Winding down...To ramp it up again.

Everyone in the MTB racing community is talking about the season being finally finished. For myself I technically didn't even have a season. Making an appearance on one start line doesn't count.

So my thought's are already turning to ramping it back up. I spent some time rearranging my basement the other day for the dreaded trainer sessions. It's not quite finished yet. I need to spend a few more hours getting things set up. It will be better than before.

Spent a couple hours up in 3 Stage on Sunday with the single speed and the rest of the gang from Arrow Racing. It was a good season ending ride. NO more hammer sessions until at least November now.

Bobnoxious Rock

Took the big road trip to Hanover this past Friday to watch Bobnoxious play at the Forum. The venue hasn't changed much, just the name. (Used to be The Hanover Inn) Great small venue to watch those guys play in though. Thanks Kim for the earplugs! I'd be deaf without them for sure. I've got a bunch of good pictures from the show. I just haven't taken the time to get them off the camera yet. I spent Saturday finding out that I can fix bikes while hungover! Just need to sit instead of bend over to do somethings.

Not much else has happened. Haven't been on a bike in a few days now. I will soon though. Perhaps a fall epic ride is brewing!

32x16 Wasn't the right gear.

Decided to ride my single speed out to the Sawmill Trails in Hepworth yesterday. It's a good ride you can ride old rail trail almost the entire way. Only about 10mins of pavement. Riding the 32x16 was great on the rail trail. However I quickly found out that it's a little too big of a gear at the moment for the short steep climbs of the Sawmill. After and hours worth of riding trails I was beginning to work the climbs a little better. It was some great low cadence work that's for sure. I got thinking on the way home that I could stash the necessary tools and an extra cog out there in the woods some where and could just change it when I got there. It would be the best of both worlds.


On the way back to town I noticed something coming up on the trail....Check this out.

Yes this is my hand only inches from this giant frog. I needed something in the picture for reference. I was very surprised when it didn't move. Ever. I thought maybe it was dead or possibly fake. *Quickly looked around for some jokester with a camera lurking in the woods* Oh there it is, a breath. Ok it's real. Glad I stopped.




After that I just cruised the rest of the way in. It was a good 3hr ride.

Put the bright one on your head!

So JK was right I should have put the brighter one on my head.

Single Speed night ride last night. I need to get an 18 tooth cog! Either the chain or my knees are going to blow soon if I don't.

I tried it out with two lights last night. Bar mount and Helmet mount. I put the small light on the helmet and the big light on the bar. JK was telling me at Kelso that he runs the other way around. I think I know why now. I was casting very bizarre shadows and was having a tough time finding the trail at times.

Next time I go out I'll flip them around and see how it goes.

I'm still quite impressed with the small light I have. It's a Sigma Karma Pro. Complete with the Lion battery pack. These batteries are very small, but powerful. If you had wide open trails you could easily MTB with just the Karma on the helmet mount. On more technical trails it's just not quite bright enough. So I think I will bar mount it next time and run the PowerLED on the helmet. It's enough on it's own for a helmet mount. It will be nice to have the extra light coming from the bar though.

Better Luck Next Year

Racing went about as well as expected. Took my position at the back of the group for the trip up the hill. Once on top in the flat sections though I let the 29er roll. Picked up a couple of spots. Rocked the single track. Then the inevitable climb again. Wasn't feelin' those at all. Just rode my own tempo up all the climbs. Losing minutes each time. Top of the start climb on the 4th lap the lights went out though. Quit literally, when things start to go a little black around the edges in your vision you should be aware that you're about to start going very slowly. Not a full on BONK but definitely out of gas. Had to let the guys go that I was riding with and hope I could keep anyone from catching me.

I think the bug to get into shape might come back after I recover from this. It was really good to race again.