Top of the Morning

Bright and early today I drove over to Twin Rocks in Granite Bay to meet Mark Fellows for a trial ride. It was about thrity-five degrees when we set out. It didn't seem that cold though as the sun was shinning brightly. Quite a contrast to Folsom where the fog looked like a woolen blanket over Lake Natoma.
Most of my riding at this locale has been at night so, just as my last ride with Folsom HS, it looked very foreign to me. We began slowly and stayed on the wider trails at the lower elevations.
The encouragement and support I recieved from Mark made for a great experience. He was patient and didn't mind stopping a few times for me to either catch up or catch my breath. There is no doubt that I'd been on many of these trails before but they just were not recognizable.
After a good warm up, we began heading towards the "Lookout." While I successfully managed to make it up most of the hills, some with added loud grunts just to get up, this one I walked. No worries ... next time we'll hammer up. It is amazing to look at at Folsom Lake and see people and vehicles wandering around areas that are usually about twenty feet underwater. We sure need a lot of moisture.
Heading back down the hill we finally got to at the end of the paved park road. Talked to a ranger there and headed back to Twin Rocks. We did a little more on the single track and then onto the pave back to the truck.
A great ride, a great day, and most importantly a great friend for a riding companion.

Five Degrees Celsius

This morning I joined the Folsom High School MTB Team for their Saturday training ride. In total, about thirty students and parents met at the middle school in Granite Bay. Nice.
The recent rains were good for the trails as they were compacted and for the most part free of mud or puddles. I followed the freshmen out with a couple of other parents and the rolling terrain from the school over towards the Granite Bay mountain biking race course provided a great warm up.
The entire group met and received instruction from Coach Jason McMillen. The experienced (fast) riders took off for three loops of the course. Coach Mac stayed with the younger riders and they also got three laps.
Honestly, all these kids are so fast that I lagged behind, missed a turn and had my own experience out there. In fact, at one point I was pedaling across a sandy area that is usually about ten feet under water. Here is the good news ... kept the rubber down for the entire ride. No issues (I don't consider slow an issue) and headed back to the parking lot with the group. At least that is how it began. Again, I lagged behind but powered up the gentle hills arriving at each crest breathing heavily. The last parent was about fifty yards ahead of me as we negotiated the final couple of turns.
Yes, it felt great being out there. Didn't even notice the temperature at all thanks to all the pedaling. Oh yeah, at the conclusion, the temperature was up to fourteen degrees Celsius.

Winterize the Ride

It's been a couple of weeks since my mishap with the Stumpy. With the time drawing near for Santa's visit I have opted to ride my old school Raleigh in the garage. Riding the trainer while listening to Christmas music, while not like riding the roads or trails, is nice. I can even sing along to some of the tunes without doing irreparable harm to someones eardrum.
This past weekend was amazing. On Saturday, we celebrated grandson Tanner's fifth birthday with a Winter Olympic themed party at his house. Afterwards, we took off for Santa Cruz to ride the Christmas Train. What a great treat it was to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. What a great surprise for Tanner as all on board sang Happy Birthday to him. We got back home about 1:30AM and just passed out into bed. Sunday morning, off to chruch and then dinner with friends. A great weekend indeed.
I should point out that Tanner recently became the proud owner of a Specialized Hot Rock BMX bike. On Thanksgiving Day, Tanner showed me his stuff as he sped up and down our street. Way to hammer Tanner ... you sure are fast.
So, back to the trainer. I've acutally been using it all year when time did not permit me to embark on one of my usual 2-3 hour rides. One thing for sure, you know it is cold when ones breath is visable in the garage with the door closed. The goal is two sessions of about 40-minutes daily. I'll let you know how that goes. If it doesn't rain tomorrow night I'll be out there on the Stumpy once again. No flat tires this time.

Flat's Happen

Tonight after work I joined Alan, Devin, and John for some off road night riding. We left the parking lot and entered the American River Bike Trail just across the street. Over some rocks (oh yeah there are lots of those in Folsom) and on to the paved trail for a short time and then on to the dirt.
I was able to keep up pretty good until we got to Hazel. I cranked it up the bridge and back on to the paved trail. They were kind enough to wait for me and once down the north side of Lake Natoma we resumed the trail riding. Alan stayed behind me and shouted out encouragement when I needed to dig a little deeper to get up and over some tree stumps a couple of times.
After about forty-five minutes on the dirt we arrived at a spot where John and Devin took off for some technical climbs and Alan and I went on the paved trail with the intent to meet them at Negro Bar.
I was riding on the pavement and Alan on the dirt to the right of the pave. I elected to increase my speed and catch up with him. Once I did so I too got on the hard pack. At some point the hard pack narrowed and I over corrected left smashing the front wheel into a 3" hunk of asphalt. The result was the tube blew instantly and the bike and I came to a sudden stop.
So, Alan and I walked a mile or more and then John arrived with his truck. We loaded the Stumpy in and called it a night.

Brown's Ravine

Today at 0900 I joined the Folsom High mountain biking team for a training ride. The route departed Taco Bell at Blue Ravine and Natoma in Folsom. Up to the boat ramp, over the dyke, and into Brown's Ravine. I'd ridden this before with J. McMillen but it has been a while. It was about 50 degrees and the sun was bright.

Okay, I admit I walked a few of the inclines ... not to worry ... the Stumpy and I are just getting acquainted so its cool. The good news is that I didn't crash once. That makes me very happy. Sure, this little 12-miler kicked my butt but that's why I'm out there. So what if I am 4 X older than some of these kids. Fun is fun right.

So, now it's time to clean the bike and hang the Christmas lights. We say Merry Christmas at our house.

Got to Jump on it

Okay, a new blogger may tend to put too many words on the blog. So I guess I am guilty of rambling. Whatever ... it's all good.
Today, after what seems like way too long I am going to pick up a Specialized Stumpjumper 29er Comp. Going down to Elk Grove to see Bruce at Kinetic Cycles. He's been holding this rig forever and today he called to determine if I still wanted it. The deal, just like the bike, is really sweet. Heading down after work. My palms are sweating in anticipation. My mom once told me that anticipation is greater than the realization ... but wait ... she wasn't talking about a gorgeous black mountain bike was she? That will be a story for another day.
Four months from now the Stumpy and I will be back at Prairie City. I am determined to get in shape and be somewhat competitive next season. A shout out to Mark F. for setting me up with this.

Don't Stop Now

Been doing a lot of thinking about cycling lately. That's it ... thinking about it. Time to get off your butt and get out and ride. Tomorrow is a mountain biking day and ... well, I don't currently have a mountain bike. Duh.
Living here in northern California mountain biking is a natural. The times I've been have been so fun and totally unlike riding up and down the bike trail. Mountain biking and nature go hand in hand. Getting out and riding affords opportunities to see those areas less traveled and an abundant look at what God has provided for us on this planet. Beautiful trees, plants, streams, rivers, lakes, hills, mountains, wildlife and so much more.
Yes, it is time to get off the couch and hop on the saddle and take off.

Over the Bars

The year is drawing to an end and reflecting on my cycling exploits for 2008 I have a few things to say.

1. Being a lifelong roadie, never thought mountain biking would be so much fun and so difficult.
2. Didn't complete any centuries this year and have fallen a bit short of my goal. Still have my annual birthday ride coming up. The goal is to ride the number of miles I am years old. A day off on my birthday assures the time to do it ... so just do it.
3. Thanks to Alan, Devon, and John at work and Jason in the hood for their patience in waiting for the slow guy to catch up.
4. Kudos to Prairie City MTB racing series. Don't think my efforts could be considered racing but I did manage to participate in eight races with only one DNF. Going over the bars, crashing just about every week, and finally ending up at Mercy ER for a few stitches didn't squash my enthusiasm.
5. A special shout out to Bicycles Plus in Folsom for their undying attention to all my questions and concerns. Especially John, Sean, Armando and Brad.

Going forward I will continue to ride and, most importantly, enjoy the ride wherever it takes me.