 mile descent. I may go back Tuesday...














Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Beyond the Thunder Dome!

Rich Hobbie (Hobbie Heat and Power) has been way too good to us! Here is just one example. He made this awesome bumper for our motor home. It includes a Park work stand donated by Brendan (Terminus of the Buck at Cycle Craft).

Got it's first use today, taking the pedals off off Tammy's bike.







Monday, April 22, 2013

Douthat State Park Too

I rode with Carter. Carter, the self acknowledged intermediate, represented himself pretty well, here at Douthat. We started with the east side and were treated to only slightly more moderate climbs than I rode the previous day. I was going to ride gears again, but Carter showed up on his Spot belt drive SS,


so I pull out the Lynskey SS and made the tires have my happy pressure and we were off. I could not let Carter enjoy more suffering than I. Evil Grin.

The first climb, while more moderate in general, still seemed to keep going forever. With some steep sections that were just a little too much, on day two and with one gear. I would stop and Carter would say "You don't have to stop on my account." I would have laughed if I wasn't still catching my breath as he made his way up to me. I normally do not stop for much, when I have my way or don't need photos, but On this day on this mountain, I was more that happy with all the stops for scenery and snacks.





The Rock over look
Tuscarora Overlook



Stony Run Water Fall






 The Garmin Stopped adding elevation about half way through.

  

Monday, April 15, 2013

Douthat State Park

Man, I thought Big South Fork Was Big! Douthat really kicked my butt. I definitely underestimated this Epic! Granted it was 87 degrees (mini heatwave for April) and I attempted to follow the Mid Mountain Mama XXC race course, which does go outside the park. I can't remember the last time I used my granny gear, let alone so much. I was using it 40 minutes into my first climb (Stony Run) and quite a few times after that! I did use Stony Run for Threshold training and probably burned up too many matches, I got a 3rd out of 40 on Strava, so in a way it was worth it. I got almost 30 minutes of threshold in before I began to to sputter. It was the most so far this year and all in one chunk, not two or three intervals. I paid for it later though, boy did I pay! But the DH's were equally long and sometimes brutal and treacherous. I had to awkwardly negotiate more than a few tight switchbacks with steep consequences!

There were orange arrows on the ground, that I believe are for that race. It crosses itself and runs along the Middle Mountain ridge twice (best I can tell) I was toast well before this, so I dropped down Blue Suck Falls Trail. I rested there for a bit.
Tammy met me at the beach, with food and beachwear, so I could nap and refuel in the sun.

Check out the local IMBA club at http://www.roanokeimba.org/ 

They have a link to this map http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/documents/douthat.pdf (Became a 404) Try http://www.americasstateparks.org/park_maps/douthat-parkmap_trails.pdf
I got in touch with Carter Shumaker for the next day's ride, through their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/roanokeimba
More on that later...

Monday, April 8, 2013

Big South Fork NP Gears John Muir and Grand Loop in reverse

I was Feeling good this day, despite 12 hours of riding this past week. This ride makes 155 miles of dirt in a week. Sweet. No spectactular interval numbers, but a pretty good average power for the duration. Gears definitely provided more Pedaltunities going reverse on John Muir. I found some Tifosi glasses in one of the caves. They were probably too dark for the shadows, prompting there removal. I left them with the visitors center's lost and found. I hope the Karma will help me find the pair I misplaced. No sightseeing this time. I just wanted to feel the flow of the trails. I am glad we are splitting the trek to Douthat in two. Eight hours of driving the bus can be rough, even when I am well rested.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Big South Fork NP SS John Muir and Grand Loop in reverse

Saturday I was going to do the part of Collier Ridge I have been skipping.  After I realized it was one way I just did the whole loop, both up and down and just took the fire road up to the start of the West Bandy trail. This added 3 or 4 miles, so I just about had an endurance day, HA!. Like 36 plus is short. But after 72 miles in two days, almost 48 hours off the bike, the sun smiled on me as we drove the switchbacks to the overlook on the Eastern Rim. I dusted off the road bike and took the 10 and 15 minute hills that came out of the river valley. That was late Friday. So endurance pace felt just fine, Saturday morning! Single Speed today, saving gears for Sunday's ride, in case I am tired. I rode John Muir and the Grand Loop in reverse. Funny how it did not seem up hill to the north trail head, but it sure seemed more down hill on John Muir than the opposite direction. This was fine, but if I was looking for more Pedaltunities I would go the from the Grand Loop up. The trail flowed, in some ways better in this direction, but there were a couple more places that I had to dab or take a few steps off the bike. I spent some time at the overlooks. There are so many that you could really make a day of it if you hit them all.