It was a sunny yet chilly ride to the Winter Outdoor Expo with the trail behind on the bike. In the mid 20’s and we got some good info at the Expo.
About 9 miles with the trail behind.
10172018 – Bike
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Tag Archives: bike
11032018 – Mountain Bike
I had a hankering to get out on two wheels and with rain in the forecast I knew this would be the last chance for a bit to hit the trails. I’m sure glad I did. I started with the Area 36 trails. As I noted last week on my ride, I haven’t ridden much lately so I wasn’t planning to do anything crazy or super hard. I felt like I was in a good groove and only needed to dismount once or twice which is an improvement!
After the Area 36 trails I headed to the Back 40. As I tried to enter them I was stopped by this deer. She was in the middle of the trail trapped by me and the fence on two sides. As I stood there waiting for her to move, the Buck came walking out further up the trail (can you spot them both?) It was a pretty cool break in the ride. They both moved along and so did I.
Nothing else exciting happened in this section, I just kept cruising along enjoying the solitude of the morning ride and the brisk fall weather (upper 30’s). Everything is still pretty right now with all the colors on the ground and some still in the trees. As the leaves have fallen we get some cool views now too. After finishing this loop I headed on South and did the skinny section north of 55. I struggled in my usual spots, but kept on going. I didn’t see another rider until I started climbing into the Glenwood section (between Glenwood and 55). I felt the climbs and tried to enjoy the flowy downhill. I still struggle with relaxing into it and letting go. I continued my southward journey and did the Bog trails. There are some tough climbs and easy downhills in this one. I did okay except the one major downhill. I tried harder to relax into the rest of the flows and did pretty well. I started home and back climbed up the Glenwood section. I was able to manage the flow sections back out of here fine! They aren’t as steep and fast. About halfway into the skinny section I ran into the turkeys (see main image). They didn’t want to move so I had to help them a little bit. I almost made it through the uphill + turn rock garden here! And then I just hit the paved trails all the way home.
It was 10.45 miles in 1:26. Not too shabby. But wait…
I had 26 achievements and 10 of them were segment PR’s. Pretty sweet for a no-frills ride!! Can’t wait to get out there again.
10272018 – Biking
It had been awhile since I’ve been on the bike. It felt good to get out and ride. I didn’t push it too hard, but had trouble deciding what distance to do! I ended up riding out to Hopkins on the Greenway and back on the Cedar Lake Trail. It was in the mid-40’s and foggy so a little damp. It is mostly past peak leaf season but there are still some pretty leaves and trees out there. There were tons of wet leaves on the trails which is also pretty if not a little dangerous.
I ended up getting 16 miles done with that ride.
Later in the day I rode with Nadia to the theater and donuts after that. We ended up doing about 11 miles with the trail behind. The trail-behind’s chain is loose and kept falling off, so the one benefit wasn’t super helpful. It was fun as we rode around some of the lakes together.
That was a lot of biking for going from nothing for awhile to almost 30 miles.
08192018 – Mountain Bike
I would have been okay with not doing anything today. But when Todd mentioned maybe going riding at Wirth, I decided that could be a fun option! So we went out and hit almost all of the trails at Wirth including two new to me sections! It was mid-80’s, humid, and still smoky from Canadian fires. The trails were super dry with lots of dust to coat both us and the bikes!
We started with the Karate Monkey trails, the harder section of new event trails made by the Loppet. They have some tight flow sections and hairpin turns without banks so it isn’t an easy trail. Plus a tough uphill climb to start. The last section is relatively easy and is right next to the creek for a nice ride.
We decided to go to the Bog trails and work our way back up towards the Back 40 and Area 36. We rode the Southbound sections and then turned around and headed back hitting all the areas but the Expert Brownie Loop. It was fun to have somebody to help push me along more than my usual casual pace. Some of the harder elements of the Bog trails require me to get off my bike and I could probably do some of them if I practiced more and got out of my head and fear.
In the Back 40 we took a new trail that had some interesting asphalt and debris sections. It also had some tight squeezes and was a little technical. Things were going well until I crossed the bridge section a little too fast and my back tire slipped on the edge. Somehow my bike actually stayed on, but my balance shifted too fast and I fell off. So I had one leg still on the bike and one standing on the ground. Fortunately the bridge is only a few inches off the ground!! Shortly after that I saw a doe and fawn on the trail so in my mind that made up for falling. The ground had finally dried up enough for the short duck pond section to be re-opened. It seemed shorter than I remembered, but it had been closed for about a year, so who knows.
After finishing the Back 40 we refilled water at the Trailhead and hit the Area 36 trails. There is some tough climbing and some fun pump sections and we had a good time here. Todd did The Tube and I opted to skip it this time around. We finished up and headed home. After hosing down our bikes we relaxed and realized we both got a ton of Strava segment PR’s.
It was a great ride and I’m glad it worked out to do it.
12.3 miles!
08162018 – CrossFit & Bike
I woke up feeling a lot better this morning and did some “lite” CrossFit. I did one round of 30 kettlebell swings (35#), 30 lunges, and 30 situps with my 8# medicine ball. No timer or anything. Just a quick get the blood moving workout.
Then I rode to a training at the central office so I got in 3 miles of biking!