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Zookeeper: 6910

So I did a ride last night and tonight. Last night was at Wakefield and it sucked. The first thing that sucked was that the paths did not completely dry in many spots, so we really got caked with mud. I know it was stupid being out there, but I had to ride my new EWR. I regret it now.

Another reason it sucked is that the Accostink side of the ride is now closed at night, officially. That's right, you heard it correctly: Accostink is officially closed to activity at night, including my favorite one. It was in the works for a while, but they finally did something about it and are going to start enforcing it. I wonder how crowded and ugly it will get at Wakefield on Thursday nights when the hordes come out for the big MORE ride. Before we'd be spread out with all the land we had available to us. Now we'll be one teeming mass. This sucks.

On another slightly sucky note is that JoeP is incredibly fast. I've mentioned him before being a speedy toothpick on wheels, but trying to keep up with him nowadays usually leaves me exhausted. That guy weighs $1.20 soaking wet, so I already have $.45 on him. I think it's all in my lovely handles. It's not so sucky because he's one of my good buds, and seeing your buds get better is good also.

Tonight's ride was at Schaeffer. Erin organized the ride and thirteen folks showed up. It was sunny all day so the trails got a chance to dry out a little better. In a word, the ride was awesome. A few mud puddles, but they were no big deal. The bulk of the ride was swoopy, fast, smooth, fun. The EWR and I got along a little better tonight than last night, where I ended up crashing a few times. No crashing tonight because I'm starting to get used to its different geometry compared to the Chester.

I'm not good at describing ride qualities, but comparing the two bikes, I'd say the EWR is more twitchy. If I leaned or turned too much, I'd slip or wipe out. Does that make sense? The Chester doesn't react as quickly, and that's a good thing to me. I can ride more relaxed. On the EWR there's a bit more sphincter-puckering around fast swoops and turns.

The flip side is that with the suspension fork I can bomb downhills faster. No worries about picking the right lines or rattling your eyeballs out of your head. Look 10 feet further down the trail and just pedal your ass off. But I still have my qualms about suspension. The back side of logs are still scary because too many times I've completed the first half of a log-over successfully. But when the front tire hits the ground, I hate when it dives because I've been bucked. Needless to say, when we got into the log playground, I locked out the RLT so I wouldn't have to do any headers. The rest of the ride was unlocked and it was bob, bob, bob on the uphills. Anyways, after the split with the slow group, we cooked at race pace. I did fine. I feel fine. I'm going to sleep.

All work, no play

Zookeeper: 5510

Did a ride yesterday with JoeP. That guy is so much faster than me now, it's not funny. I was pedaling, but I simply had no power. I could see him waiting patiently for me at forks in the trail and tops of hills, something I used to do for him not too long ago. My, my, tables have turned. When he gets his Jones, I am going to have a hard time just keeping him in sight. Thankfully, Jones' queue is a year long, so I still have the next 12 months to get into better shape.

JoeP said he's going to call Nancy to see if we can schedule a VO2 max test, something I've never done before. I want to see if I am already at my peak. If so, then there's no use in trying to get better. My understanding is that if you are already at the top, then you simply can't get better.

Today was a miserable day of trailwork in the rain at Avalon. We armored a downhill of the Hilton area before the big stream crossing. We were planning on working at Avalon, but our liaison for the park didn't submit our proposed trail changes in time for them to review. The bummer of the day is that the skies spit decently last night so we woke up with some boggy terrain. Definitely not kosher to ride, especially after working 3.5 hours on the trail. Ugh.

The bright spot of the weekend is my new (to me) Eastern Woods Research Original Woods Bike. (Phew, that was a mouthful!) They were bikes designed and made by regional legend Jay DeJesus up in PA. I don't know all the history, but I'm pretty sure that when I started my years of working at bike shops in '93, Jay was already a name to know. He was a trials/downhill/dual slalom guy, and I think this bike was designed as a hardtail, all-mountain bike. The bike is overbuilt with a high bottom bracket and funky frame design that made the most of standover and stiffness.

The killer is that I didn't get to ride at the park today. I did get to ride it this morning on the 1/2 mile of singletrack in my neighborhood, but that wasn't close to sating my excitement. The bike is easy to loft, and I was actually a little surprised how high it sprung when I jumped over some logs. Yum, I think I'm going to dig this bike...

Ho hum

Zookeeper: 12990

Another gray day with no riding. Pop-z and Bunky are going to Wakefield tonight, but I have to stay home and wait for a contractor/family-friend to show up. I need him to do a few electrical things because I don't trust myself with loose electrons. My godfather came a couple of days ago to check out my 30 year-old dryer that came with the house. It turns out a part inside is broken. So I made the call to order that itty-bitty piece, and it turns out it's available, for $200!!!! I bet you the whole thing didn't cost half that much when the previous owner bought it.
Wifey and I have been looking for a new dryer just in case this one wasn't salvageable, and it looks like we're going to have to go and take the plunge. There goes $400+. Ulp...

Rides are still on the gameplan for this weekend. Tomorrow at the Rose with JoeP with our Cross Checks, and Sunday at Avalon after trail maintenance. I'll probably slap on the fenders just in case it's still a little wet out there. I might also take a spin around the hood after I submit this since the pavement is close to being dry.

The Rose

Yesterday I had to make the decision to call off the ride with MORE at Rosaryville. It sucked because I had to decide early enough so that people would have time to get their bikes and stuff ready if they didn't already bring it with them to work. It was gray and misty, but no sizeable drops when I made the call. However, at about the time that the ride was supposed to start, a steady drizzle moved in. I was glad that it did so I don't have to feel so bad about canceling.

Like most days of the week, I'm looking forward to the weekend. Weather.com is forecasting that the rain will die down tomorrow, so hopefully it's windy and sunny enough on Friday that I can do some riding on Saturday. At the very least I can head out to Gambrill and get my ride on.

The wifey feels bad for me because I won't be riding much (if at all) this week due to the rain and the other things that she wants me to go to, so she gave me the green light to ride both days this weekend. Do you have any idea how rare that is? Definitely a score! I love that woman :)

My thumb still hurts from crashes on the last two weekends. Two weeks ago (10/11 entry) I hooked up with a bunch of guys I've never ridden with, but I've talked to them on the beginning of rides. (Swell group, and I think I'm going to squeeze into their rides again.) Anyways, I crashed pretty hard and my whole left hand and palm were swollen for a little while. It was slightly sore last Sunday, but I tried to get over a dinky pile of logs and hit a small wet log at a bad angle. Shwoop! The bike came out from under me, and I jammed my hand into a hole, formed by logs thrown down at random. Ouch. Hopefully it fully heals by this weekend so I can throw down.

If you're looking for something to do on Sunday, come out to the Avalon trail maintenance day. Klas, the organizer just had another kid, so the Outlaw may run things. Maintenance is a go whether the weather sucks or not, but the ride is only going to happen if the trails are firm enough. Don't want to undo what you just did, eh?

Day 1

1:11 in the morning. Rain outside my window. Wife tucked in bed. Bummed because I haven't ridden in two days. Hopefully it clears up soon or I will go insane.