Cold and Muddy

Needs/Wants - Wills/Desires

Yesterday was ideal for almost any kind of ride, so why not do yard work instead?  After spending yesterday doing yard work, and the completely overwhelming week at the office, I needed a good ride.  It just wasn't going to happen while the weather was agreeable.  This afternoon had to be it; cold wet and raining/snowing.  I really didn't want to go out, but I needed to just get away for a while - something that took a lot of convincing on my part.

With North Fork closed to all motor vehicles for the season, it was a great time to head up to the north canyon and Bicentennial Trail.  Dressed for wet and cold conditions, I wasn't too concerned about the elements, but more concerned about leaving everything else behind for a spell.  Before jumping onto the single-track, I rode up to a couple summer home gates, just to get a look around.  I ran across a pretty good "fire-scar" from a quick brush fire last August.  Lots of variation in terrain and conditions made it hard to get comfortable.  One minute on a tight hard surface, the next, grease.  Even on the service roads, it was sketchy at times not knowing if the tread would hook-up, or leave me sliding.

The start of the single-track was pretty tight.  Most of that is climbing, with good traction and manageable grades. Just around those fur trees above, the trail immediately got greasy.   This was the case most of the way up to the junction.  At times the tires would load-up, but quickly clear, often not fast enough to take sharp turns very fast.  Several places you could see where a couple of horses had a tough time keeping a solid footing along the way as well.  There are some steep grades that are hard enough dry.  Add the grease and it's pretty much hike-a-bike.

The trail was a tad better from the summit down, but still, a few areas that the tires wouldn't hook-up.  I hadn't been up this trail for a couple years, so I wasn't sure how far anything was.  I knew this sign was just a shade over a mile from the crossing at Cutler Creek.  A couple switchbacks and a simple little water crossing.  With temps in the mid 30's, it wasn't a good idea to get wet feet.  Sure enough, cold feet for the rest of the ride home.  With some daylight left, I headed up Cutler Creek Trail, as I hadn't been up there in quite a while either.

This is an old trail I used to run some thirty years ago, with my yellow lab.  Back then, there weren't many single track trails - besides the original Bicentennial Trail.  I used to ride my old hard-tail mountain bike over the service roads, but would seldom ride up this trail, as the terrain was not enjoyable on that technology.  Still, this was a pretty quiet place that I could trail run with my dog after a long day at the office.  There was never anyone else up there.  It was up at the top of this trail that I caught the picture of the "frozen mushroom" on the stump (at the top of this post).  That place sees direct sunlight about 20 minutes each year.  A stretch of marsh right down the middle of the trail always slows things down, trying to pick through it.  With the park now closed, there won't be anyone up there for a long time - not that it goes anywhere in particular, just a quiet place.

You may notice the little blue bell zip-tied to the bottom of the bike saddle.  There have been a ton of "cat" sightings (lions), including a lioness and her two cubs in this particular area.  The bell serves to let other riders know I coming on "blind" corners, but in this case, keep the lions from considering me as prey.  You'll also notice the RaceFace flat pedals.  Still no confidence in the SPD's.  I think I need to try some EggBeaters.

This afternoon was all need and will.  Literally, no want, nor desire involved.  It was cold, wet and everything else you' expect,  A darn fine ride and am glad I forced myself out there.  I really couldn't come up with a good reason not to go.  I mean, cold and wet is nothing.  Rather, I'm fortunate to be able to ride right out of my driveway and onto top grade trails.  It won't be long and I'll have to drag my bike to trails that aren't covered with a few feet of snow.  I'll lament not being able to ride with such ease, but until then I'll have to make the most of the conditions - but will I?

Blues Deluxe - Beck/Stewart, Fillmore West '68

Ride Hard!

Halloween

Reminiscing - '78

Yep, That's snow falling again 'bout 8,000 feet.  A little late getting out, but still worth the effort for sure.  Temp was something like 38° when I got home and getting pretty dark.  Next week it will be too dark to ride without lights, so getting time on the trail now is a must.  A few spots are getting a little slick and sketchy.

Not sure why, but I got to be thinking of Halloween, '78.  My parents had gone to Hawaii for a couple weeks and I had to work almost every night during that time.  That is except for Halloween.  I was bending tacos for a little joint at the time and felt like I was making it happen.  I mean, I wasn't a Rockafeller, but I wasn't hucking newspapers anymore either. Times at TJ's were pretty good.  For that matter, everything seemed pretty good - or so I remember.

That night I swung by a little church social with one of my "friends" - that I couldn't tell you his name if my life depended on it.  Don't ask why, but I do remember clearly an event that tied back to that previous Saturday, of which I wasn't really paying attention otherwise.  Nobody would ever remember this but me, however, I can still tell you of the "Foreigner"  45 RPM disc, song name and all that sticks in my head to this day.  I couldn't tell you about anything else from that day, but I remember about ten minutes as though it happened this afternoon.  Those two events and a similar time about one year later would come to play an integral part of .............. how I would see things for the rest of my life.

My parents wouldn't be home for more than another week and I would end up missing the Pheasant hunt because of it.  Still, when they did get home, I was sitting on a pile of cash from nearly three weeks of straight work - after school of course.  A week or so after they got home, I bought new skis and boots, which would prove to be another significant event.  My first love was always skiing and buying this gear was like an engagement ring.  It was mine, not somebody else's old stuff.  I had arrived.

I remember the very moment I heard John Lennon was killed and the events of that evening.  I remember exactly where I was when told Ronald Regan had been shot.  I clearly remember where I was when somebody told me about the Challenger exploding.  Key things that really didn't shape me personally, but were staggering all the same.  Yet I remember two events in October 1978 that seemed at the time completely insignificant and one other in the Autumn of 1979 that changed everything for me. At times, it is still what drives me.................................

Man, times where good.

Snow is coming.  Ride while you can.

Ride HARD!            Here's to the good 'ol boys - Don W.

Oh, Oh, Oh,..............Canada!

Back to the front..................

Seems whenever there is a crap-storm, I find myself right up front.  Another last minute booking back to Canada.  I can't be the smartest guy in the company, or we're all in trouble.  Dealing with equipment from Europe, in a building designed by Europeans, make s for a challenge.  400-volt commie-motors running on 575 volt, drives that were spec'd incorrectly.............engineering is truly overrated (sarcasm).  The Canadians I get to work with are great and make it tolerable.  These guys are pretty good at what they do and are darn good guys to boot.  Getting a little later flight got me up there just in time to enjoy the parking lot that is otherwise referred to as I-75.  By the time I got across the border and up to the facility it was nearly 19:00.  I didn't get out of there until sometime after 01:00 the next morning.  It was like that all week.  Saturday morning I had to leave Windsor around 05:00 to be to a planned power outage in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  After a long day at Auburn Hills, it left only enough time to head back to the airport - and sit in more traffic.  I kid you not, 60+ hours in four days - as an exempt employee.  What a bunch of crap!

Since my last trip ten days before, Canada legalized cannabis.   Thus the brown cloud hovering over the University, just off the Ambassador Bridge.  It's kind of like Boulder, Colorado on the Detroit River.  There was an automated highway sign up on the 401 with a Weed plant and red circle and line through it saying "don't drive high".  Huh, I guess we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.  

So what does this have to do with riding?  NOTHING, as in no riding for me.  I'd hoped to get out this afternoon for a quick trail ride, but I'm just hammered from the past couple of weeks.  The more I don't ride, the worse it gets.  I need to start building a maintenance program in the mornings.  I've already lost too much ground and can feel it.  You lose it faster than you can get it back - at my age anyway.  The registration for True Grit is November 10 and I really want to be in that race.  It isn't until March, but that isn't much time to train if I have to get it all back.  I also got a notice from Leadville, for a lottery registration in December.  I'd love to ride Leadville, but that would seriously take 9 full months of dedicated training - which would be hard with my current work schedule.  Along with this, I need to coordinate some Huntsman stuff, with the Company and Club.  Life used to be so simple.

On that note, today is October 28th.  Forty years ago, it was just another Autumn Saturday afternoon.  I wouldn't come to realize how significant that particular day was for a few years later, but it changed everything.  Man, things were so simple back then.  I should have been paying attention.

Dirt ride tomorrow afternoon -if I can get away from the office.

Only in Canada -Before and After

Ride HARD!

Need more time to ride

Problems on several fronts

Last Friday night I found myself, near midnight, standing in a rainstorm in Southern Ontario, Canada - for whatever reason.  Thing is, I didn't even know it was raining until somebody mentioned it.  That all started the day before when one of the guys that wear all the headdress-feathers (a plant manager) stopped by to brief me on a problem that I wasn't aware existed.  In other words, somebody else's problem that I needed to get in the middle of.  By 04:30 Saturday morning, I was driving back to Windsor, to the hotel, for maybe a few a hours sleep and a shower.  At this point, I didn't have a flight home and was hoping all along to be home earlier enough Saturday afternoon to ride.  When I got back to the job site later that morning, I was just hoping to be in my own bed that night - a small consolation - forget about a ride on the MTB.

So goes it since race day.  Actually, I was putting off several of these projects until after the race, but I had no idea it would be like this.  It makes it really hard to keep a positive attitude and update the blog.  I go out for a short ride, all the time thinking of all the worlds problems I'm dealing with - only to get home more frustrated than when I left.  What's the point?

This morning I went out for a ride on a familiar trail, using the Mokocam.  As expected, I had to address issues from work that "just can't wait".  I got a pretty good clip on the descent, that really doesn't do the ride justice - but................  The files are too large,. I'll need to post them on YouTube.  That will be down the road aways.

For now, I've got to head back to Canada next week with an early morning project in Michigan, Saturday morning.  The local weather looks good enough to ride every day between now and then - hopefully.  Something needs to change....................

A couple weeks ago, while driving back to DTW on a Saturday night, I caught a radio station out of Detroit that was doing a non-stop fifty-year commemoration of the mighty Zep.  It's hard to believe it was that long ago.  Three years ago, I was on the tail-end of a long couple weeks in China.  One of the guys talked me into a Tex-Mex the night before we flew home.  Out of nowhere came one of the classics from II.  Suddenly, I thought - "I can do this".  It's always good to get home, and I and II take me back home - in a way.

Click here - Your time gonna come

I can do this...........

Cold Weather Riding

Soft trails with snow on the horizon

Trying to make the most of the available time, I've been out on the mountain bike several times this week.  A couple later evening rides with a pretty nice early morning ride in the mix.  With temps in the low 40's. and always a chance for precip - cold weather gear is in order: Helmet cover, long finger gloves, and a good rainproof jacket.  With temps above 30°, warmer socks with shorts are still pretty good.  The rain has really made the trails soft and responsive - not too muddy and certainly not twitchy.  Still, an occasional blanket of thick leaves may hide rocks and stumps that can catch you off guard.

The season on these trails locally may be getting short, as this picture from this afternoon shows snow only a couple hundred feet above this location, with heavier snow not too far above that.  The forecast for tonight puts snow a few hundred feet below this point.  It likely means there will be no ride over Ben Lomond this year, but I suspect we'll have a few more weeks on the lower trails - hard to say.  What is for sure, I'll make the most of the time before I have to start riding down on the Shore Line Trail.

Something about the Autumn that takes me back.  I used to look forward to this time of year. I used to spend a lot of my fall in the field hunting - anything.  The colder, the better.  A good day didn't involve much, if any shooting, but rather just being in the field early and taking it all in. Being out with my yellow lab, literally for hours on end - it just beat just about everything. Even in the summer months, I'd like to carry my 9-pound, ultra-precision rifle (unloaded), take my dog, and hike from our house up to Ben Lomond peak.  Going up a back trail, we'd generally not run into anyone 'till about a mile from the peak.  The scope on my rifle provided great optics to spot wildlife a long way out.  All the times I did that little hike, I don't think I ever loaded a single bullet into the gun.  It just provided a great conditioning ballast and fantastic optics.  My lab has been dead for nearly twenty years.  I think I fired my last round through that gun last year - from a box of bullets I reloaded in 1997.  Shooting once a year, typically at a fence post 500 yards away - not a lot of bullets being used. I just don't get out much anymore - thus the bike.  I cover a lot more terrain, a lot faster, but it's not the same...........................

A lot to do before the snow flies and the first heavy frost.  Until then, enjoy the changing of the season.  Maybe another month and it'll be time to register for some spring mountain bike races.  Probably a good time to head south for a couple of days.

Click here for a little "Young Blood"

Ride HARD!

Off the bike for too long

Back home

After that ride to Porcupine two weeks ago, it seems there was just one more thing after the next.  Finally, last Wednesday morning, I headed for Michigan.  What started out as a busy week ended even busier.  Basically something like 60 hours between Wednesday and Saturday night - getting home just after midnight.  So much for burning some vacation............

Commitments and weather have kept me grounded until tonight.  Taking what I could get, I rode over to the horse corral trail and went part way up the back side toward Ben Lomond.  The trail was pretty rocky and washed from the  1 1/2" of rain last night so I couldn't make very good time. I should have gone for something a little more familiar.  Still, I wasn't really up for a hard ride and should have known better.  Riding the spin bike this morning was more of a strain than usual.  I guess that's what ten days off will do to you.  You lose it a lot faster than you can get it back - it a vicious thing.

More rain forecast tonight, but maybe I can get out tomorrow afternoon for a longer ride.  I could use the break from work  - and everything else for that matter.  I really don't have any confidence on my mountain bike anymore.  It's to the point that some of the technical stuff is more effort than fun, in fact, kind of tenuous.  I've gotta fix that before snow flies.

The leaves have all but turned, but not from the cold.  It's just so dry, the colors are not what they usually are this time of year.  Still, pretty darn nice just to be out and about.

Give me a couple days.  I'll come up with something................better.  The season is a changin'.

Try a little Steve Morse Click here for Ghost Wind

Suck it up! Ride HARD!

Long Distance Dirt...........

Porcupine

I love the dirt.  I was born to ride in the dirt.  It's just like everything else - just ain't good at it.  Still, there is something about riding my mountain bike that makes almost everything...........alright.

This past week was way busy.  Work, work, work commitments, and more work.  Getting ready for a busy trip out to Michigan, and its gonna be busy until then.  With time for only one ride this week I took a few liberties and decided on a long ride I'd never done before - but always wanted to do just the same.  Tuesday night I spent a few hours going through the fleet of mountain bikes; tuning, adjusting and adding racing sealant in the tubeless tires.  So Wednesday was prime for a 40 mile trip to Porcupine reservoir and back.  3600 feet of climbing and roughly 2500 calories - an effort.

Porcupine is in the next valley to the north, across the Avon-Liberty divide.  I usually ride to the top of the divide road early in the spring before the gate opens, but not when I have a broken ankle - like this year.  Needless to say, the ride to the top was kind of nice - just to say I was back.  From there it's another 8 miles down what is called South Canyon, and into Avon proper.  To the top of the dam is just a shade over 19 miles.  The last 7 miles (or so) is on rough oil, but still pretty good.  The last mile to the top is steep, rough, rutted dirt, but still a service road.  A beautiful ride this time of year - for sure!

A couple minutes to snap some picts and back on the road home.  Not sure what to expect, I called a friend that lives in Avon to see if I could swing by for some water - if needed.  I left home with one bottle in the cage and a 74-ounce hydration pack on my back.  At the turnaround, I still had more than half the bottle with Zipfiz and 3/4's the hydration pack.  Still, I stopped by his house to chat for a minute - kind of hoping he'd want to hop on for the climb home (the guy is a machine).  No luck, as he was committed to a soccer practice with the kiddos.  Riding home alone gets kind of old, but when you have the entire South Canyon to yourself.............well, you kind of forget about everything else.  It was the break I really needed and it was fantastic.  Making pretty good time, I consciously decided to push the bike for a while, simply to just take more time.  If you could put this in a bottle, it'd be against the law to sell it.

Rides like this make it all worth the effort to get and stay in shape.  Later that night, I was online looking at the rides I'd really like to do this winter and spring.  At the top of the list is "True Grit" - the race I busted my ankle getting ready for (bad grammar).  True Grit is far more technical, but about as long time wise and distance - unless I'm stupid enough to think I can bag 100 dirt miles in March.  Who knows................whoa, what am I thinking?  It's stuff like this that gets me into trouble.  We'll if I'm gonna act stupid, let's try to get into Leadville - again.  Man, I'd love to ride Leadville, but then again, I'd fight the toughest kid in the school just to say he kicked my butt.  What is with me?  Forget about it, Leadville is next to impossible to get into by lottery alone.  Still......... I'd do it in a second!

I've only got two days this week before I jet off to Michigan.  I've got to ship all my gear tomorrow and take care of a few loose ends.  A meeting Tuesday morning and a little thing with my daughter that evening.  I need to get a solid ride in before I leave Wednesday morning.  I scheduled this as tight as possible, getting home way late Saturday night just so I can sleep in my own bed.  I hate hotels.  With 12 -18 hour days scheduled all week, doing some fairly detailed and difficult tasks, I'll be scorched come Sunday morning.  Better get a long ride in before I leave.

A few things to tie up with the Porpoise, but for the most part, we're already looking at next year for something bigger, maybe way big.  We'll see.

Don't ask me why, but this link seems to fit the mood after 40 miles in the dirt.

You Can Still Rock in America - click here

Ride HARD!