Mohican During the Week

To celebrate Ryan's spring break I took the afternoon off work and we headed to Mohican for a lap.  The weather was very agreeable, around 50 and sunny.  I expected good trail conditions based on recent weather.

We were greeted by a new kiosk sign with map

in the main MTB parking lot.  It looks nice.

Let's just say my Paragon has been neglected of late, mostly due to the Karate Monkey getting all the attention.  I dropped my chain twice in the first several miles before using a chunk of wood to smack my inner chain guide into proper position.  Ryan said, "Wow, I'm suprised to see you beating on your bike."  At least it worked, no more chain drops.

Maybe a couple miles later I realized I'd ridden the first three or four miles with my fork locked out.  Nice.  All I can say is my previous Mohican ride was on the rigid Monkey and, by comparison, my locked out fork felt plusher as it does have some compliance when locked.

Headin' up.

We enjoyed pretty much perfect trail conditions with only the occasional grease spot.  Ryan put his new front tire to good use and was ripping up the trail.  All was good until we reached the covered bridge and expected to do some climbing.  "Trail Closed."  The sign said something about forest clearing for a gas pipeline installation.  So we resigned ourselves to the road which was also a good climb, but less entertaining.

Thankful it's just temporary.

We stopped for some food at the second trailhead.  I had made some rice cakes with egg and bacon in them, so we gave them a try.  Pretty good, I'd make them again.

Victim, i mean recipient, of my cooking.

The next couple miles were okay but somewhere around mile 22 I stood to pedal up a rise and was shut down with cramps in both my quads.  Perfect, first the bike then me.  I was reduced to spinning cadence for the remainder of the trail, but still enjoyed the ride.

The last incident of the day was a mud splash Ryan took to the eye in the last quarter mile of trail.  One removed and subsequently lost contact later, we were on our way back home satisfied with our spring break ride.  It didn't feel like Tuesday on the drive home... I wonder if tomorrow will feel like Monday at work?  Whoo-hoo, short week!

Maiden Monkey Voyage

It was long overdue, but I finally had the Karate Monkey out on a proper ride.  And... this is one zippy chimp!

It loves to corner, fast.

By the time I reached the "mile 1" marker at Mohican I had already made up my mind; this is going to be a very fun bike.  The next 15 miles confirmed my thoughts.  The Karate Monkey is a cornering machine, I was surprised at how easily it was to make the bike turn.  On several corners I entered on my usual line only to fall into the corner much sooner.  I'd say the short wheelbase makes a big difference.  The Maxxis Ardent tires played into the cornering confidence of the bike as they hooked up very well.

The wood peckers have been doing trail work.

Next thought is the single speed setup; I like it.  I'm going to thank my gym work the past several months as I didn't feel too burdened with just one gear on the uphills.  I look forward to building more leg and core strength on the Monkey.  What I've been told is true, there may be more grunting and grinding on uphills but there's also plenty of time to carry momentum and roll without pedaling.  It will be fun to play this game more.

Back to the car just before rain.

Last, but not least, is the rigid front end.  I was sort of surprised for the first handful of miles at not feeling too beat up.  Choice of a smooth line was rewarded, as was weight shifting and soaking up bumps, roots, etc.  I soon learned the downhills would deliver a beat down.  With no compliance up front and faster speed, bumpy downhill sections were rough but tolerable.  I need to play some more with tire pressure and probably get serious about going tubeless on this bike.

It was a fun first ride on the Karate Monkey at Mohican.  There's a lot more to come to get to know this bike.

Out of the rain, in the car, having a post ride snack.

Gravel Grinding and Climbing

"It's going to be warmer soon." This is what I kept telling myself as my fingers throbbed from the cold.  It was 26 degrees when Ryan and I left the main trailhead at Mohican.  Instead of being on singletrack we were headed out for some fun, gravel road climbing.  The warm up I was looking forward to would also bring sloppy conditions on the trails, so we opted for the gravel roads.

Quick shot of wild turkeys.

Fortunately there was a good hill in the first several miles of the ride.  This helped me to begin warming up but it was some time later before I was finally comfortable.  We road a clockwise loop to the east of SR3 and the Mohican park.

Frozen puddle.

The skies were a brilliant blue and we expected to be out for 3 to 4 hours.  We stopped as needed to eat, knowing the bigger hills were coming.

Yielding while stopped for food.

Eating while yielding.

We turned south and enjoyed some fast, downhill gravel roads.  They sure are more fun to speed down on fat tired mountain bikes.  This was our first road ride on mountain bikes, the gravel made it fun and not too much of a slog on the slower bikes.  Actually, a cyclocross bike may be the best weapon for this route.

Turning west we hit a good gravel climb.  It was not terribly long but gained elevation pretty quickly.  A short distance later we hit the climb on Valley Stream Road, west off Wally Road.  Oh yeah, she's a good one.  I think I did a track stand or two in the middle of this mile long climb.

That's me climbing.

And that's Ryan on Valley Stream Road.

After Valley Stream Road it seemed like we were just a short roll from where we started.  Yeah... after several more hills.  Ouch.  We slogged back to the car, loaded up, and headed for home.  It was long time on the back with some rewarding views and, hopefully, strength building hills.

This is what my legs felt like at the end of the ride.

Rolling Nowhere

Sunday afternoon arrived and I thought about going for a quick ride around the block.  I looked out the back window and it looked decent enough, the thermometer stuck to the window displayed "39".  I thought for a minute about where I might go as I ate a pre-ride apple.

Five minutes later I did a double take out the same back window that was convincing me to ride; a flurry of wind blown snowflakes was in progress.  Okay... I guess I'll head to the basement.  I watched the final hour of the 2010 Leadville 100 video from aboard the rollers.

Levi won the Leadville while I won the

battle of motivation and rode indoors.