I went for a short ride just after getting to camp and getting set up. Ended up being much shorter than I hoped due to a flat tire - I had not brought my spare tube with me. Bummer.
After fixing the flat I later went out for a quick ride on the Kooser trail through camp and around the lake:
I didn't get the rest of my rides on the GPS due to some battery charging issues...might have to roll back to an old firmware. I also did Kincora Trail, which is ridiculously rocky and technical. Did it last year on my 26er and walked a lot of it, but found myself riding nearly the whole thing. Yay big wheels.
All in all it was a beautiful time out in the mountains - a little on the hot side, but the creek was nice and cool - Sebastian loved it. It will be nice when the leaves start filling out.
Well, finally the weather has cleared. Much sun forcasted, with temperatures hitting 80. Ahhh, bliss. Have to decide where to go camping. Due to the temps they're calling for, I think heading to the mountains is probably a good idea. The best part about being off Sunday through Tuesday is that it gives you an -excellent- selection of campsites. Now just to decide which camp to go to, only requirements are that it have a pet section and be near bike trails. Off to search. I leave you with today's ride to work. Not much time for getting miles in - it was free lunch day at work.
Though the rain has yet to start, it is on its way, for the next couple days. Frick is sure to turn back to mud for a bit, so I headed out there since it has been a while since I was there. Lots more climbing here than Bavington and some good tech sections too.
Took the long way to work today. Well, kind of - considering I did stop at work to switch bikes. The 26er just isn't as fun to pedal as the 29er. It may have something to do with the wheelset being ridiculously lighter on the 29er, but I digress. Took a ride over to Schenely park today and tooled around a bit before heading back to grab lunch before work. Great day to ride, shame I had to work. Good combination of road, paved trails, and a bit of off road action. It's supposed to be even nicer tomorrow. I may just need to take the day off.
Not really though - did get a chance to cover some ground before work though. The 'Max Speed' that Sanoodi figures out is way off - they have it listed for this ride as the top speed being 7.7 mph, while their software on the BlackBerry lists the average speed at 11.33 mph. For sure there were some stretches were we were going a sustained 25mph for a good clip. Definitely some serious bugs there. Should have taken the Jail Trail back to cross over the Hot Metal bridge - but stopping for lunch at the Grand Concourse ended up being a much better idea. Looking forward to tomorrow and Saturday - it's going to be gorgeous. Just have to ride before work. Must save PTO days for the wedding!
Dave and I decided to try to stay ahead of yesterday's storm to get a decent ride in. So we headed northeast towards Gibsonia to get away from the pending storm. We got our ride in and only hit a bit of drizzle on the way back into the city before the downpour. It was a bit chilly due to pretty high winds - but with all the climbing out at Deer Lakes it left for a sweaty venture with wind jackets on. Also, it probably didn't help that all I had was a granola bar for breakfast - it all added up to a ride that felt pretty brutalizing. Also, the trail markers are kind of odd; some go right through the disc golf course while others change patterns/colors while you're seemingly on the same trail. There are definitely some decent loops to be had and we'll probably come back at some point to try to make some sense out of all of it and ride the stuff we missed. Anyways, here's the day's ride:
Headed out behind the house for today's ride into work. Beck's Run isn't that bad - providing its not rush hour or night. You can then either cross over Carson St and cross the tracks to jump on the South Side trail or ride up along side Carson on the upper tracks, which is what I opted for today. Paved trails are boring.
Was hoping to leave earlier than I did for work today to get some riding in. Unfortunately, it didn't warm up as quick as I was hoping - it was still a bit chilly when I rolled out. Also forgot to start recording until after I climbed up Margaret, so there's about a quarter-mile or so missing, no biggie. Did loop around a little bit off-road, but today was mainly all gravel/paved trails with the tires up to about 30psi.
Well, we did go to the PORC Big Ride at noon, but Liv wasn't feeling too well, so we headed out. It didn't hurt that I was getting the vibe people didn't really like riding with dogs and since none knew Sebastian, we opted for the pass. On the way back Liv decided we should hit the Montour Trail, so we did a quick jaunt on that. After that we headed home - Livia and Sebastian went to go play with the puppy next door - Dave came and got me when he got out of work and we headed back out to Bavington. There were still some people hanging out, and we set off on what ended up being just shy of an 8 mile ride. Hit some really nice sections - all new ones to us. After the ride there were a few people shooting the breeze and were kind enough to offer a beer. Lot of nice bikes out there today - sorry I have no pictures! I was trying to get as much riding in as possible.
Bavington:
Montour Trail:
Rode around a bit more in the South Side Park area. There are some nice, albeit short, sections there - definitely not a bad route to get to work and avoid some of the road. Anyways, here it is:
