Ouch - Gold Creek/Lower Dungeness

Saturday I met Doug at his place at 6AM and we headed to Bellevue to pick up Brett, and then hit the Edmonds Ferry where we met Igor, Paul and Stephanie. From the ferry it took about an hour to hit get to the closed FS road #2860. From there we rode the closed road (pretty much gone, and maybe soon unridable) to the Gold Creek trailhead. From there we climbed roughly up some super steep singletrack and then descended back down to the Gold Creek Shelter where I crashed and either bruised or cracked some ribs. It was a painful ride up to the Lower Dungeness trail where we could descend back to the closed road.

Sunday I headed out to Black Diamond Bikes to beg the quick return of my cross bike since I was trashed and so was my mountain bike. Peter had a Specialized Roubaix in my size and asked if I wanted to demo it. I knew I shouldn't ride, but how could I turn that down. I did a very easy 20 mile loop and man did that bike feel fast and sleek compared to my cross bike. Of course I couldn't test it to it's limits because accelerating and just breathing in general hurt pretty bad.

I'm at a loss on what to do. I need to be putting in big miles the next two weeks because I'm set to ride Kokopelli's Trail with Doug starting May 5. I don't think seeing Dr. would do any good, and I don't want to stop riding either. I think it's just going to be smooth road rides this week, and lots of Ibuprofen. We shall see....

Oh, if you want to see how much better a writer's descripton of the day was, check out Doug's version here.


Date: April 15
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Loaner Roubaix
April Miles: 185
Year to date mileage: 662

Date: April 14
Mileage: 23
Ride type/Bike: Mtn. Bike/Pisgah
April Miles: 165
Year to date mileage: 642

Getting in shape for longer rides

Last Thursday was a gorgeous day for a ride so I conned Doug into doing a road ride with me. We road from Ron Regis Park, around the east side of Lake Washington, did one loop of Mercer Island, and then came back down the west side of the lake and back out 169 to the park again. It was great.

This Monday and Tuesday I just couldn't get my butt out the door and rode the trainer instead.

Wednesday I hit a famous BBTC ride called the Thrilla. It's 20 miles of dirt and single tracked glued together through neighborhoods in Redmond and Woodinville. It's pretty impressive what Kevin Axt put together.

Last night I just took a slow 20 mile road loop to stretch out my legs in anticipation of riding Gold creek/Lower Dungeness on Saturday. That should be about 20 miles and 5000' of climbing and I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm still thinking of racing Sunday. I know I'll get crushed, but who cares. We shall see!

Date: April 12
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
April Miles: 142
Year to date mileage: 619

Date: April 11
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Mtn./Pisgah
April Miles: 122
Year to date mileage: 599

Date: April 6
Mileage: 39
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
April Miles: 102
Year to date mileage: 579

Best Ride in Years

Met some friends in Olympia and got shown around Capital Forest. It was wet and sloppy , but a warm 50 degrees. Climbed 3000 feet, rode 27 glorious miles, splashed through tons of mud and even had to help get a motorcyclist unstuck from the slick clay. Couldn't wipe the smile off my face for days. Unfortunately, couldn't wash the mud out of my clothes even with 3 washings. Oh well. It was worth it. Five days later had sinus surgery and was off the bike for 2 and a half weeks. :P

Date: March 30
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Railtrail-road/Tricross
March Miles: 167
Year to date mileage: 477

Date: March 26
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Railtrail-road/Tricross
March Miles: 147
Year to date mileage: 457

Date: March 10
Mileage: 27
Ride type/Bike: Mountain Bike/Pisgah
March Miles: 127
Year to date mileage: 437

Bested, but I have an excuse

Nine days without a bike ride. How horrible is that. Had to punish myself...

A friend who races open class suggested we go for a long road ride last Sunday. The weather was supposed to be perfect so I agreed. I figured he would be on his mountain bike because he has preached "Get used to being on your Mountain bike for long periods!". I rode my tricross with fenders, and heavy bullet proof 35mm Schwalbe Marathons. It turns out that he and two other racers, all faster than me anyway show up on sub 20lb racing bikes. Needless to say they killed me. 50 miles later I was a cramping mess. I called my girls to pick me up at Coloun beach with a couple of bananas and some V8.

Date: March 6
Mileage: 30
Ride type/Bike: Railtrail-Road/Tricross
March Miles: 100
Year to date mileage: 410

Date: March 4
Mileage: 50
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
March Miles: 70
Year to date mileage: 380

Date: March 3
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Rail Trail-Road/Tricross
March Miles: 20
Year to date mileage: 330

Uh. No thanks, I'll pass

Yesterday was to be my first big race of the year. The Valentines Day Challenge at Tahuya State Forest. My sport race was not to start till 1:30 so I woke up casually and looked outside.... Pouring. Absolutely Pouring. My friend J was already over near the race staying at an in laws place. I patiently waited till 8 to give him a ring. I did manage to reach him as he was driving through town out to the course. "An inch of snow on the ground, but it's melting" was his report. I looked at the Doppler, I looked at the forecast, I remembered that Tahuya is moto territory and I bagged it.

My psyche was shot. I knew I wimped out. I knew J would give me loads of grief, but I didn't care. I was warm by my fireplace with my family.

J called later, and to my surprise, he told me I had made the right decision. Much of the course was covered in over 6 inches of water. He froze solid. Many people made the hour or two drive and didn't race. Many who did dropped out, and many many bikes were trashed by the grit. Here is his report:

For those that missed the first Indie Series race, the skies parted, the sun came out, a warmth filled the air as smiling racers maneuvered over dry packed single track. Then I woke up...

The day started out with a small dusting of 1 - 2" of snow on the ground. As I pulled into the camp at around 8:00 the rains started and it rain like a monsoon was going through, but without any wind. At the start of the beginners race it had warmed to a balmy 34 degrees and there the temp sat for the duration of the day. Many huddled under tents, sharing heaters or around the large bonfire. The downside to the bonfire was having to deal with the rain.

The trails were a swamp with massive puddles and running water every where. Luckily there did not seem to be many hidden roots in the puddles, or I was lucky enough to miss most. Most puddles were not too (used with hesitance) deep, but a few seemed to sink to hub depth. Since most of the trails are hard packed the water seem to hold well and grow deeper as the day progressed. It also seemed to be warmer with each lap. I think the water helped keep the frost bite away. Some of the newer trail that was a mushy mud that was near impossible to make it throw, but all was ridable. If you happen to steer slightly off of the main mud trail you would find yourself stopped instantly. The whoops that are a lot of fun when dry were filled to the brim with water. It was the wettest race I have ever seem. The day saw many racers drop out due to conditions and mechanicals.

I'm traveling all this week, so I hope to get a run or two in and that's probably it.

Date: February 21
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Rail Trail-Road/Tricross
February mileage: 143
Year to date mileage: 310

The sun is a tease

Friday's weather was insanely beautiful. It hit 66 here and the ride was great. Ton's of hikers out climbing to Poo-poo point. I took 5 minutes off my climb. Got it just under 50 minutes. No hang glider launching though. Probably still a little cold for that. Today was back to normal. 44 degrees and rain. I got out and rode outside though because I needed a long ride and I wanted to get used to it for Saturday's race. I did a 37 mile road-rail trail combination to take me to Black Diamond where my girls picked me up. Saturday is the first Indie Series race over on the Olympic peninsula. It's going to be nasty wet and cold. Hopefully the bike and body will hold up.

My buddy Z has one of those really cool Garmin 305 GPS units. Here is the ride to Poo-poo point in motion!

Date: February 19
Mileage: 37
Ride type/Bike: Rail Trail-Road/Tricross
February mileage: 123
Year to date mileage: 290

Date: February 17
Mileage: 15
Ride type/Bike: Mt. Bike Poo-Poo Point/Pisgah
February mileage: 86
Year to date mileage: 253

Date: February 16
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Hwy 18 Road Loop/Tricross
February mileage: 71
Year to date mileage: 238

First Race - Ouch

Light outdoor riding last week. Did hit the trainer on the 4th and 6th, but I'm only going to record "real" outdoor riding here. Thursday I did some hill repeats. Short ones that took under 60 seconds and were all out. Got my heart rate up to 186 for a change. Sunday was the first Budu Mountain Bike Race of the year at South Seatac. It was warm wet 50 degrees. It didn't rain, but it was very muddy. The mud there is a sandy drivetrain eating hell. I finished 12/19 in Sport Men 30-39. I thought I did better, but I guess I was mostly passing folks in different categories. Some of my racing friends say I need to push a bigger gear, and my heart rate data would seem to confirm that so I'm going to try it. My friend Accretion has one of those cool new Garmins that maps routes so you can check out the course. It's pretty cool to look at the Satellite view of the map and see that it looks like there is a race being setup on the day this image was taken.


Date: February 11
Mileage: 13
Ride type/Bike: SeaTac Race/Pisgah
February mileage: 51
Year to date mileage: 218

Date: February 8
Mileage: 12
Ride type/Bike: Misc. Hill Repeats/Pisgah
February mileage: 38
Year to date mileage: 205

11 days to go

til the first race of the year. I know I'm not ready, but I never will be so I'm just going to do it anyway. I still need a lot of work on my base, but I am going to have to do some interval work if I want to even try to hang on. At least the sun is out and I can do some rides outside. Getting out on the mountain bike today was wonderful. It's going to be a great year.

Date: January 31
Mileage: 17
Ride type/Bike: Mountain Bike (Tapeworm)/Pisgah
January mileage: 167
Year to date mileage: 167

Date: January 30
Mileage: 30
Ride type/Bike: Rail Trail + Road + Gravel Loop/Tricross
January mileage: 150
Year to date mileage: 150

Date: January 29
Trainer Ride. BLEH. Watched Reservoir dogs though. Bloody flick!

Sometimes Slow is Best

Gorgeous Day here. Started out about 32 and clear, and was 55 by 4pm. After a stop by my favorite bike shop: Black Diamond Bikes to get a wheel trued, we hit the CJ's Bakery, and and our favorite Meat smoker for supplies. We then drove down to the Cedar River trail where we did a 6 mile out and back at about 4mph.

Date: January 27
Mileage: 6
Ride type/Bike: Father-Daughter Rail Trail Ride/ Bridgestone
January mileage: 116
Year to date mileage: 116

Ding Dong the Snow is Gone

Man have I been slacking. The snow is finally gone, and today it got up to a balmy 55 degrees! I had to get off my butt and start putting in some base miles.

I'm so stinking sore from snowmobiling Sunday and Monday, but the slow flat ride really helped loosen me back up.

My theory on working out is never stop starting again.


Date: January 24
Mileage: 26
Ride type/Bike: Rail Trail/Tricross
January mileage: 100
Year to date mileage: 100

Date: January 23
Mileage: 26
Ride type/Bike: Rail Trail/Tricross
January mileage: 74
Year to date mileage: 74

I'm really going to log rides here!

It's January 12th and haven't broken any New Year's resolutions yet! Of course I didn't make any either. I was just browsing Bike related blogs and I saw the way VelociPete uses his as a ride diary, and I thought I'd borrow that idea. Here's catching up:

Date: January 11
Mileage: 5
Ride type/Bike: Snow Play/Pisgah
January mileage: 48
Year to date mileage: 48

Date: January 6
Mileage: 23.5
Ride type/Bike: Gravel/Pisgah
January mileage: 43
Year to date mileage: 43

Date: January 3
Mileage: 19.5
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
January mileage: 19.5
Year to date mileage: 19.5