Grey Shorty Ride

The past several days of rain have been badly needed.  Today the skies were grey and overcast but no rain, and it was about 15 degrees cooler today.  I headed out for a short ride after dinner.

Looking down into town.

On the way out the driveway and down the street I actually felt chilled for few moments.  I guess low 80's are a slight shock to the system after 90's and heavy humidity.  It felt good.

Praise the creator for His creation

we get to pedal through.

The Tour de France has been going full force the past couple weeks.  Last weekend, a week late but better late than never, we upgraded out cable package in order to watch the Tour.  A DVR was also part of the deal and makes it easier to catch each stage.

Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky have the yellow jersey locked up now.  After just watching those guys in the high mountains of the Pyrenees it was nice to get out on the road and stand in the pedals a little bit.

"Bike lane" on the uphill.

The traffic was virtually non-existent.  It seemed strange to me for a Friday night.  I took the opportunity to ride the hill up Lincolnway to SR250.  It's not so fun when there are cars whizzing by but today I was only passed a couple times.  It's two lanes going up and one lane coming down, so the cars passing me have a lane to do it in.  Not a long hill, but fun to ride up chasing KOM points.

Ricardo at the Knob

Ricardo, a friend from work, wanted to hit the Knob before transferring to a new job out of state.  He is headed to South Carolina where I'm sure he will be able to find some good trails to ride.

Arriving at the Knob after work I watched lightning and dark clouds moving in.  Is it really going to rain?  I guess it's been so seldom to have rain this summer it's surprising when the skies actually let down some water.  Ricardo and I set out on a lap and rain it did.

Weather moving in.

At the first crossing of an access road I led us back to the pavilion.  Soaked to the core, we stood in the pavilion and watched the show.  Torrential down pour, lighting, and nearby thunder was frequent.  About 20 minutes later the storm had passed by and two guys rolled into the pavilion having experienced the storm out on the course.  It sounded pretty sketchy.

 Our mounts picked up some mud.

Already geared up, and muddy from our short ride, we decided to head back out and see what we would find.  Puddles were frequent but it seemed much of the rain had run off.  We had a fun, slightly sloppy time riding.  Ricardo's bike handling skill was impressive, the conditions did not seem to affect him.  I'm sure Ricardo will be able to find some off road, two-wheeled fun in his new neighborhood!

Back to the vehicles, sporting some wet dirt.

I enjoyed riding the Karate Monkey for the first time at the Knob.  The handling once again felt natural, which made mazeville fun.  The rigid front end did not beat me up to much, which was a little surprise.  Good ride and display of weather this afternoon!

Guess it's time to wash the shoes.

Daniel's Wheel Work

For a little while now Daniel has been saying, "my bike wheels are scratchy!"  This would be in reference to his Strider bike and KT has been making the same mention regarding the sounds coming from the rear wheel.  Today Daniel and I made time to investigate.

Without assistance Daniel had both wheels

off his bike in about 3 minutes.

Working in the manly outfit of shorts only, Daniel removed both wheels from his bike and brought them to the work bench for further disassembly.  We discovered wasted caged bearings on both sides of the rear wheel and a dry bearing up front.  Actually, I'm trying to decide if these wheels came with dry bearings?  No matter as they are lubed up now.  I put the rear back together with loose balls and we'll see how long that lasts.

Getting into the hub.

No more scratchy sounds and he is rolling again.  Daniel can ride his pedal bike mostly unassisted but only when someone is with him in the street.  The Strider still sees plenty of action around the house, be it on the sidewalk, in the yard, or even inside the house.  Good fun.

Getting a boost.

First Time Riding Reagan

Today after work Noah and I left the office and headed to Reagan Park in Medina.  I've never been there before and often thought about making a visit.  Noah, proud new owner of a Trek dual sport bike, had ridden some of the trails.

Noah on the Huffman Trail.

We rode the Huffman Trail first, it was ridden in and dry.  There were plenty of twists and corners but not much in the way of rocks or roots.  With the Paragon awaiting fork service I was on the Karate Monkey.  I quickly realized this was going to be fun riding on the quick handling Monkey.

Creepy tree on the Annex Trail.

The Huffman Trail connected us to the Annex Trail and the Annex Trail connected to the River Trail.  This is where things got interesting.  It was not so obvious how these trails went together and the few trail markings I saw were more confusing than helpful.  No big deal, we had fun finding our way.  It's less than 3 miles of trail in these two loops so a wrong turn or backtrack here or there is of little penalty.  I'm sure it makes better sense after several rides.

Noah pedaling hard out of a corner on the Reagan Park Trail.

It took a couple tries but we found the trail to cross the road and deliver us to the Reagan Park Trail loop.  The trail direction was obvious for a while but there were a couple confusing intersections.  Mostly there was more dry, dusty conditions with plenty of curves.  An occasional, short uphill or downhill kept it interesting but there were certainly no climbs.

Somewhere along the way, after I repeated a particularly curvy section of trail for the fun of it, I had Noah board the Karate Monkey.  I think he liked it as he took off and tore around on it pretty good.  Meanwhile I rode his dual sport and tried to not to crunch myself on a bike with saddle 2" too high for me.

I think it was Ray from Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park.

Back to our vehicles the bikes were covered in dust.  It's not like mud where you have some clumps in the expected places, it was solid dust over the whole bike.  I can say there is some fun to be had at Reagan Park and having a little better idea of how the trails link together will make it more straight forward next time!

A Bike in the Kitchen

A bike in the kitchen's a sign,

a sign of a coming good time,

 the bottles are full and I'm ready to roll,

so let's head out on a ride!

Low Trees at Mohican

The Paragon is currently missing its fork as I await some new fork seals.  Everything else is ready to go for the service work, I just need the seals.  It's also missing handlebars as I've decided the Bontrager Big Sweep bars are not compatible with.... me.  So, when Ryan and I were making plans for an Independance Day ride I knew it would be on the Karate Monkey.

We left for Mohican before 8.  The plan was to ride most of the loop and then I would meet the family for a picnic lunch and play in the river.  We parked at the Discovery Forest parking lot and hit the trail.  It was instantly obvious something had happened in the woods.  The trail was littered with leaves, sticks, and branches.  Before long we encountered a blow down obstructing the trail.

Tree down!

The Monkey was feeling really good.  I was running about 20 pounds front and rear on the 2.4" Ardent tires.  The tires were hooking up and providing a lot of confidence, plus my legs were feeling good on the singlespeed.  The climb up Mount Doom was better than I expected.

Off the bike again, navigating

another blow down.

As we continued through the loop we encountered more and more blown down trees.  The debris across the trail was constant.  It sounded like riding on rice crispies at times, due to the snapping twigs beneath tires.  Between the mile 19 road crossing and the campground there were countless trees.  Somewhere in this section we came across two trail runners who commented on the down trees.  They live in Loudonville and said the damage was mostly from the storm this past Sunday night.  Strong winds and hail, up to quarter sized, caused the damage.

Did I mention it was hot and humid?  By the time we reached the campground I had drained my 70 ounce Hydrapak of Heed.  For the sake of time we were going to take the short loop connector and save a few miles, but I needed some water first.

Stopped at a campground shower house

for liquid refills.

Up the short loop connector and back on the loop we experienced more of the same.  Leaf littered trails and more blown down trees.  It was interesting to see how big some of the blow downs were.  Some of these trees were pretty good size.

A large, downed pine.

The last climb delivered us to the group camping area.  Ryan turned right to his car and I turned left to head down, down, down the road to the covered bridge.  KT had setup picnic paraphernalia and the kids were having fun.  Daniel was eager to go back into the river and I was ready for a cool off.  We made our way out to the faster moving water and laid down for a while.  Happy July 4th!

 Daddy raft.

Hot Paved Ride with Detour

Our air conditioning has been on for a couple weeks now.  It's been hot and humid, feeling more like late summer.  Ryan and I headed out on a short road ride despite the 90 degree temperature and humidity.

We did a loop from Ryan's house and got in a few hills.  It felt pretty good when moving along but the slower speed and added exertion of the hills made us really feel the heat rising from the pavement.

Car back.

We scoped out and partook in a little detour outside Fredericksburg.  It was mostly good, clean fun other than Ryan's unexpected dismount, but very little corn was damaged.  ;-)

Where does this go?

S-I-L Mohican Ride

My sister-in-law is visiting for Ellen's birthday and we decided to head down to Mohican after I got home from work for some riding.  We parked at the main lot and rode SR97 to the second trailhead.  From there we enjoyed perfect trails back to the car.

Jessica on trail.

The weather was much milder today and not so humid, perfect for an evening ride.  I think Jessica enjoyed the flowy fun of the fern forest and pumpy fun of near miles 19 and 24.

Stopping for drink and picture.

When we rolled back into the parking lot I saw a guy attaching his bike to his car.  Wait a second... he's using Sea Suckers.  I had never seen them in person so I stopped to talk.  Chad says they have always gotten the job done with no problems.  Basically, they are suction cups with integrated pumps that you attach to the sheet metal of your car.  I remember them being expensive but have always read, and now heard in person, they work.

Sea Suckers being attached.

Paragon Maintenance

My brand new Paragon needs some work... wait, how old is it?  Well thanks to my blogful ramblings, I see it's almost been a year and a half since I bought the bike.  I guess time flies when piloting a mountain bike.

Anyhow, I've noticed an increasing amount of oily crud accumulating on the fork stanchions after rides.  I've always been pretty diligent about wiping the stanchions and wiper seals down after rides, but I guess it's time to do some maintenance work.  Good news is I have the tools and know-how from the work with just did with Ryan's fork.  Now I need to get a seal kit and oil for my fork.

Fox F29 off the bike and on the bench.

In the process of removing the fork I had a look at the front brake and pads.  Whoa, pad life has been exhausted!  I thought it was getting close as I've been experiencing long brake lever throw the past couple rides, which makes sense now that I see how worn the pads are and how extended the pistons are.  Now I need to get some new brake pads.

Avid Elixir 5 front brake off the bike.

Alright, I have some pieces, parts, and supplies to procure.  The Karate Monkey is going to get some playing time until I get the work done.  I'm thankful to have two mountain bikes for my riding pleasure.

Ellen = 1

Today is Ellen's birthday!

KT and Jessica made a very nice cake.

 Girls like new clothes.

 The birthday girl!

Ellen's Backseat Ride

KT requested a tuneup on her hybrid bike in hopes of taking Ellen out for her first ride in the bucket seat.  Each time I lift this ChroMo Jamis bike into the work stand it's a shock to the system.  I'm not sure how much it weighs, but it's a bragging point when my homemade workstand dutifully holds the bike without complaint.

Gunked up chain cleaned then lubed,

brakes and shift systems adjusted.

Short FD Ride

On this Father's Day I thought about an afternoon ride at the Knob but the incoming weather changed my mind.  I headed out for a short road ride instead.

I was not sure which way to head and

the dummy in the background was no help.

At first I was going to stick close to home, thinking rain was eminent.  Somewhere along the way I pulled a u-turn to extend the ride while thinking "it's not raining yet, may as well ride further."  I ended up riding down Prairie Lane road which is flat as a board but the scenery is somewhat unique.  About the time I got back on my short loop route it started raining.  Oh well, the rain felt pretty good on this sweaty, humid day.

Some of the lowlands intersected by Prairie Lane.

Ryan's Fork

Turning our attention to bike maintenance, Ryan and I did an overhaul on his mountain bike fork.   The fork is about six years old which was enough reason to strip it down and at least change the oil.  I do not believe he's had any problems with it other than thinking it felt soft of late.

 Into the work stand and off with the fork.

On my first motorcycle I did a fork seal and oil replacement job but never on a mountain bike. I've always wanted to get inside a suspension fork and see what's going on in there.  As it turns out there's a lot more going on in the bike fork than there was in my moto fork.

Getting inside a Rock Shox Reba Dual Air fork.

We tore it down, replaced the fork seals and wipers with new Enduro seals from Real World Cycling, and replaced some o-rings too.  The instructions from the SRAM web site were pretty thorough as well as the instructions from RWC.  Keeping the parts organized is an important part of this job. 

 Ellen was on hand for some help and QC inspection.

We reassembled the internals and proceeded with oil filling.  There was only one major spillage but we'll pretend that didn't happen.  However, the stain on my workbench may make it a tough cover up.

 Not the best angle for a picture, but i was supposed

to be holding the fork, not taking pictures.

With the fork back together and the air chambers pumped up we reinstalled the fork.  There was no trail testing today but as far as we could tell it was ready to go.  I think Ryan will have some playing to do with the rebound adjustment and maybe the positive and negative pressures, as we set it back to the default settings.  It was a good project and now I'm motivated to figure out what preventative maintenance I should be doing with my fork.

 While we were working on Ryan's fork

Daniel built "Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse".

For Grandma

After declining health in recent years my grandmother passed away.  While sad to lose a loved one, I am thankful for her faith and the trust she placed in Jesus for her eternal salvation.  Grandma has shed her failing body and mind for the majesty of heaven!

This morning Ryan and I set out for a lap at Mohican, in remembrance of my Grandma.  It was a beautiful day of sunshine and warm temperature.  I had swapped the Maxxis Ardent tire from the Karate Monkey to the front of the Paragon, looking for a different feel than what I've been getting from the tubeless ready Bontrager tire.  My theory continues that the tubeless ready tire has heavier and stiffer sidewalls than a typical tire.  Being that I still run tubes, I think this causes a lack of feel in the tire from heavier sidewalls reinforced by tubes.

Going up.

While packing for the ride I debated whether to bring the camera or not.  In an instant I envisioned a picture of Ryan going around an uphill, right hand switchback on Mount Doom, so I brought the camera.  There are two places on the climb with the uphill corner matching my vision.  We stopped at the first and I snapped a couple pictures.  At the second such corner I stepped off the trail looking for an angle and realized someone else had trampled the area.  I looked down to check my footing and found a cell phone on the ground.  I flipped open the cell phone and it powered on, and into my jersey pocket it went.

After the rock garden near mile 20 we stopped at the boulders for a prayer in honor and memory of Grandma.  It was a nice place to pause and think of her.

 New hike-a-bike technique I'm working on.

A little further into the loop we stopped to admire the steep hike-a-bike  from the  Mohican 100, it's a good one.  Ryan took a picture of me from the side re-enacting the slog.  I was thankful not to be hoofing it up this hill today.

Going up?  Not today, but I did a week ago.

On the drive home I pulled out the cell phone and powered it on again.  Low battery, not surprising.  I browsed the contacts and attempted to call Dad.  "This phone is not registered..."  A little snooping in the sent/received texts turned up an address of the owner who must have dropped her phone while.. hiking?  Mountain biking?  Trail running?  So, I will put the phone in the mail and maybe Tiffany will get back with me about how she lost her phone, I'm curious.

It's been back to back to back to back weekends of effort.  Double lap at Mohican, roofing project, Mohican 100, and a lap today.  I think I'm ready for some R&R... or maybe some short road rides.

Aid Station 3

Some pics from aid station 3 at the Mohican 100, courtesy of Ryan.

First Mohican 100k

Thursday night I registered for my first Mohican 100k and the preparations began.  I gave the Paragon a thorough cleaning and checked it over pretty well.  Then I worked on filling some drop bags, though I had little concept of what they should contain.  A phone call to Ryan gave me some good ideas and I zipped the bags up.

Friday night I loaded the car with gear and bike, ready for an early morning roll out.  I was out the driveway about 6:05.  Heading south on SR3 I was in a caravan of bike-toting vehicles.

There must be a mountain bike race up ahead.

I parked at Mohican across the road from the finish line and geared up for the day.  After picking up my race packet and handing over my drop bags, I joined a mass of riders pedaling the bike path to the starting line.  As I joined the mass of colorful apparel straddling bikes I heard someone say there were 691 riders registered this year, a new record.

Convenient parking, the finish line is just

behind the tree in the center of the picture.

 

I never did hear a gun shot or announcement to start the race, but I clipped in when everyone else did and starting rolling when the wheels in front of me moved forward.  We were off.  The road out of town is a good hill but in short order we were to the top and turning left.  After a little bit more road it funneled down to enter the woods.  At this point we came to a dead stop and stood there for 60 seconds waiting for the log jam of riders to clear.

From leaving the road to reaching the singletrack of the state park was on private property, most of it, I believe, belonging to Mohican Adventures campground (race headquarters).  The rain from the previous day made for some particularly muddy sections.  There were a couple hike-a-bikes, partially due to steep muddiness and partially due to the clog of riders.  I was glad to reach the familiar territory of the state park trail.

The next 8 to 10 miles were going well for me.  At one point I shouted back to the a rider behind me asking if he wanted to pass.  He said, "no, this is great following your lines!"  I informed him it was my local course and I only live 20 minutes up the road.  He replied, "perfect, I'm from Colorado and have never ridden here before!"

 

Near the road crossing in the Discovery Forest I couldn't understand why I was flooding in sweat.  It was rolling down my face despite the 51 degree temperature at the start.  I was still wearing arm warmers but didn't feel too hot.  Strange.

 

After a little crash on the switchbacks leading downhill to the covered bridge, I stopped at the bridge to suck down an Espresso Love Gu.  I had felt some unexpected twinges in my quads leading up to the downhill section.  I also downed a couple Endurolytes.

 

 I figured sooner or later in the race I would experience muscle cramps in my legs.  Well, I was really disappointed to be experiencing them already at the beginning of Mount Doom.  I started doing the math in my head and came to the conclusion I was only 1/3 of the way into the race with two cramped legs.  Okay... how am I going to survive this?

Aid station 1, at the second MTB trailhed, I ate a bananna, PB&J quarter, more endurolyets, and refilled my Camelbak with Heed.  I decided to back down and really pace myself through the fern forest in hopes of recovering.  Somewhere in this section I also realized that my bike handling skills had gone to mush.  Why am I not able to corner?  I stopped and let several blasts of air out of my front tire, which I had filled to 24 psi this morning, and suddenly gained some confidence on the damp terrain.

Up until the giant hike-a-bike I was getting passed rather frequently.  I wanted to ride the pace of my passers but decided to control my efforts knowing there were plenty of miles ahead.  Then we reached the hike-a-bike.  Ryan had previously pointed it out to me, but looking at it compared to pushing a bike up it are two different things.  It was a slog, an intense slog.  Prior to the race I had thought hike-a-bike sections would be a relief to the legs after riding.  This one was not and cramps were threatening as I joined the line of riders pushing bikes up a hill in the woods.

From our position of higher ground we rode horse trails, mostly downhill and mostly muddy, to the crossing of SR97.  There were some interesting water bars to navigate.  On the other side of the road we reached another hike-a-bike.  This one was not as steep but full of large rocks.  At some point in here I believe we left the state park / state forest property.  Suddenly we came out of the woods and a race volunteer was pointing us down a road while announcing, "about 5 miles to the next aid station, all road!"

I cannot distinctly remember the road section at this point.  I'm sure there were some hills, as there were hills on all road sections.  Somewhere along here I realized my Hydrapak was empty.  I had been sipping often and had taken more Endurolytes throughout the off road section.  Despite maintaining an okay pace on the road and not feeling the pending cramps anymore, I still didn't feel so great.  Thankfully the aid station 2 appeared up ahead.

The aid station volunteers are great.  They have spotters up the road who radio your race number to the aid station.  When you pull up to the aid station your drop bag is brought to you.  Station volunteers are checking with every rider to see what they need, offering to refill bottles or hydration packs, or fetch some food.  We were well cared for.

I spent longer than expected at this aid station trying to bring myself back.  I ate several pieces of watermelon, a banana, a Hammer Gel, Endurolytes, beef jerky, and drank half an ice cold Coke.  I stretched my legs and back for a couple minutes and then got back to it.  The finish was not getting any closer.  Before leaving the aid station I received text messages indicating KT and the kids as well as Ryan and the family would be at aid station 3.  Nice!

On the rolling and sometimes steep roads between aid 2 and 3 I was feeling much better.  I was starting to pedal a harder, faster gear.  Finally.  For several miles I was passing riders.  We turned onto the climb behind the Wilderness Course and started up the big gravel hill.  I felt okay going up the hill but never dared to stand and attack it.  I just stayed seated and rode steady.

At the top of the hill we turned onto the singletrack of the Wilderness Course.  I knew there would be a lot of down hill sections from here.  It was going okay at first but before long I realized my brain was not processing the trail fast enough.  Combine this feeling with my fatigued arms and I frequently checked my speed to ensure I stayed in once piece.

We passed through the Tree Frog Canopy parking and I knew we were closing in out aid station 3.  I looked forward to seeing the family and friends.  A couple stream crossings, a short hike-a-bike, singletrack, and a lap around an ag field delivered us to aid station 3.  Daniel and KT were waving for me and Ryan and family were nearby.

It was great mid-race break to share stories with Ryan, he could certainly relate having done the race several times before, and visit with the kids.  Daniel, Mr. nothing-gets-past-me, said "Hey!  Why is there a sign on your bike!?"  After some food and chit-chat I saddled up.  Rylen gave me an awesome double munchy wave to say goodbye.  Before leaving the station I raised my saddle about half an inch.  In retrospect, this was a good move to change up the way my legs were working.

Back at home, Daniel likes the race plate.

Riding up Wally Road I was thinking about the big climb on Valley Stream Road, just ahead, but even more so I was thinking about the final 5 miles of singletrack.  Based on my lackluster ride through the woods at the Wilderness course I was actually dreading the final stretch of singletrack.  But, one thing at a time.

Pedaling into the Valley Stream Road climb I saw a couple riders ahead.  They were walking and I was getting closer as I continued riding.  As I just about reached the closer rider the road kicked up and I realized I was going the same speed pedaling as he was walking.  Off the bike again, I walked until it flattened out a little and then jumped back on.

Somewhere on the road section en route to SR3 I heard someone yelling from behind.  I turned my head to see Mr. Suppan come by.  He was doing the 100 mile race, on a single speed, and we were riding side by side 8 to 10 miles from the finish: that's strong.  The road flattened and I tried to lend a wheel.  A few moments later the road turned up and Jason drove into his pedals to singlespeed up the hill.  Meanwhile I downshifted to spin and once again wondered how the final single track would go.

 

Shortly after  Jason went up the road a rider appeared on my left.  A woman's voice said "hey, good job!  Keep it up!"  The black numbers on her race numbers told me she was also a 100 mile rider.  I would later learn it was pro rider Amanda Carey, the eventual winner of the women's race.  Pretty cool, I appreciated her encouragement.

Aid station 5, at the entrance to the state park, was full of supportive volunteers.  They handed me a peeled banana, gave me a Hammer Gel, and announced "five miles to go!"

Starting up the final mile of state park loop I was feeling sloppy with the bike again.  I pulled aside and let some more air out of my front tire and let some out of the bike too.  Maybe it was mental, but it suddenly felt like a different bike.  I proceeded to feel pretty good in the woods and was cornering much better.  Before I knew it was time to turn off the state park loop and enter into Mohican Adventures.  I knew the finish line was close!

 

We popped across the campground road and turned onto a little township road.  I saw the parking lot and my car in the front row.  Finish line in sight!  I was pretty excited, if not slightly overwhelmed, to cross the line.  I heard my race number and time of 8:05 announced over the PA system.  A race worker handed me my Mohican 100 beer mug.  The PA announcer came on again to say my name.  Cool.

 

 The finish line!

 

After a shower, some BBQ chicken, celebratory beer in my celebratory beer mug, and hanging out with the Soupcan racing and OCC guys, I headed home thinking "wow, I did it."

I think I earned it.

First and foremost I'd say this race was a huge learning experience.  Having never done a mountain bike race before and having never ridden a mountain bike more than 50 miles, the Mohican 100k felt like an accomplishment.  I was pretty disappointed to be cramp crippled so early in the race and have to moderate my pace for so long.  But at the same time, I'm thankful to have fought through it and kept the pedals turnin' to the finish.  I'm also thankful for no mechanical issues, though I do regret not dropping pressure in my tires sooner.  The encouragement and camaraderie out on the course and after race was pretty cool too.

First time 100k finisher.