Our local TV station was out at the bike park over the weekend taking some video for a report on the new stuff at the park. Q and I went out to help populate the trail while the video was being made. It was a good excuse for us to ride for a couple of hours. It was especially fun because there were quite a few of our bike park friends there.
In the video, Q is wearing a black jacket and plaid shorts. He appears twice, but it does not include any shots of him catching air on the jumps. I'm sure he'll be bummed when he learns that. There is a shot of his friend Aiden riding the big rollers on a green bike right at the end the video.
Click here to see the video.
18 October 2011
12 October 2011
Four Bikes on the Frontier
At least for now, here's how we're transporting the bicycles on the truck. In the long run a cap or topper will cover the bed and then the rack will have to change, but truck caps are pricey and that purchase will have to wait until next year. In this photo the four single bikes were loaded up for a trip to Anderson Park.
We picked up a couple of longer Yakima crossbars (58") to span the width of the bed. The two outer bike mounts are the ATOC Tandem Toppers (shown here with tails removed) with Yakima lockable skewers. The inner racks include an older Yakima jaw-style rack we're using for Quinn's bike(s), and the Yakima Copperhead that holds the Nickel. When the tandems are on the rack, the tails of the Tandem Topper tracks and the rear wheels of the tandems extend several inches past the tailgate, which is one reason we didn't mount the bikes to the floor of the bed. I'll post a picture of the tandems on the truck if I can remember to take one when they're up there.
The picture below shows how the rack is attached to the bed. I used stainless u-bolts to attach the crossbars to pieces of aluminum angle that are bolted to the Nissan's Utili-Track system. The Utili-Track dimensions match Home Depot's Superstrut, so I used the Superstrut 'spring nuts' to attach the aluminum angle to the Utili-Track. The system worked out well, and can be removed intact if we need to put something tall in the bed. As it is, there's plenty of space under the rack for other gear. In this photo you can see that the Utili-Track runs around the front and sides of the bed near the top; there are also two tracks on the floor of the bed, hidden by slide-in covers.
We picked up a couple of longer Yakima crossbars (58") to span the width of the bed. The two outer bike mounts are the ATOC Tandem Toppers (shown here with tails removed) with Yakima lockable skewers. The inner racks include an older Yakima jaw-style rack we're using for Quinn's bike(s), and the Yakima Copperhead that holds the Nickel. When the tandems are on the rack, the tails of the Tandem Topper tracks and the rear wheels of the tandems extend several inches past the tailgate, which is one reason we didn't mount the bikes to the floor of the bed. I'll post a picture of the tandems on the truck if I can remember to take one when they're up there.
The picture below shows how the rack is attached to the bed. I used stainless u-bolts to attach the crossbars to pieces of aluminum angle that are bolted to the Nissan's Utili-Track system. The Utili-Track dimensions match Home Depot's Superstrut, so I used the Superstrut 'spring nuts' to attach the aluminum angle to the Utili-Track. The system worked out well, and can be removed intact if we need to put something tall in the bed. As it is, there's plenty of space under the rack for other gear. In this photo you can see that the Utili-Track runs around the front and sides of the bed near the top; there are also two tracks on the floor of the bed, hidden by slide-in covers.
04 October 2011
Little Dirt Jumper
I snapped some pics of the little dirt jumper at the bike park today. Isn't he cute?
Time Trial and Two Tandems
Sunday gave us a wonderful day of bicycling. It began with chilly temps not too far above freezing, but there was enough sunshine to make it feel great. I started the day's cycling by racing in a time trial at one of the local trails. It was a smallish event with about 80 riders on very twisty, tight, forested course, with plenty of roots, rocks, and narrow trees to make it challenging. There were some sections of new trail through mostly open fields, too, presenting a different suite of strength-sapping challenges.
For this time trial, we started one at a time with a 30 second delay between riders. It worked well. With the twistiest most technical section right at the beginning, there was plenty of space between riders. Although my race number was 9, I was the fourth or maybe fifth rider out of the start box. The ride started with a good climb and then some short ups and downs. Initially my legs felt stiff and tired. I feared my time spent on the dirt jumps the day before had taken too much toll on my leg muscles, but after half a mile or so, my muscles warmed and felt better. I passed one rider, also named "Shaun," within the first mile, and at the same time another rider, Steve, passed both of us. These guys both rode the Triple Trail event with me a couple weekends previously. That was last close-quarters riding or passing I saw until one speedy rider shot past me 11 miles later, about 100 meters from the finish line. I was almost lonely out on the course.
It was a fun ride on mostly familiar trail, although run in reverse in some sections. The tight and twisty trail and all the roots and rocks were perfect terrain for my Santa Cruz Nickel. The Nickel is more a "trail" bike and less a "race" bike for a variety of reasons, but it's marketed as a great do-it-all machine and I find that marketing accurate. This is good since I don't have the means or space to have a collection of multiple mountain bikes. I'll save the technical discussion of why I love the Nickel for another time. Given the relatively small amount of hard-packed trail relative to softer dirt and grass, both of which were a little slick, I probably would have felt more confident on a set of fatter and more aggressively knobbed tires, but my Maxxis Crossmarks did the job. I have enough sets of tires on the tire rack to experiment, but I didn't think to try something different. We do have an overstuffed bicycle tire rack. See the mud and sand packed into those tires? Thanks to DeadTreeRun for posting photos of the event.
I was happy enough with my performance. I finished the 11 miles or so in a little over 57 minutes. The fastest rider was one of the high school team riders who finished it in 48 minutes. A few riders finished in the 51 minute range. My perspective: nobody my age or older did it faster than me. Here's a link, at the moment, to the results: Click here. I forgot to wear Cindy's GPS watch, so I can't provide a link to my ride, but one of the other riders has posted a link to his: See it here.
After the ride, I hung around with some of the other guys from the Mid-State Mountain Biking Association (MMMBA), which is now an independent IMBA chapter. It's always fun to hear everyone review their ride and watch the other riders rolling across the finish. It's also a good time to check out other bikes and look at battle scars, too. One of the guys had lost control while cornering on roots and run straight into a tree, bending his fork. He finished the race in good time, but his bike wasn't steering very well after that. He'd been thinking about getting a new bike anyway. I didn't hang around talking too long because I was anxious to get back home and load up the tandems for the second half of the bicycling day.
I grabbed some sandwiches on the way home so we could eat a quick bite of lunch, swap the Nickel for the Fandango and Cannondale tandems, and make the 45 minute drive to the Island Lake trail head. Island Lake is another one of Michigan's State Recreation Areas that has a some good bicycle trails. Who would have thought we'd run into another couple on a black Fandango tandem? Not me, but we did. Maybe they were not actually a couple, since the stoker was the captain's friend's girlfriend, but whatever. We had a nice chat about tandem mountain bikes before hitting the trail. We'll be seeing the captain at the Iceman Cometh, but he'll racing with his brother on the Fandango. Actually, they'll probably be going much faster than us, so I suppose we won't see them. Once we were on the Island Lake Trail we leap-frogged with that tandem team and the other person riding with them for several miles. They must have been taking it easy.
The trails at Island Lake are generally smooth and fast. They are very well used, too, as was evident from the huge parking lot at the trailhead and the 50 or so other cyclists coming or going. The trail surface was firmly packed sand, slightly damp from recent rain. There were frequent holes where drainage had created a significant divot in the trail, the sort of obstruction one might easily wheelie or hop over on a single, but requiring a rapid deceleration on a hard-tail tandem to avoid stoker-launching. Despite the occasional hole and a few eroded climbs, the trails seem to be holding up well to heavy use.
We had a really nice ride at Island Lake. The sun was shining and the temperature was, I think, in the low 60s F. The trails were swoopy and fast, the bikes were working well, nobody was too hungry or cold or tired, and I don't think any one of us could find anything to complain about.
Abbey sports her usual racer form, with her hands dangling at her sides.
Quinn caught this last picture of C&A's lower extremities. Gotta love those socks!
For this time trial, we started one at a time with a 30 second delay between riders. It worked well. With the twistiest most technical section right at the beginning, there was plenty of space between riders. Although my race number was 9, I was the fourth or maybe fifth rider out of the start box. The ride started with a good climb and then some short ups and downs. Initially my legs felt stiff and tired. I feared my time spent on the dirt jumps the day before had taken too much toll on my leg muscles, but after half a mile or so, my muscles warmed and felt better. I passed one rider, also named "Shaun," within the first mile, and at the same time another rider, Steve, passed both of us. These guys both rode the Triple Trail event with me a couple weekends previously. That was last close-quarters riding or passing I saw until one speedy rider shot past me 11 miles later, about 100 meters from the finish line. I was almost lonely out on the course.
It was a fun ride on mostly familiar trail, although run in reverse in some sections. The tight and twisty trail and all the roots and rocks were perfect terrain for my Santa Cruz Nickel. The Nickel is more a "trail" bike and less a "race" bike for a variety of reasons, but it's marketed as a great do-it-all machine and I find that marketing accurate. This is good since I don't have the means or space to have a collection of multiple mountain bikes. I'll save the technical discussion of why I love the Nickel for another time. Given the relatively small amount of hard-packed trail relative to softer dirt and grass, both of which were a little slick, I probably would have felt more confident on a set of fatter and more aggressively knobbed tires, but my Maxxis Crossmarks did the job. I have enough sets of tires on the tire rack to experiment, but I didn't think to try something different. We do have an overstuffed bicycle tire rack. See the mud and sand packed into those tires? Thanks to DeadTreeRun for posting photos of the event.
I was happy enough with my performance. I finished the 11 miles or so in a little over 57 minutes. The fastest rider was one of the high school team riders who finished it in 48 minutes. A few riders finished in the 51 minute range. My perspective: nobody my age or older did it faster than me. Here's a link, at the moment, to the results: Click here. I forgot to wear Cindy's GPS watch, so I can't provide a link to my ride, but one of the other riders has posted a link to his: See it here.
After the ride, I hung around with some of the other guys from the Mid-State Mountain Biking Association (MMMBA), which is now an independent IMBA chapter. It's always fun to hear everyone review their ride and watch the other riders rolling across the finish. It's also a good time to check out other bikes and look at battle scars, too. One of the guys had lost control while cornering on roots and run straight into a tree, bending his fork. He finished the race in good time, but his bike wasn't steering very well after that. He'd been thinking about getting a new bike anyway. I didn't hang around talking too long because I was anxious to get back home and load up the tandems for the second half of the bicycling day.
I grabbed some sandwiches on the way home so we could eat a quick bite of lunch, swap the Nickel for the Fandango and Cannondale tandems, and make the 45 minute drive to the Island Lake trail head. Island Lake is another one of Michigan's State Recreation Areas that has a some good bicycle trails. Who would have thought we'd run into another couple on a black Fandango tandem? Not me, but we did. Maybe they were not actually a couple, since the stoker was the captain's friend's girlfriend, but whatever. We had a nice chat about tandem mountain bikes before hitting the trail. We'll be seeing the captain at the Iceman Cometh, but he'll racing with his brother on the Fandango. Actually, they'll probably be going much faster than us, so I suppose we won't see them. Once we were on the Island Lake Trail we leap-frogged with that tandem team and the other person riding with them for several miles. They must have been taking it easy.
The trails at Island Lake are generally smooth and fast. They are very well used, too, as was evident from the huge parking lot at the trailhead and the 50 or so other cyclists coming or going. The trail surface was firmly packed sand, slightly damp from recent rain. There were frequent holes where drainage had created a significant divot in the trail, the sort of obstruction one might easily wheelie or hop over on a single, but requiring a rapid deceleration on a hard-tail tandem to avoid stoker-launching. Despite the occasional hole and a few eroded climbs, the trails seem to be holding up well to heavy use.
We had a really nice ride at Island Lake. The sun was shining and the temperature was, I think, in the low 60s F. The trails were swoopy and fast, the bikes were working well, nobody was too hungry or cold or tired, and I don't think any one of us could find anything to complain about.
Abbey sports her usual racer form, with her hands dangling at her sides.
Quinn caught this last picture of C&A's lower extremities. Gotta love those socks!
25 September 2011
Pump Track Phase 2 = The Bike Park
Quinn and I gave our whole weekend to this dirty project, which I have been helping to design and plan for the last few months. We completed -- at least to the 90% point -- the next phase of the pump track at our local park. This phase focused on building a line of dirt jumps and a skills trail. We also linked them all together with the original pump track. With Phase 2 implemented, we can no longer simply call it "The Pump Track." It's officially going to be called "The Bike Park." Obviously, Quinn and I didn't do this alone -- it involved a huge volume of dirt and the machinery to move it, and a bunch of other people with shovels, rakes, and interest. It was really fun. Lots of kids, including Quinn, spent the whole weekend testing it.
I'm too tired and sore to write much more about it so I'll just post a few pics. Next time we're out, I'll try to get some pictures of Quinn flying.
Here's Quinn standing on one of the table top jumps:
The skills trail coming out of the trees. These are the log skinnies, which Quinn and Abbey quickly mastered: I was a little scared of them, but was also able to ride all three.
This is the jump line -- the really big attraction for the more skilled dirt jumpers. Quinn must have run this line at least 200 times in the last 2 days. His hands are blistered despite his gloves.
20 September 2011
Our New Frontier
After 10 good years with our Dodge Grand Caravan, we traded it on this 2008 Nissan Frontier. I hope this one proves to be as functional and reliable as the van.
18 September 2011
Triple Double Weekend
It's late and I'm going to make this quick.
On Saturday I rode the Triple Trail Challenge. I've wanted to do this ride for the last couple of years but my schedule hasn't allowed it. It starts in the same place as the Trail Half Marathon I've run a couple of times. The course covered three trails and just enough gravel road to connect them. It was a ride, not a race (although it seemed like we were racing), and was sponsored by Tree Fort Bikes and Arbor Brewing. After the ride, the beer and chili were free. Purchases of mugs, t-shirts, and other stuff support the Poto MMBA chapter. Anyway, it was a really tough ride, and it was a lot of fun. I rode with some of the guys I know through the MMBA. Here's the Garmin log.
Today, we did a two-tandem ride that covered some gravel roads not too far from us; close enough that we could ride from home without having to load the bikes into the car and drive to the trail head. It was a beautiful day for a ride. Here's the Garmin log for this one. Pictures below are focused on the MT800 with its new stuff, although you might also make note of Abbey's socks.
Once again I've stayed up too late doing this.
Today, we did a two-tandem ride that covered some gravel roads not too far from us; close enough that we could ride from home without having to load the bikes into the car and drive to the trail head. It was a beautiful day for a ride. Here's the Garmin log for this one. Pictures below are focused on the MT800 with its new stuff, although you might also make note of Abbey's socks.
Once again I've stayed up too late doing this.
Traverse Weekend
We made a trip up to the Traverse City Area over Labor Day Weekend. It was really the only traveling we did this summer, despite having nice visits from both Grandpa and Grandma Nick and Bonnie and Grandma Sharon.
We camped at the Traverse City KOA in our big tent, and spent a good deal of time wishing the rain would end. Michigan is a very sandy place and wet sand sticks to everything. The rain was nice in that it kept the temperature down, and it packed the sand on the trails, making for nice riding conditions.
First we rode the Dry Hill Trail in the Arcadia Dunes west of Traverse City along the shore of Lake Michigan. The Dry Hill Trail is a loop of about 10 miles. It was built as a mountain bike trail and consequently was really fun. Really, really fun! It swooped around trees through a dense forest, occasionally popping out into open meadows like the one in the first picture below. It was among the best trails I've ridden. This was the first single-track riding Cindy and Abbey had done on the MT800 since we added a suspension fork and new brakes. Because the trail started out with a bunch of really tight switch backs, they had some trouble initially and took a few spills, but after the first mile or so, Cindy got pretty good at steering the 8-foot long beast through the switchbacks and around the trees. She wore her Garmin watch; here's a link to the Garmin Connect log where you can see the map and our ride statistics.
We also rode the VASA pathway, which is a 25 km loop near Traverse City, and is best known as a ski trail. A portion of the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race uses part of the VASA pathway. We'll be doing the Iceman later this fall, so this was a preview. The VASA pathway is wide, and except for the sand and some really steep hills, it is a pretty easy path. Cindy wore her Garmin -- here's a link to the Garmin log.
Back at the camp ground, Quinn had a blast tearing around on this three-wheeled pedal thing. Sorry, no Garmin log for this.
We camped at the Traverse City KOA in our big tent, and spent a good deal of time wishing the rain would end. Michigan is a very sandy place and wet sand sticks to everything. The rain was nice in that it kept the temperature down, and it packed the sand on the trails, making for nice riding conditions.
First we rode the Dry Hill Trail in the Arcadia Dunes west of Traverse City along the shore of Lake Michigan. The Dry Hill Trail is a loop of about 10 miles. It was built as a mountain bike trail and consequently was really fun. Really, really fun! It swooped around trees through a dense forest, occasionally popping out into open meadows like the one in the first picture below. It was among the best trails I've ridden. This was the first single-track riding Cindy and Abbey had done on the MT800 since we added a suspension fork and new brakes. Because the trail started out with a bunch of really tight switch backs, they had some trouble initially and took a few spills, but after the first mile or so, Cindy got pretty good at steering the 8-foot long beast through the switchbacks and around the trees. She wore her Garmin watch; here's a link to the Garmin Connect log where you can see the map and our ride statistics.
We also rode the VASA pathway, which is a 25 km loop near Traverse City, and is best known as a ski trail. A portion of the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race uses part of the VASA pathway. We'll be doing the Iceman later this fall, so this was a preview. The VASA pathway is wide, and except for the sand and some really steep hills, it is a pretty easy path. Cindy wore her Garmin -- here's a link to the Garmin log.
Back at the camp ground, Quinn had a blast tearing around on this three-wheeled pedal thing. Sorry, no Garmin log for this.
16 August 2011
Summer's almost over -- where's the blogger?
Maintaining the blog was not a major priority this summer. Obviously. I should have stories and pictures posted from at least a few bike rides, a visit from Grandma Nick and Bonnie, a visit from Grandma Sharon, lacrosse camp, soccer camp, and Camp Henry, to name just a few.
I've been busy with work and work-related stuff, and Cindy and I have both been busy (although she's been busier) with home improvement (we hope) projects. We also saw the demise of our old computer, which has made the management of images more challenging. Eventually we'll figure out how to replace it. So the blogging is behind.
We're still working on getting the girls' mountain tandem ready for off-pavement use, and in particular the Iceman Cometh in November. The green tandem, our girls MT800, got a suspension fork to make riding on rugged terrain more manageable. Since it's really hard to do a wheelie on a tandem, getting over obstacles without some front squish is more difficult than it is on a one-person bike.
We've been talking about upgrading the old bike for several years, and we finally took the first step with that new fork. Since the fork seems to be working well, I think we'll soon take step two, which will be a new tandem disc wheelset. Note that at the moment the front and rear wheels don't match. We're using a spare front wheel we had that was disc-compatible so it would work with the new fork (although it is not a tandem-rated wheel), but the rear is still the stock non-disc wheel.
These photos were taken on our new 'training loop.' We'll be trying to ride it a few times a week in order to stay (or get) in shape for the fall rides. Cindy and I tracked the loop when we rode it together on the big black tandem last week. It's a nice route on a few miles of paved roads and some easy trails through our parks. Most importantly, we can do it from home without loading the bikes on the van. Click here to link to the route.
I've been busy with work and work-related stuff, and Cindy and I have both been busy (although she's been busier) with home improvement (we hope) projects. We also saw the demise of our old computer, which has made the management of images more challenging. Eventually we'll figure out how to replace it. So the blogging is behind.
We're still working on getting the girls' mountain tandem ready for off-pavement use, and in particular the Iceman Cometh in November. The green tandem, our girls MT800, got a suspension fork to make riding on rugged terrain more manageable. Since it's really hard to do a wheelie on a tandem, getting over obstacles without some front squish is more difficult than it is on a one-person bike.
We've been talking about upgrading the old bike for several years, and we finally took the first step with that new fork. Since the fork seems to be working well, I think we'll soon take step two, which will be a new tandem disc wheelset. Note that at the moment the front and rear wheels don't match. We're using a spare front wheel we had that was disc-compatible so it would work with the new fork (although it is not a tandem-rated wheel), but the rear is still the stock non-disc wheel.
These photos were taken on our new 'training loop.' We'll be trying to ride it a few times a week in order to stay (or get) in shape for the fall rides. Cindy and I tracked the loop when we rode it together on the big black tandem last week. It's a nice route on a few miles of paved roads and some easy trails through our parks. Most importantly, we can do it from home without loading the bikes on the van. Click here to link to the route.
10 June 2011
Back to Bicycling
You might have thought, when you read the title, that I'm commuting to work by bicycle again. Ah, well, no such luck for me. I hope that will happen some day, but not until I move or change jobs again.
No, this blog is just another bicycling blog. Not unlike many of those you've read before.
The story starts when I met Steve, one of Cindy's coworkers at Playmakers, at his house for distance-oriented training ride at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. You may recall reading a previous blog in which we rode with Steve and his girlfriend, Lizzie, for family ride. A guy named Bob went along, too, for that one. We've done that a couple of times now (although not the Bob part), but this particular Saturday ride represents the beginning of training for ODRAM 2011. Oh, yes, you remember that too, don't you! The One Day Ride Across Michigan. Because it's not sufficiently painful enough to do ordinary rides; it's important to seek out the worst; plan for nearly intolerable training schedules, undertake them bound to fail, and then suffer through miles of pain because, well, just because, I suppose. Ah, well, that's coming later.
OK, back to Saturday: Steve and I met at 7 a.m. planning to bust out a quick 60 miles before lunch. I needed to get home to the kids, and so couldn't spend time lolligagging down the road at a leisurely pace. We headed straight north for 30 miles with the wind at our backs. Our average speed must have been over 20 mph. We talked while we rode, occasionally discussing the fact that we riding at an unsustainable pace, and with a return trip into the wind, would really pay for our overzealous start. We did. I did.
I still felt quite strong when we stopped for a break at mile 30 beside a statue of a cow that was larger than any elephant I've ever seen. Pay a visit to Elsie, MI, if you'd like to see it. It's huge (the cow, not Elsie). There's not much else of interest in Elsie. Well, I guess I don't really know that. OK, after our short break we headed north a little further, and looped around back to the south. Yup, the headwind was a killer. By the time we hit mile 40 I was beginning to wonder where I'd find the juice for the 20 miles we had to cover to get home. I'd already used up two Gu packs and Clif bar. I felt hungry so I ate a Clif Mojo bar. Yummy, but dry, and my water bottles were running low. Not even at mile 50 and I'm starting to lose steam; slowing down; and where did these hills come from? Another Gu shot -- this one with a double shot of caffeine. along with a short break in the shade of a tree. Back on the road, feeling better but moving slower, with Steve dropping me on every hill, we made it home.
I crashed in the shade beside Steve and Lizzie's house. Lizzie brought me some ice water. She was probably wondering what she'd do with the body if I died right there in her grass. What would she tell Cindy?
OK, well, you already know that since I'm writing this, Lizzie didn't have to dispose of my body. But what the hell? Am I not strong? Maybe Steve held up better than me because he rides a Waterford. I was riding my Soma; still stripped of it's fenders and rack after the Barry-Roubaix Killer Gravel Road Race earlier this year. That Soma Double Cross is awesome, but I'm gonna call Soma and complain that it's not as fast as a Waterford. It's all about the bike, you know. No! Of course, I don't really believe that; just mocking.
After all those Gu shots, I was just about sick for the rest of the day. I could barely eat lunch. When I got home, I think the kids thought I was going to die on the sofa in the basement. They were probably wondering what they'd do with the body. What would they tell Cindy? But after an hour long nap, and some lunch, I lived. The we went down the street to an "open house" for a local graduating senior and ex-occasional baby sitter. I ate lunch again.
OK, so that was Saturday. Can you guess what we did on Sunday? Yup. We got the mountain bikes out and headed off to Brighton to ride the Murray Lake Trail. I know, you've read about that one before too. Like, right here. But this time we did it differently: Quinn and I took the Black Beast (our Fandango) while the girls rode their Santa Cruz singles. It was just way too much fun!
Quinn and I hammered through every tricky climb, every switchback, over every log. That tandem is awesome! I really enjoy negotiating it through switchbacks lined with trees, letting the front wheel swing a wide arc, under full power, right to the outside edge of every turn so there's plenty room to bring the rear around. It just adds to the swoopiness of the whole experience. Quinn didn't even seem afraid of the land speeder approach to zipping through the forest, although Murray Lake doesn't give quite the opportunity for speed that one finds at Yankee Springs.
I'm pretty sure we never got both wheels off the ground at once this time. We never crashed. We caught Quinn's crank while crossing a log pile -- that stopped us quickly, but we didn't crash. Worse yet, I whacked the stoker bar on a tree along the inside of a sharp 180-degree turn. Quinn got his fingers out of the way so they were not destroyed, but his shoulder, elbow, and knee hit the tree. No big deal, he's a tough kid, right? We just got out the tools and fixed him up. Loosened the seat post binder bolt and straightened out the seat and stoker bars. This is when Quinn came up with the idea for a retractable stoker bar. One that works just like my Gravity Dropper Turbo seat post. When forest is tight, hit the button and slide the bars in. Wide downhill? Snap those bars out wide. Quinn's gonna make millions -- or maybe just bike parts -- for me someday, if he gets over this fever.
The girls did really well, too. Abbey rode the full 9+ miles on her Chameleon with Cindy behind her. I hope Cindy was yelling at her to make her ride faster. You know I would have been. Cindy was trying to work with Abbey on shifting. Abbey understands how the shifters work and uses them well, but still has to think about which hand to use and which way to shift. It should become instinctive. Involuntary. Like breathing. You need to climb a hill, your brain tells your fingers what to do, but the thought never crosses your mind. Like a dog barking at a raccoon. Okay, a dog is a bad example; based on my observation of Amos, a thought never crosses a dog's mind. Anyway, Quinn and I could tell Abbey was having fun when we heard her screaming on short, steep downhills. I could tell Quinn was having fun because he kept telling me he was. And when we were done he wanted to do it all again.
Oh, you want to see pictures? Sure, I took a few, let me look...
Click here to see the Garmin data from our ride.
The next day, after work, I did it again, this time on my Nickel. Click here to see the Garmin data for that one.
It's interesting to note that the bike odometers read close to ten miles on this ride, while the GPS indicates only nine. This I assume must be becuase many of the twists and switchbacks are too small for the GPS to detect.
No, this blog is just another bicycling blog. Not unlike many of those you've read before.
The story starts when I met Steve, one of Cindy's coworkers at Playmakers, at his house for distance-oriented training ride at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. You may recall reading a previous blog in which we rode with Steve and his girlfriend, Lizzie, for family ride. A guy named Bob went along, too, for that one. We've done that a couple of times now (although not the Bob part), but this particular Saturday ride represents the beginning of training for ODRAM 2011. Oh, yes, you remember that too, don't you! The One Day Ride Across Michigan. Because it's not sufficiently painful enough to do ordinary rides; it's important to seek out the worst; plan for nearly intolerable training schedules, undertake them bound to fail, and then suffer through miles of pain because, well, just because, I suppose. Ah, well, that's coming later.
OK, back to Saturday: Steve and I met at 7 a.m. planning to bust out a quick 60 miles before lunch. I needed to get home to the kids, and so couldn't spend time lolligagging down the road at a leisurely pace. We headed straight north for 30 miles with the wind at our backs. Our average speed must have been over 20 mph. We talked while we rode, occasionally discussing the fact that we riding at an unsustainable pace, and with a return trip into the wind, would really pay for our overzealous start. We did. I did.
I still felt quite strong when we stopped for a break at mile 30 beside a statue of a cow that was larger than any elephant I've ever seen. Pay a visit to Elsie, MI, if you'd like to see it. It's huge (the cow, not Elsie). There's not much else of interest in Elsie. Well, I guess I don't really know that. OK, after our short break we headed north a little further, and looped around back to the south. Yup, the headwind was a killer. By the time we hit mile 40 I was beginning to wonder where I'd find the juice for the 20 miles we had to cover to get home. I'd already used up two Gu packs and Clif bar. I felt hungry so I ate a Clif Mojo bar. Yummy, but dry, and my water bottles were running low. Not even at mile 50 and I'm starting to lose steam; slowing down; and where did these hills come from? Another Gu shot -- this one with a double shot of caffeine. along with a short break in the shade of a tree. Back on the road, feeling better but moving slower, with Steve dropping me on every hill, we made it home.
I crashed in the shade beside Steve and Lizzie's house. Lizzie brought me some ice water. She was probably wondering what she'd do with the body if I died right there in her grass. What would she tell Cindy?
OK, well, you already know that since I'm writing this, Lizzie didn't have to dispose of my body. But what the hell? Am I not strong? Maybe Steve held up better than me because he rides a Waterford. I was riding my Soma; still stripped of it's fenders and rack after the Barry-Roubaix Killer Gravel Road Race earlier this year. That Soma Double Cross is awesome, but I'm gonna call Soma and complain that it's not as fast as a Waterford. It's all about the bike, you know. No! Of course, I don't really believe that; just mocking.
After all those Gu shots, I was just about sick for the rest of the day. I could barely eat lunch. When I got home, I think the kids thought I was going to die on the sofa in the basement. They were probably wondering what they'd do with the body. What would they tell Cindy? But after an hour long nap, and some lunch, I lived. The we went down the street to an "open house" for a local graduating senior and ex-occasional baby sitter. I ate lunch again.
OK, so that was Saturday. Can you guess what we did on Sunday? Yup. We got the mountain bikes out and headed off to Brighton to ride the Murray Lake Trail. I know, you've read about that one before too. Like, right here. But this time we did it differently: Quinn and I took the Black Beast (our Fandango) while the girls rode their Santa Cruz singles. It was just way too much fun!
Quinn and I hammered through every tricky climb, every switchback, over every log. That tandem is awesome! I really enjoy negotiating it through switchbacks lined with trees, letting the front wheel swing a wide arc, under full power, right to the outside edge of every turn so there's plenty room to bring the rear around. It just adds to the swoopiness of the whole experience. Quinn didn't even seem afraid of the land speeder approach to zipping through the forest, although Murray Lake doesn't give quite the opportunity for speed that one finds at Yankee Springs.
I'm pretty sure we never got both wheels off the ground at once this time. We never crashed. We caught Quinn's crank while crossing a log pile -- that stopped us quickly, but we didn't crash. Worse yet, I whacked the stoker bar on a tree along the inside of a sharp 180-degree turn. Quinn got his fingers out of the way so they were not destroyed, but his shoulder, elbow, and knee hit the tree. No big deal, he's a tough kid, right? We just got out the tools and fixed him up. Loosened the seat post binder bolt and straightened out the seat and stoker bars. This is when Quinn came up with the idea for a retractable stoker bar. One that works just like my Gravity Dropper Turbo seat post. When forest is tight, hit the button and slide the bars in. Wide downhill? Snap those bars out wide. Quinn's gonna make millions -- or maybe just bike parts -- for me someday, if he gets over this fever.
The girls did really well, too. Abbey rode the full 9+ miles on her Chameleon with Cindy behind her. I hope Cindy was yelling at her to make her ride faster. You know I would have been. Cindy was trying to work with Abbey on shifting. Abbey understands how the shifters work and uses them well, but still has to think about which hand to use and which way to shift. It should become instinctive. Involuntary. Like breathing. You need to climb a hill, your brain tells your fingers what to do, but the thought never crosses your mind. Like a dog barking at a raccoon. Okay, a dog is a bad example; based on my observation of Amos, a thought never crosses a dog's mind. Anyway, Quinn and I could tell Abbey was having fun when we heard her screaming on short, steep downhills. I could tell Quinn was having fun because he kept telling me he was. And when we were done he wanted to do it all again.
Oh, you want to see pictures? Sure, I took a few, let me look...
Click here to see the Garmin data from our ride.
The next day, after work, I did it again, this time on my Nickel. Click here to see the Garmin data for that one.
It's interesting to note that the bike odometers read close to ten miles on this ride, while the GPS indicates only nine. This I assume must be becuase many of the twists and switchbacks are too small for the GPS to detect.
Pinewood Derby
OK, I'm rolling with the blogs tonight...
This is one from earlier this spring. Over the holidays when we were in Wichita, we cut out the basic shape for Quinn's Pinewood Derby car on Grandpa's band saw. We kept the shape simple. At home we finished it up with some chiseling, sanding, drilling, and painting.
We drilled holes in the back for cylindrical weights, and filled the holes with epoxy, then smoothed them with putty. We recessed the bottom of the car and screwed flat weights underneath. The car has to weigh not more than 5.0 oz, and getting as close to that but not over is critical for a winning car -- which probably means that 5.09 oz. is the weight to target. We took the car to Playmakers and used the digital shoe scale to get the weight to 5.1 oz. We had some small screws in the bottom we planned to remove to bring it down to exactly 5.0 oz at the official weigh-in, held the night before the race. Unfortunately, on the official scale we were only at 4.9 oz. We had brought some extra little screws I could have added to the bottom to get it up to 5.0 (we even had pre-drilled holes), but at that time, for some reason I just didn't bother. In hindsight, I sort of wish I had, since we'd gone to the effort to polish and dry-lube the axles; I should have added that extra 0.15 oz.
It was fun to build. Quinn did much of the sanding, and most of the painting. I got to use the power tools and chisel.
The car did pretty well, making through first series of races and into the top six. Here, Quinn's car wins another heat:
On the polished aluminum track, the cars were fast, and the time-difference between winning cars was often down to less than 0.01 seconds. Quinn's car came in 6th overall. The overall winner is that red car second from the right.
The race was run fairly, and in good fun, which made it a good experience. We've thought we might do cub scouts again for the sole purpose of making next year's winning car. But I don't think we will.
This is one from earlier this spring. Over the holidays when we were in Wichita, we cut out the basic shape for Quinn's Pinewood Derby car on Grandpa's band saw. We kept the shape simple. At home we finished it up with some chiseling, sanding, drilling, and painting.
We drilled holes in the back for cylindrical weights, and filled the holes with epoxy, then smoothed them with putty. We recessed the bottom of the car and screwed flat weights underneath. The car has to weigh not more than 5.0 oz, and getting as close to that but not over is critical for a winning car -- which probably means that 5.09 oz. is the weight to target. We took the car to Playmakers and used the digital shoe scale to get the weight to 5.1 oz. We had some small screws in the bottom we planned to remove to bring it down to exactly 5.0 oz at the official weigh-in, held the night before the race. Unfortunately, on the official scale we were only at 4.9 oz. We had brought some extra little screws I could have added to the bottom to get it up to 5.0 (we even had pre-drilled holes), but at that time, for some reason I just didn't bother. In hindsight, I sort of wish I had, since we'd gone to the effort to polish and dry-lube the axles; I should have added that extra 0.15 oz.
It was fun to build. Quinn did much of the sanding, and most of the painting. I got to use the power tools and chisel.
The car did pretty well, making through first series of races and into the top six. Here, Quinn's car wins another heat:
On the polished aluminum track, the cars were fast, and the time-difference between winning cars was often down to less than 0.01 seconds. Quinn's car came in 6th overall. The overall winner is that red car second from the right.
The race was run fairly, and in good fun, which made it a good experience. We've thought we might do cub scouts again for the sole purpose of making next year's winning car. But I don't think we will.
Spring Sports
I took Quinn to his soccer games each Saturday this spring. Cindy had to work and couldn't make it to any of them. You would think I would have taken a bunch of pictures, right? Well, given my excellent organizational skills, we were lucky to make it to the game with his cleats and uniform -- not once did I remember a camera. This first picture was taken with my phone, which is pretty worthless as a camera. I had to send this image to Abbey's phone as picture message, and she was able to email it me from her phone. Even our other cameras are just little point-and-shoots. For these sporting events it would be nice to have a digital SLR. Maybe someday.
This was Quinn's first time playing soccer. He played very well and very hard, especially for a first-timer.
Since Abbey's lacrosse tournaments usually last all day, I had plenty of time to go back home and get my camera.
Abbey can run pretty fast when she wants to. Yes, that's her; number 44. She usually played mid-field when she wasn't playing goalie.
Here, Abbey is playing goalie. In the last game, I watched her block two solid shots, one of which she blocked with her hip. The ball hit her just above her thigh pad. She also knocked down another shot that probably would have missed the goal anyway. Not one got passed her, so she was pleased with her final half as goalie.
She looks a little angry here, doesn't she?
This was Quinn's first time playing soccer. He played very well and very hard, especially for a first-timer.
Since Abbey's lacrosse tournaments usually last all day, I had plenty of time to go back home and get my camera.
Abbey can run pretty fast when she wants to. Yes, that's her; number 44. She usually played mid-field when she wasn't playing goalie.
Here, Abbey is playing goalie. In the last game, I watched her block two solid shots, one of which she blocked with her hip. The ball hit her just above her thigh pad. She also knocked down another shot that probably would have missed the goal anyway. Not one got passed her, so she was pleased with her final half as goalie.
She looks a little angry here, doesn't she?
School is Out
We finally reached the end of the 2010/2011 school year. I think the kids always find the last day bitter sweet, although I'm not sure they'll admit it. Starting next week we'll be looking at the onset of the summer doldrums.
Abbey missed only one day of school this year. Quinn had missed none until today. Yesterday, on the very eve of the last day of school, Quinn was stricken with a high fever and most painful headache, forcing him to miss his last day of school. Rarely have I seen him so sad. Tonight, we are still battling to keep his temperature out of triple digits.
The last six weeks of school were just about the busiest we've seen yet. Little wonder he should have a headache. Quinn was in cub scouts, playing soccer, and of course playing the piano. Abbey was playing lacrosse (four nights a week and a tournament nearly every weekend) and playing the piano and trumpet. There was plenty of homework, too. We had at least two activities going on just about every evening. On top of that, I did a couple of bike races, we've been moving walls in the basement, and Cindy has been painting the basement.
A most unfortunate reprieve from piano lessons came these last three weeks, when the kids's teacher, Mrs. Black, became ill and had to spend some time in the hospital. This meant no spring recital, but with everything else I don't know that Q&A could have found time to polish and memorize two piano pieces each.
The other unfortunate reprieve, of course, was Cindy's abrupt halt to her marathon training with the onset of a hip injury. She'll have to try again this fall or next spring. On the positive side, this has meant an earlier start to our bicycling season.
We're interested to see if Abbey was able to maintain her usual stellar academic performance through the last month. I'm betting not. How shall we punish her? Quinn of course, maintained his usual rowdy academic performance right up to the last day. How should we punish him?
Quinn's class went to the Meridian Historical Village this spring. It's a standard 2nd grade field trip. The village is great little spot just up the road where some of Okemos's first buildings were moved and are now maintained. Quinn really seemed to enjoy it - especially making and eating butter. Late 1800s dress was encouraged for the trip, and everyone was required to limit their vision to black and white.
Quinn, on our porch the morning of the trip to the historical village (our house was built in '62):
Here's Abbey, in second grade, on her trip to the Meridian Historical Village. Cindy made the dress:
Abbey missed only one day of school this year. Quinn had missed none until today. Yesterday, on the very eve of the last day of school, Quinn was stricken with a high fever and most painful headache, forcing him to miss his last day of school. Rarely have I seen him so sad. Tonight, we are still battling to keep his temperature out of triple digits.
The last six weeks of school were just about the busiest we've seen yet. Little wonder he should have a headache. Quinn was in cub scouts, playing soccer, and of course playing the piano. Abbey was playing lacrosse (four nights a week and a tournament nearly every weekend) and playing the piano and trumpet. There was plenty of homework, too. We had at least two activities going on just about every evening. On top of that, I did a couple of bike races, we've been moving walls in the basement, and Cindy has been painting the basement.
A most unfortunate reprieve from piano lessons came these last three weeks, when the kids's teacher, Mrs. Black, became ill and had to spend some time in the hospital. This meant no spring recital, but with everything else I don't know that Q&A could have found time to polish and memorize two piano pieces each.
The other unfortunate reprieve, of course, was Cindy's abrupt halt to her marathon training with the onset of a hip injury. She'll have to try again this fall or next spring. On the positive side, this has meant an earlier start to our bicycling season.
We're interested to see if Abbey was able to maintain her usual stellar academic performance through the last month. I'm betting not. How shall we punish her? Quinn of course, maintained his usual rowdy academic performance right up to the last day. How should we punish him?
Quinn's class went to the Meridian Historical Village this spring. It's a standard 2nd grade field trip. The village is great little spot just up the road where some of Okemos's first buildings were moved and are now maintained. Quinn really seemed to enjoy it - especially making and eating butter. Late 1800s dress was encouraged for the trip, and everyone was required to limit their vision to black and white.
Quinn, on our porch the morning of the trip to the historical village (our house was built in '62):
Here's Abbey, in second grade, on her trip to the Meridian Historical Village. Cindy made the dress:
03 June 2011
Mouse Toes
Poor Amos. He's had a couple of little bumps on the webbing between two toes on one front paw. We're not sure what caused them - possibly the result of something he steppe don. He'd been licking the area for a few weeks, turning it red and bloody and sore with his tongue. Yesterday the bumps were removed by his doctor, but now he has stitches between his toes and he has to wear the cone of shame.
Get well soon, Mouse!
Get well soon, Mouse!
29 April 2011
Easter Sunday on the Blue Burleys
Sunday morning; Easter candy; waffles for breakfast; more drywall mud. Sore butts from a long and bouncy ride the day before. Rain, rain, and more rain. Will it ever end?
Sunday afternoon, finally pulling the blue Burleys off the wall, we went on a road ride with some friends from Playmakers. The rain held off for us, and yesterday's strong westerly wind had blown itself out. The air was chilly, perhaps 50 F, but with a little sun and no wind, we weren't complaining. Well, not about the weather anyway, but after spending three hours in the saddle the day before on such a bumpy ride, we were all complaining about our bruised and tender butts!
We'd been playing around with our seating arrangement last fall, and the tandems were still configured for father/daughter and mother/son seating. To keep things simple, we left them this way for this 30-mile ride to Sleepy Hollow State Park. With Abbey's nearly full-sized body on the back of big Burley I had run 95 psi in the tires instead of the usual 75 psi I'd been using with Quinn. I probably could have backed off the pressure in the tire under Quinn on the little Burley, but I didn't think about it.
A couple of weeks ago, Steve, the guy in the orange jersey riding the Waterford, asked us if we'd be interested in doing an Easter Sunday ride. It was going to be Lizzie's first of the season so they were looking at something short and easy. Both working at Playmakers, Steve and Lizzie are very fit runners, so I guess they thought a 30-mile ride on some hills would be a good place to start the season. We were really glad to have someone ask us along for a ride, but we warned them that for a ride of that length this early in the season, 12 mph would be all we could expect to average. As evidenced by Cindy's garmin data, we averaged about 11 mph. The ride and the pace were nice. Plenty of time for chatting and checking out the scenery.
As a last-minute addition to the group, Bob, also a Playmakers staffer, also rode with us. Bob was clearly the strongest rider in the group, but if he minded the slow pace he didn't complain. Bob's getting ready to take his new touring bike, a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which has not yet arrived, on a 2-week unsupported expedition in the Canadian Rockies. Nice. Bob also has a new 29er mountain bike and we're hoping we can do a relay race with him this summer. Unless we move somewhere first.
We did really well on the ride, set up as we were. Cindy is strong right now, in the midst of her intensive marathon training program. Quinn and Abbey did a nice job of pulling their share of the load. I even popped my feet off the pedals and had Abbey push us up a long steep climb on her own. I didn't think she'd be able to do it. But she did. This should be a good year of cycling for us!
Sunday afternoon, finally pulling the blue Burleys off the wall, we went on a road ride with some friends from Playmakers. The rain held off for us, and yesterday's strong westerly wind had blown itself out. The air was chilly, perhaps 50 F, but with a little sun and no wind, we weren't complaining. Well, not about the weather anyway, but after spending three hours in the saddle the day before on such a bumpy ride, we were all complaining about our bruised and tender butts!
We'd been playing around with our seating arrangement last fall, and the tandems were still configured for father/daughter and mother/son seating. To keep things simple, we left them this way for this 30-mile ride to Sleepy Hollow State Park. With Abbey's nearly full-sized body on the back of big Burley I had run 95 psi in the tires instead of the usual 75 psi I'd been using with Quinn. I probably could have backed off the pressure in the tire under Quinn on the little Burley, but I didn't think about it.
A couple of weeks ago, Steve, the guy in the orange jersey riding the Waterford, asked us if we'd be interested in doing an Easter Sunday ride. It was going to be Lizzie's first of the season so they were looking at something short and easy. Both working at Playmakers, Steve and Lizzie are very fit runners, so I guess they thought a 30-mile ride on some hills would be a good place to start the season. We were really glad to have someone ask us along for a ride, but we warned them that for a ride of that length this early in the season, 12 mph would be all we could expect to average. As evidenced by Cindy's garmin data, we averaged about 11 mph. The ride and the pace were nice. Plenty of time for chatting and checking out the scenery.
As a last-minute addition to the group, Bob, also a Playmakers staffer, also rode with us. Bob was clearly the strongest rider in the group, but if he minded the slow pace he didn't complain. Bob's getting ready to take his new touring bike, a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which has not yet arrived, on a 2-week unsupported expedition in the Canadian Rockies. Nice. Bob also has a new 29er mountain bike and we're hoping we can do a relay race with him this summer. Unless we move somewhere first.
We did really well on the ride, set up as we were. Cindy is strong right now, in the midst of her intensive marathon training program. Quinn and Abbey did a nice job of pulling their share of the load. I even popped my feet off the pedals and had Abbey push us up a long steep climb on her own. I didn't think she'd be able to do it. But she did. This should be a good year of cycling for us!
28 April 2011
Lakelands Rail Trail
Oh, what a week it has been! Nerves in tatters. If I'd had the foresight to see the events of this week when I passed up a job opportunity with NOAA Fisheries a couple of weeks ago, this week would have been different, because we'd be packing! But I'll save that story for another day.
For now, let us back up just a few days to the weekend of 23 April:
Saturday morning, smearing mud on fresh drywall in the basement kept us busy. I do enjoy building walls, and the improvements to our laundry area will, I hope, be one more step towards getting us out this place. And, if we never do, it will at least make spending our lives here a little more tolerable.
Being a holiday weekend there were no soccer games, lacrosse tournaments, or bicycling events on the calendar, so we got to make our own fun. Cindy had the weekend off because we'd planned to go camping to make up for the weather-related cancellation of our spring break camping trip, but since the rain was still coming down like the tears of a half-giant who'd lost his baby dragon, we'd once again cancelled the camping, this time replacing it with a couple of shorter bicycling trips.
We had previeously noticed a rail trail passing through the small towns of Stockbridge and Gregory. We learned that it was the Lakelands Trail, one of Michigan's linear state parks, comprising about 13 miles of rail trail, surfaced with crushed-rock, and open to most types of non-motorized recreation. With our skinny-tired blue Burleys, we've avoided significant amounts of non-paved surface, but now that we have the two fat-tire tandems rolling, all of these soft surfaced trails are open to us.
It was a chilly and very windy Saturday, but the Lakelands Trail was quite nicely sheltered in most places by trees and hills or berms. We started at its western terminus, and rode eastward. The trail passed through a few suburban housing areas, but mostly through farmland, patches of fragmented second growth forest, and noisy wetlands. The frogs, spring peepers, I think, probably among others, were singing at their best, and it sounded just like the final track on Neko Cases's "Middle Cyclone."
The setting was quite nice, as I said, but the trail surface was not quite nice for bicycling. All sections of the trail were covered in a finely crushed rock, much of which had a particle size similar to course sand intermixed with some fine sand. In some sections, this material was compacted sufficiently to make a smooth and firm surface for our tires to roll across, although we had to pick a path through the horse prints.
In most sections of the trail, however, the surface was substantially churned by horse prints, and we could not find a firm enough or smooth enough surface for comfortable bicycling. Even with the big-hoop 29ers and suspension fork on the Fandango tandem, the constant pounding from riding on the rough surface fatigued my arms (and butt), and the skin on my arms began to itch from the constant vibration. It was probably even worse for the girls on the Cannondale tandem with its rigid fork.
When we set out, we thought we would cover the 13 miles of trail out and back pretty easily since it was a flat rail trail. We did not. We rode for at least and hour and a half, but did not complete 13 miles before we decided to turn back. The trail surface had continued to deteriorate as we rode eastward, and it soon began to feel like we were trying to cycle on a rough, dry, sandy beach: progress was very slow and difficult. We passed four horses on the trail, and I would have to say those big feet and long legs were better suited to the trail surface than were our wheels. This condition, of course, was the result of those feet.
It was a good day for seeing wildlife. Many waterfowl, shorebirds, and red-winged blackbirds were out in the marshes; we looked for the frogs we could hear, but they were hard to find. Not surprisingly, we saw a heard of at least 15 deer. We saw a wood chuck a couple of times as we passed his home, and we saw this water snake lounging in the sun on his island of grass.
We stopped to take some photos of this strange creature. At first we worried it might be dangerous, and Cindy and Abbey kept their distance while I took some photos, but after observing it for a while, we concluded it was in fact mostly harmless.
After returning to the car and loading up the bikes, we took the shortest route to the ice cream shop, where we stopped for a round of milkshakes for the drive home.
For now, let us back up just a few days to the weekend of 23 April:
Saturday morning, smearing mud on fresh drywall in the basement kept us busy. I do enjoy building walls, and the improvements to our laundry area will, I hope, be one more step towards getting us out this place. And, if we never do, it will at least make spending our lives here a little more tolerable.
Being a holiday weekend there were no soccer games, lacrosse tournaments, or bicycling events on the calendar, so we got to make our own fun. Cindy had the weekend off because we'd planned to go camping to make up for the weather-related cancellation of our spring break camping trip, but since the rain was still coming down like the tears of a half-giant who'd lost his baby dragon, we'd once again cancelled the camping, this time replacing it with a couple of shorter bicycling trips.
We had previeously noticed a rail trail passing through the small towns of Stockbridge and Gregory. We learned that it was the Lakelands Trail, one of Michigan's linear state parks, comprising about 13 miles of rail trail, surfaced with crushed-rock, and open to most types of non-motorized recreation. With our skinny-tired blue Burleys, we've avoided significant amounts of non-paved surface, but now that we have the two fat-tire tandems rolling, all of these soft surfaced trails are open to us.
It was a chilly and very windy Saturday, but the Lakelands Trail was quite nicely sheltered in most places by trees and hills or berms. We started at its western terminus, and rode eastward. The trail passed through a few suburban housing areas, but mostly through farmland, patches of fragmented second growth forest, and noisy wetlands. The frogs, spring peepers, I think, probably among others, were singing at their best, and it sounded just like the final track on Neko Cases's "Middle Cyclone."
The setting was quite nice, as I said, but the trail surface was not quite nice for bicycling. All sections of the trail were covered in a finely crushed rock, much of which had a particle size similar to course sand intermixed with some fine sand. In some sections, this material was compacted sufficiently to make a smooth and firm surface for our tires to roll across, although we had to pick a path through the horse prints.
In most sections of the trail, however, the surface was substantially churned by horse prints, and we could not find a firm enough or smooth enough surface for comfortable bicycling. Even with the big-hoop 29ers and suspension fork on the Fandango tandem, the constant pounding from riding on the rough surface fatigued my arms (and butt), and the skin on my arms began to itch from the constant vibration. It was probably even worse for the girls on the Cannondale tandem with its rigid fork.
When we set out, we thought we would cover the 13 miles of trail out and back pretty easily since it was a flat rail trail. We did not. We rode for at least and hour and a half, but did not complete 13 miles before we decided to turn back. The trail surface had continued to deteriorate as we rode eastward, and it soon began to feel like we were trying to cycle on a rough, dry, sandy beach: progress was very slow and difficult. We passed four horses on the trail, and I would have to say those big feet and long legs were better suited to the trail surface than were our wheels. This condition, of course, was the result of those feet.
It was a good day for seeing wildlife. Many waterfowl, shorebirds, and red-winged blackbirds were out in the marshes; we looked for the frogs we could hear, but they were hard to find. Not surprisingly, we saw a heard of at least 15 deer. We saw a wood chuck a couple of times as we passed his home, and we saw this water snake lounging in the sun on his island of grass.
We stopped to take some photos of this strange creature. At first we worried it might be dangerous, and Cindy and Abbey kept their distance while I took some photos, but after observing it for a while, we concluded it was in fact mostly harmless.
After returning to the car and loading up the bikes, we took the shortest route to the ice cream shop, where we stopped for a round of milkshakes for the drive home.
18 April 2011
April Snow Showers
Out my window right now I see about an inch of snow covering the ground and our deck. The big heavy flakes have slowed, but a shower of fine, dense, flakes continues in the still air. I'm so ready for spring...
17 April 2011
Yankee TT
I raced on my Nickel in the Yankee Springs Time Trial today. It was my first mountain bike race, so I raced in the Sport category rather than in the Beginner. I just didn't feel like a beginner. It went pretty well, I guess. I didn't sign up until the last minute, so consequently I started last in the Sport Men's 40-44 age class. At 1 hour and 9.1 seconds, I finished 15th of 39 in that class, so I must have passed 24 riders in that age class alone. I got passed a couple of times, too. If I'd had that time in the Beginner category, I'd have taken first in my age group. If you're interested, the complete results are here.
I had a distinct advantage over many other riders: I was on my Santa Cruz Nickel with 5" of suspension travel front and rear, so instead of having to tip-toe my way around the course like those poor guys on their lightweight and delicate, plastic 29er hardtails, I could just hammer the fastest lines, rough or smooth, up or down! Really, though, most folks around here ride hard-tail 29ers (like our new black tandem), which means they have no rear suspension and have bigger wheels than the 26 inchers on my bike. The idea is that those big wheels are faster because of the lower angle of attack, and that on a smooth trail a hard-tail is faster than a bike with rear suspension because it doesn't bob and suck up energy. Both ideas are probably correct to some extent, but my Nickel felt just fine to me. I was glad to have that dual suspension when going up or down the rough stuff, even if it wasn't all that rough.
The time trial worked like this: Groups of racers started in clusters based on category. The top categories, Elite and Expert, started first, then Tandem, then Sport, and then Beginner. Within each cluster, or category, racers started singly or in pairs, every 10 or 15 seconds. Starting position within each category was in order of time of registration. So with number 409, I started almost at the back end of the Sport Category. The reason I rode Sport was because I didn't want to be stuck behind a bunch of slower riders in the Beginner category. As it happened, I was stuck behind a bunch of slower riders in the Sport category (if I'd realized that, I would have signed up weeks ago). That's OK, because if I hadn't been at the back, I probably would have ridden too fast, burned out too early, and finished with an even slower time!
This was the windiest day we've had yet this spring, with gusts that must have been at least 30 mph. The temperature was in the upper 30s around noon when I started, and snow flurries were being whipped around in the wind. It was quite chilly. I wore tights and a jacket, and was reasonably comfortable except for the numbness in my two outer fingers on each hand for most of the ride.
The course was about 11 miles of the 13 we did the week before. Rain yesterday had moistened and packed the sand, so the trail felt fast. I wore Cindy's Garmin Forerunner, so I should be able to review my race on the map, with speed and elevation and all that fun stuff. However, something happened when we plugged in the Garmin to upload the data; it locked up and we had to reset it, and now there are no activities on it all. A reset doesn't normally clear any records, but whatever happened this time took the watch back through the whole setup process. Oh well, so much for that. The map from last week's ride on the same course is available, here, only this time I did the loop a little faster.
Riding away from the starting line:
Nearing the finish line:
Crossing the finish line:
Quinn also raced today, too. He raced in the kid's race, for which a special loop of about 2/3 mile had been set up on part of the warm-up loop. It wasn't organized with quite the attention to detail that that was given to the full race. For some reason, they started the younger riders first in the kid's race, I suppose to give them a head start. Maybe five or six kids, the 6- and 7-year-olds, lined up in front and started first. One of them was fast, and he got in front and won the race by a couple of minutes. Some of the others could barely keep their bikes on the trail. Quinn's group, the 8- and 9-year-olds, went next and quickly caught up with the first group and were then stuck behind them on the tight single-track. We couldn't see the course, but Quinn said that at some point the course left the tight single-track and went through a wider grassy area, but the girl in front crashed when it widened and Quinn and another boy piled on top of her. Quinn quickly picked up his bike and finally got around her. After that he lead the pack for the rest of the race. He was pleased, and had obviously ridden quite hard once the field had opened up. At least one of us came home with a trophy!
Here's Quinn finishing his race:
I had a distinct advantage over many other riders: I was on my Santa Cruz Nickel with 5" of suspension travel front and rear, so instead of having to tip-toe my way around the course like those poor guys on their lightweight and delicate, plastic 29er hardtails, I could just hammer the fastest lines, rough or smooth, up or down! Really, though, most folks around here ride hard-tail 29ers (like our new black tandem), which means they have no rear suspension and have bigger wheels than the 26 inchers on my bike. The idea is that those big wheels are faster because of the lower angle of attack, and that on a smooth trail a hard-tail is faster than a bike with rear suspension because it doesn't bob and suck up energy. Both ideas are probably correct to some extent, but my Nickel felt just fine to me. I was glad to have that dual suspension when going up or down the rough stuff, even if it wasn't all that rough.
The time trial worked like this: Groups of racers started in clusters based on category. The top categories, Elite and Expert, started first, then Tandem, then Sport, and then Beginner. Within each cluster, or category, racers started singly or in pairs, every 10 or 15 seconds. Starting position within each category was in order of time of registration. So with number 409, I started almost at the back end of the Sport Category. The reason I rode Sport was because I didn't want to be stuck behind a bunch of slower riders in the Beginner category. As it happened, I was stuck behind a bunch of slower riders in the Sport category (if I'd realized that, I would have signed up weeks ago). That's OK, because if I hadn't been at the back, I probably would have ridden too fast, burned out too early, and finished with an even slower time!
This was the windiest day we've had yet this spring, with gusts that must have been at least 30 mph. The temperature was in the upper 30s around noon when I started, and snow flurries were being whipped around in the wind. It was quite chilly. I wore tights and a jacket, and was reasonably comfortable except for the numbness in my two outer fingers on each hand for most of the ride.
The course was about 11 miles of the 13 we did the week before. Rain yesterday had moistened and packed the sand, so the trail felt fast. I wore Cindy's Garmin Forerunner, so I should be able to review my race on the map, with speed and elevation and all that fun stuff. However, something happened when we plugged in the Garmin to upload the data; it locked up and we had to reset it, and now there are no activities on it all. A reset doesn't normally clear any records, but whatever happened this time took the watch back through the whole setup process. Oh well, so much for that. The map from last week's ride on the same course is available, here, only this time I did the loop a little faster.
Riding away from the starting line:
Nearing the finish line:
Crossing the finish line:
Quinn also raced today, too. He raced in the kid's race, for which a special loop of about 2/3 mile had been set up on part of the warm-up loop. It wasn't organized with quite the attention to detail that that was given to the full race. For some reason, they started the younger riders first in the kid's race, I suppose to give them a head start. Maybe five or six kids, the 6- and 7-year-olds, lined up in front and started first. One of them was fast, and he got in front and won the race by a couple of minutes. Some of the others could barely keep their bikes on the trail. Quinn's group, the 8- and 9-year-olds, went next and quickly caught up with the first group and were then stuck behind them on the tight single-track. We couldn't see the course, but Quinn said that at some point the course left the tight single-track and went through a wider grassy area, but the girl in front crashed when it widened and Quinn and another boy piled on top of her. Quinn quickly picked up his bike and finally got around her. After that he lead the pack for the rest of the race. He was pleased, and had obviously ridden quite hard once the field had opened up. At least one of us came home with a trophy!
Here's Quinn finishing his race:
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