Last Jacobsburg of the year?

I was going to start Jacobsburg early tonight anyway, but Phil posted an early start at 5:30 so met up with him and another guy from easton. Steady pace, I held them up a bit, especially at the bottom of the downhills. Crashed a few times early on for little to no reason. Screwed up my knee a little because I couldn't get out of the clips on the second one. Loosened them up a bit, I think the angle of the clip may be the issue but we'll see how this adjustment goes. Overall a great night that pushed me at parts and I held my own in most. 11.9 miles over 1.5 hrs was just what the dr ordered for maybe one of my last rides of the year. Rides recently have been more like 7.5 so that was awesome.

Donut Delight

Absolutely outstanding day. Finished the race without an issue. Could have kept going actually. 4 donuts first stop, 3 the second. Dude who won ate 17, apparantly 15 the first time! Phil came in second in his class and ate 13 I think. Mine are sitting like a rock, but I felt good during the race.

Started off pre-race with the camelback and didn't see a single other one on so opted for the frozen gatorade as the sole source of fluids. Felt pretty good and airy actually. Didn't need much of the gatorade.

Start was relatively uneventful and first 3/4 mile was SLOW. Once around the first turn things seperated out quickly. Met up with Liz and Chuck and had a nice ride. I went out a little fast and it was WINDY. Worst was about 2 miles from finish, wind dead on and had to be 20mph. That really took it out of me, thank god it was at the end. Liz and Mat boogeyed on ahead after about 5 miles as my quads started to really tighten up. Chuck and I caught up with them about 5 miles later and helped Liz fix her blowout and get her back on the road. Quads loosened up during that and never looked back the rest of the day. 4 donuts first stop, bathroom break and a bottle of water and back on the road. Rode with Matt for a while, seems like a nice guy. He didn't get into the race, person in front of him in line got the last pass. He peeled off on his new bike to see his dad and Liz and I pretty much rode together the rest of the day. Rest of the race was uneventful. Long sections of just pedaling, no thoughts going through my head, feeling like a machine. Exactly what the Dr ordered, I don't get that level of peace much.

Heading into the wind at the end just about whopped me, but got some encouragement from Liz, jammed the GT into high and pedaled like hell.

I will definately do this again. I got 37.2 miles on the computer, 15.2 average, 2:24 of pedal time. I am going to be sore tomorrow, but who cares. I want to do this road thing again.

Slackin and smackin

Slacking on the updates this week. Lots has happened and tomorrow is the big day. Here we go.

Shoes finally arrived on Monday, almost tipped the ups guy. Tried them on, close enough, then ripped down to Saucon Valley Bikes before they closed. Grabbed a pair of Shimano SPD pedals that were taken off of another bike, plus some socks and goo. Don't have to pay psycho's health insurance any more so happy birthday to me. Pedals went on easily at home and got the cleats fitted into the shoes and took a spin in the pitch black around the neighborhood. Practiced clipping in and out a few hundred times. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought they would be. Decided to leave them on and give them a try a Jacobsburg Wednesday.

Jacobsburg went fair. Rained like crazy the day before so the trails were real slick and I was real tentative and tight because of the shoes. First part went well, could tell the differnce the shoes made when I let them, spent a lot of time clipping in and out before obstacles etc, that will come with time. Up the powerline then to the usual downhill. Slipping all over the place and legs were like steel. Finally loosened up a little then starting going around a curve on a fairly flat section and wham. I am face down in some muck. Left shoe still clipped in but right popped out right away. Bike was parallel to the ground I think. Got the first place trophy in my short but prolific history of crashes. Turns out from the guy behind me said i hit a root and tire slid right down it. What I hit was some newly laid cinders like the kind on the tow path. Made for a fairly soft, yet dirty landing. Some scratches and what not, but not too much worse for the wear. I think these tires blow, need an upgrade after this race. Ride finished in total darkness again. Lots of work being done up there. Should be interesting in the coming months.

Wednesdays are probably pretty much done for now with hunting season around the corner but I would like to do at least 1 more. Need to get more arrows under my belt and broadheads still have to be put on and tuned.

Rode to heights on friday for bread that's about it though. Put together a bike rack during hurrican ernesto yesterday. Pretty interesting project. Have 1/2 of it cemented together, enough for tomorrow at least.

Ah tomorrow..the Donut derby! Signed up for it, figured what the hell. Getting pretty excited about it actually. Need to get up at 6:15 on my first day off in months, but hey, i can and probably will sleep in the afternoon. Supposedly going to ride with Liz and Chuck and maybe a few others. Carbed up for dinner with some penne with venison inside loin, black olives, capers, mushrooms, garlic, onions and cayenne. Came out real well, may be been better with some seafood. Plans are for a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning, get the camelback filled (is that cool in a road race?)

Sure I will be a bit of a doofus on my mtb, but who cares. Going to try and finish and have a good time. Need some icecream and off to bed. Need all the energy I can get tomorrow. Weather looks to be fantastic after a rough week of rain.

Cheers.

Donut dry run?

Today was supposed to be the day for the dry run of at least some of the Donut Derby, sans donuts. Donut need any practice there! Weather proved to be anything but dry. Nice thing about road riding is there is no run. Met Cody in the parking lot, asked a few questions, found out he expected an easy 18mph average and I skedaddled. Drove the first part of the course. Appears to be mostly flat, shouldn't be to tough out of the gate. Made it to the park with only a few wrong turns. It had stopped raining for the most part so hopped out of the HEMI and on to two wheels.

Rain started up about 5 minutes later, lightly at first, then progressed through the rest of the ride. Cody had said, water is water, guess he had a point. Had to adjust the seat up a bit at the bank about 1.5 miles in. Some pain in my right kneecap and to reading led to the quick fix. Went up about 3/4 inch and it made a world of difference. Had some problems at 2nd turn, then again at 3rd turn and 5th turn. Added about 3 miles to what it should have been so that was good. Some decent hills on the wrong turns tested the quads a bit. About 8 miles in i felt myself turning into a machine and just pedaling without thinking. Loved it. Shoes were filled with water, I need to get different socks for sure. Can't wait for the shoes to come in, they would have made a world of difference. STILL no update on the UPS site since departure in CA. I really hope they come tomorrow like it says so I can get these things broken in. Pretty much set on going with SPD pedals right away. Tomorrow would be nice!

Third leg looks like it will be tough. More uphills it seemd then the first 2, twists and turns. Plus 25 miles on the legs and it should be interesting. Going to pick up so goo when I get the pedals. have a feeling I am going to need it. It would be nice to have a little bigger 3rd front ring. Was ahead of it quite a bit and spent at least 50% of the time turned all the way up.

In all, had a fantastic time. Legs held up well, could have gone way longer, but got a little tired of the rain and the constant spray in my face and soggy shoes. Would have been even easier if I knew where I was going and could just pedal and not look at the cue and make wrong turns.

I think I am going to do the donut derby, at least give it a shot. With the confidence of today, plus hopefully the new pedals and shoes, should be a good time, one I can hopefully finish.

15.4 miles 14.7 average 1:05 of wheels turning.

37 and spinning

Wednesday night at Jacobsburg, first real ride after my birthday. Ordered the cheapest shoes I could find on pricepoint on Monday as mine are starting to literally fall off my feet. UPS still has not updated the progress since tuesday. Don't they know i need progress reports! Those timberlands have seen lots of miles and lots of good times. We'll see how these new ones do with stiffer soles. Happy $38 birthday to me. Maybe they will help for the Donut Derby.

Riding is just getting more and more fun. Another great ride tonight with fantastic weather. So much easier to breath with the temps/dewpoints down. Deraliur adjustment worked like a champ. Threw chain off of front 1 time transitionining up the little hill near the big bridge. That's what i get for downshifting both sets on the pump. Other than that, it shifted better than when new. Actually spent very little time in the small front ring. Legs seemed bulletproof. Met Matt from Dirt Devils and a few other guys. Darkness is descending faster and faster. Could have gone quite a bit longer than the 8.5 I registered. Rode home in almost complete darkness. It was pretty neat, tire tracks kind of glowed in the darkness. If I ever get some money, I will have to try and build one of those blue collar mtb lights.

Interviewed with Ebiz B2B connections for first of 3 interviews. It would be a real challenge, but seems interesting as hell. 2 other possibilities starting to swirl now, time is getting limited. SMS team apparantly finally got approval from Beck to go outside on Thursday, but not posted as of end of business friday and have heard nothing other than the grapevine gossip about it. Been there, done that, still no job so taking it with a grain of salt for the moment. Kathi put it right, I love roller coasters, but this is one I just want to be over. Something brewing in ops, weird hours, weird opportunity, need to think it over to see if I could get it to work out with Emme. Could work out really well for her, but the drunken bitch would never go for it I don't think, though she would get every friday to drink.

Steve Austin

Great night for a Jacobsburg ride. Weather was perfect. Unfortunately, mechanicals were not! Seemed like I was off by one shift in the rear and it kept popping in and out of gears. It was annoying, but kept going, I was feeling great. Rode the front gears to avoid the back. Made the powerline hill without a problem, but mostly in 3rd so I was whooped. About 3 miles in downshifted the rear accidentally and threw the chain to the inside. Harumpf. Popped back on and forgot about the shifting again and threw to the inside again. This time, heard the deralieur hit the spokes. Shifted into 3rd and ran back to the truck. Phil Esempio was there, bleeding in the lot. Called SVB and they closed at 7. Phil offered to help. Hanger bracket was bent and adjustment was backed out. He was a whiz. Started spinning screwdrivers and bending away at the bracket and it was whipped back into shape in no time. Took it for a test spin and it shifted better than when it was new. Put in 5 miles, 9.4 average. Felt like I could have done 15. Should be in good shape for wednesday hopefully. Hmmm, donut derby a possibility? After 6 months of scrimping, splurged on biking shoes since these are falling apart. See how they do. Free donuts and a bikeride? Yum on all fronts

Go big

Checked the trail camera tonight at the new stand. NO pictures. Put some camera helper in to see if that changes thing. Didn't kick anything out of the field on the way in. Wore the rubber boots in and that helped with the grass rash. Got out of there and headed to Jacobsburg. Backstraps in my gullet and excited for the ride. Backstraps were outstanding after sitting in the homemade rub for 1.5 days and 5 minutes per side on the grill on double hight.

GREAT ride tonight. Not a huge turnout, about 15 or so and people seemed to be showing up later than normal. Met a guy Todd who was talking about doing adventure/endurance races and stuff and wanted to go for an early warmup ride. Sounded like neat stuff. Orienteering on foor for 40 miles, riding and canoeing for 24 hrs. Sounds like exactly what I wanted to do when I rode my bike the last time. Warmup ride went about 3 miles, faster than I was used to but outstanding little ride. Did an endo that caught me by surprise when I threw a chain. Seemed to be in super slow-mo. Next think I knew I was on my ass in the weeds. Damn chain keeps going off the front rings. Maybe in need of an adjustment? Maybe it's just because i had the rear in a higher great. It's not second nature yet to throw it into a bigger front ring on downhills. I guess that will come.

Real ride kicked off as one big group. Lost the front runners after about 4 miles. Spent a lot of time in the big rings up front. What a difference. Speed seems to help out a ton on the rocks and just makes for a way better ride. Dropping front down makes it easier to transition out of downhill to uphill with way less shifting. I think the conditioning is coming into play at least partially, but there are so many little things with the bike that seem to make a huge difference.

Going over rougher terrain, the chain is making a ton of noise. I guess it is the slack wacking the frame. Maybe I need to look into one of those wraps.

It's starting to get darker earlier. Could have used a light at the end, but finished ok. Not great for riding, but starting to really get the juices flowing for deer season. Going to miss the biking, but there's several does calling my name.

Overall outstanding night. Weather was perfect, speed was up, distance was way better then the last 2 weeks and met some new people. Threw the chain off the front to the inside twice. Computer wasn't reset for most of the first warmup ride and read a hair over 12 on completion so guessing 13.5 total mileage with nearly 2 hours of pedaling.

Stands weekend

Aug 11-13, Windy Hill Farm. God I needed that, it's so weird without Joe. Stayed at Melvins. Fished Beaver Lake on friday and did some scouting for a different stand location in the pipestems. I just love that bottom corner by the intersection. Give it 1 more year and hopefully some good time in the stand and see how it produces. Found 2 different sets of 3 bear beds. Pipestems are so freakin thick with briars and raspberries. They have to be walking the roads. Chicory and buckwheat look fantastic. Corn at the top by the triangle. Chickory didn't come up for crap in the woods. Went to the sports bar in hughesville, wings were outstanding.

Saturday put the pipestems intersection stand in. It was a breeze. Walked Carl's a bit and found a location for a stand right at the middle road. Nice location, not totally sold on it, but it will be new scenery. Havn't stood Carl's since Brett's stonefence stand 6 years ago and the stand at the end my first year. I needed a morning stand and this will work. Doesn't seem smart to keep screwing up that field in the morning. The inevitable stampede can't be good for things.

Put up a 20 footer for Jimbo 20 yds from my 2nd stand at the end by Paul. Great gun stand, lets see if anyone stands it. The criss crosss straps around the tree were a life saver. Jimmy A put in a stand about 100 yards downhill from Old Faithful. It's real low from the road, but if they come from the hemlocks, it's an outstanding stand.

Saw at least 2 bears back by the swamp. Mother was acting awful motherly and circled back on us. A tense few minutes with the 4 wheelers ready to rip, but no charge or anything. Really neet seeing those things.

Saturday I played monkey for Melvin and put in 2 stands. Rehashed the food plot where I fell out with a new 20 footer. Hairy as always, but got it. He closed the deal on 39 acres saturday from Rock Bottom. Gorgeous property, it's going to be thick as hell. Can't wait for the season. I need to start practicing more.

First of the Mohicans

South Mountain park to end a very stressful day. The money grubbing embodiment of evil was at the house today to take even more stuff. Imagine if she put 1/2 the effort being a mother as she did into her other more favorite pasttimes. I will be so happy to have that bitch out of my life, though I guess that won't really happen for 14.5 years aaaaagh.

Anyhow, parked at south mountain park lot and shot up and out the powerline trail to birchwood. First venture across the street and on to Mohican. First part was a piece of cake, then started getting tougher, then tougher still. Walked some over the bigger rocks to avoid bottom end damage, and maybe some personal damage. Tough trail, but definately doable with some work. At the top found Superman. Being neither a man of steel, nor terribly interested in high speed travel disconnected from terra-firma, walked a bit and rode a bit until it started into the switchbacks and steeper dropoffs I knew would be there. Someday, but not today. Part of the trail was quite overgrown, I guess it's not that frequently used for a reason. Pretty much rode out Mohican with a couple hopoffs around the bigger rocks. Initial plan was to come back cemetary trail but saw the incline i would be coming back up and was just fine with Mohican.

Took Pete's Cheater Trail on the way out. Parts were really nice and dirt path, there was a bunch of logs and smaller rock piles. I guess average was easy, but definately didn't ride it clean. Stopped off at overlook park, really nice view but it was really hazy. Rode up the road and back on to Birchwood where i left off it and back to the lot.

Back to the lot tired, but not too much worse for the wear except in the confidence dept. Keep trying tougher places and skills will improve. 4.4 miles and 1 hour of pedal turning. Probably 1.5 of ride time.

Jacobsburg Social Group

Nice ride tonight. Could have definately gone longer. Handled the small creek with no problems both ways. Amazing what water levels of 1/2 compared to after the storms will do. Rode half the powerline hill in 3rd, sucked wind a bit at the top, but made it without an issue. Did much better with the downhills, lost my chain on the one after the oyster road. Apparantly shifting to a higher gear means the front, not the back! 8 miles in total. 1 hr. Somehow a 7.4mph average, silly computers.

Got de-geeked by Liz and Dan afterwards. Apparantly reflectors are uncool :) Stripped and cool in no time flat.

Redemption

Jacobsburg social ride tonight. Extra miles at the new and tougher places definately paid off. Liz said she saw the post about me going to Bear Creek at the dirt devils forum and shook her head. She knew what I was getting into much better than I.... Weather was really hot with realfeel around 100, but ride was pretty much a breeze. Cleared a lot of obstacles and downhills I had not previously. Finally cleaned the creek after about 10 previous attempts. Uphill on the powerline was a breeze. All in all the ride I needed.

8 miles, 1:10 mins

Barely Creaking

Wow. Tried to think of a clever way to start this, wow is all I could come up with. Maybe I was a moron for considering a ski resort to bike around on a hot day like today. What the hell though, you only live once. I got everything I bargained for.

This place is tough. That's an understatement. I think it will be a fantastic place if ever my skills improve exponentially. I could almost classify this as a hike more than a bike. My legs are hammered and I am dehydrated so this will be short.

Got the advice to ride it clockwise from the kiosk. I honestly think I would have turned around if I did it counter clockwise. The ride was beautiful, trails were outstanding, plenty of my nemesis rocks, some defeated, some defeating. I though I was home free when I made it to the top of the chair lift. I was wrong. It was a different kind of terrain, fun, but pedal grinding downhills and rocks rocks rocks. I was definately at my limit most of the ride. Then the face smacking green signs started to appear. "Warning: Technical Area" Are you kidding me? Where wasn't this place technical? The ones that said "Warning: Downhill" weren't kidding, but managed some of them. That taunting sign will be in my thoughts for a while I think.

I have a creak that's getting worse. I think it is in the bearing that goes through the frame at the crank. Not sure what that is called, but it's getting worse. Almost like there is a rubber o-ring that is binding. I guess I need to get it checked. Ride time on the computer said 1:06, distance 4.0. Total time about 1.5 hrs. Probably two-stepped 15-20% of it. Stuck to the blue trail the entire ride.

Well, this is the end of the experiment. My princess comes home tomorrow and I can't wait to see her beautiful face. 6 previously unexplored rides in 6 days. Previous 4 months and I visited a grand total of Jacobsburg and the towpath plus a few rides to Lowes and Heights market on the road when I needed stuff I could fit in my backpack. My skills have grown exponentially in these 6 days. I have learned more about myself, my equipment, and skills than I ever could have hoped. Where do I stand now? I am a beginner mountain biker with a love of the sport. I havn't been on two wheels since I was 15.999 years old. I can take defeat like a man when I give it my all. I whoop like a rabid football booster when I take a section clean I could not have previously. I want more.

For now, tomorrow will be a welcome day off for the mind and body. I think I will spend some more time at Jacobsburg in the coming weeks regaining my confidence and lengthening my ride time. Dodson St, Tekkening, Constitution Rd and South Mountain Park will all be attempted again in the near future. Franko Park was too boring, Bear Creek is beyond my present skills. Maybe next year on a day with reasonable temperatures I will give it another try. These guys who race it must be a sight to see.

Constitutional Fortitude

I know you are not suppsed to ride when it's wet because of trail damage etc, but with the weather the last few weeks, I wouldn't get any time in the woods if it was my mantra. So tread lightly has been the name of the game of late. I had tried to find the salisbury sand pit earlier in the week to no avail. Instead found Franko Park, which didn't seem to be bike friendly and the ride was on open grassy lanes and such which I didn't really care for. A quick post to the Dirt Devils forum gave a lead on something I may be more interested in. Constitution Rd. A quick mapquest search found what I was looking for. Snapped the coordinates into the GPS friday night and saturday mornings adventure became a plan.

After a nice long ride down a lumpy road that made me smile and pat my truck on the dash, I found a parking lot that looked promising. There was only an ultra compact car with no bike rack in the lot so it looked like I would have the place to myself. Prepped the bike, remembered the computer this time and off I went into the trail with the "Walking Purchase" sign. 75 yards in and I was walking my purchase back to the lot with the rough part of the Tekkening two-step experience from the previous day fresh in my head and legs. Unrounded, soaked, slippery rocks abounded. There had to be another option. The guys who had pulled in as I was getting saddled up got a smile and made a comment like "short ride today?". I made up some lame excuse about exploring and high tailed it out of there and out onto the gravel road with my tail held low. Up the road about 100 yards there was a red blazed trail off to the left that looked more my speed so in I went.

Much better. Trail started with a fine gravel bed that gave way to a loamy trail with a slight downhill slope. Dodged a couple puddles on the edges that I would have rather pounded through thanks to my tread lightly attitude. My good deed for the day now behind me, I started ripping down the trail, thoughts of slimy rocks well behind me.

A series of logs across the trail now appeared through my foggy glasses. These were much larger than the ones I typically encountered so off I hopped. Good thing I did as my large gear would have ground across. Same thing for the next two. I guess I need to learn how to bunny hop or something if this is going to be a frequent occurance. I have enough to learn for now so no shame in saving my equipment and two stepping across. Down a bit found a zig zag bridge that had a couple inches of water in it. Using my hands and pedals I managed my way across without incident. There is an opt out to go through the creek, but tread lighly and thoughts of wet shoes so early on in the ride made the man-made option a no-brainer.

Next section was rather uneventful but fun, until I reached the pipeline. I surely was not heading uphill so down I went. Loose rocks and light orange mud were fun for a bit, then it dove a bit steeper and I did my part for the environment and chose not to add my personal fluids to nature and walked it down the rest of the way. Back on the bike and hung a right along the railroad tracks to a flat and enjoyable section. Had to duck down onto the tracks at one point due to a blowdown but rest was pretty flat and the middle ring was put into play for the first time today. Trail goes all the way down to St Lukes. Towards the end there was a lot of glass and other garbage in the trail so walked around that rather than risk a cut tire.

Return back was as expected though pretty much uphill the entire way. Tire slipped a little for no reason, i wonder how these tires stack up against what the others use? Is a tire a tire? From what I have learned so far, I am thinking not, but not going to start blaming equipment other than my pedal fiasco.

Took a different route back to the lot that was parallel to the road. Lots of rocks, but I am a bit more confident now and navigated them pretty well. This "look where you want to go and not at where you don't" concept pays off in spades when you keep your mind focused.

Back to the lot and it was the walking purchase rematch, this time, hopefully mostly pedaling the purchase instead of walking it. Against my better judgement, engaged the granny gear (back story can be found in "South Mountain Park" article) and away I went. Much better this time, perhaps a little drier, but not much. Foot down a couple times, but progressed much further in before getting off. Bashed the pedals off a few larger rocks, these things take a beating. The old plastic ones would be in shards I think after this week. Passed by a couple large ones by back pedaling to keep the offending pedal up so spirits are high from my new-found technique. These rocks have to stop soon right? Gone is the loam I muddled through for the last hour, I began to yearn for those miles at this point. Legs burning from the high cadence, but forward progress is being earned, not given. Couple more pedal bashes, a little pushing and it is time for the return trip. The heat and humidity was getting to me and the computer was reading 5 miles for the adventure so this bail was not as disconcerting as the first one.

Ride back over the same rocks was jarring, but fun. Pedal work was fun keeping them out of harms way. Legs are getting a little sore and form is probably poor as I look down to watch my pedals more than I look ahead to pick line. WHAM. That's WHAM in capital letters. If I could make it blink, I would. As I was going past a particularly large rock the front tire avoided, at a significanly more speed then I had previously allowed, the back tire hit it square. The seat caught me. Simple physics here. Seat goes skyward, shorts follow newtons law, mass times velocity = pain. I yelped like dog who just got stepped on in the dark. If I had the ability, or the inclination, to look there, I am sure there would be a mark. Enough of this, trip over. Time for some advil. The jungle known as my back yard needs some serious attention from high speed rotary steel. It is not going to be pleasant in this heat and with these rubbery legs, but at least it is an activity that does not require me sitting down.

Ride time 1:10, distance 5.3 miles.

P.S.- Try lowering the seat, it's been in my way all day and the nose is wreaking havoc on my posterior.

South Mountain Park

Ah, the great Lehigh Valley mountain biking mystery. The whereabouts of the Lehigh South Mountain mecca seems to be a closely held secret. Searches of the internet are rife with flames back and forth between people posting about it and others saying shhh. I don't think anyone will read this, so I think I am safe from the flogging that's sure to come my way. I'm actually not quite sure this is the place, but I did find some pretty gnarly stuff, so I assume I was on the right (single)track. In my defense if it was a renegade intrusion, there is no sign that says Lehigh students only or anything of the ilk.

This took little to no brainpower (thankfully). Do a zoomed out mapquest search of Bethlehem and look for green, that's what I did. I was looking for Constitution Rd actually and noticed the emerald green glow of South Mountain Park beckoning me from the south. If geese fly south in winter, why can't I in the opressive summer heat?

After a quick 3/4 " drop in my saddle from yesterday's fiasco (more in "Constitutional Fortitude") I was off and sweating. 45 seconds after the sweat started, it became profuse. Brainiac me started off on the right hand side of the parking lot and climbed the rockpile of a "path" that encompases the start of the disc golf course. For the third ride in a row, these rocks had their way with me. I am learning some things along the way however and that is what quests are all about.

I read in an article when I first started this obsession to stay out of the granny gear. I have no idea as to the context or author of the article, and have since lost it. I did learn this in practice when I found my first tryly enjoyable ride about a mile up river of sand island. This find was about the 3rd or 4th time I had mounted my then new and shiny black beauty. The location is right across a bridge of the canal. What lay ahead of me was technical track that seems to have been built for motorcycles. This place had everything and I have spent quite a few nights there since when the gas bikes were not about. Of particular consternation was a hill on the left hand side. I have had quite a few instances of my butt being forcefully evicted from my saddle in my short carreer, but this hill still holds the record in both frequency and severity of said event. The first few attempts found me starting too slow, or in a higher gear or it was wet or...well you get the point. I got only 10 feet or so and bailed on each attempt. Then I got the idea that my back tire was spinning and to put plant my butt squarely on the seat, put it in granny gear and pedal like hell. Yup it worked. With legs a spinnin I made it further than I had before, well, up until the front wheel came screaming past my face like a Randy Johnson fastball. I lay there like a fat turtle, sans steed, head pointed downhill, like a filty latenight inversion machine infomercial. What happened next was akin to the infamous "morning after" in college, with the famous last words of "I'll never do that again". Unlike college, I happened to make it more than a few hours before going back on my promise. I made it until yesterday as a matter of fact.

I'm not saying that the granny gear defeated the rock pile, but it did help, and I did a lot more on two wheels then 2 feet, which is a small victory. There is a saying "fish or cut bait". I was doing neither after a while and confidence was plummeting, so I got the hell off the trail and headed up to the water tower in hopes of finding new waters. Wow, good choice. Time to fish! The trails that lay ahead were outstanding. Singletrack, downhill, uphill, it had it all. Path choices for the first lap came up aces. Rode the brake too much again, but at least it was in the back of my head. This was really enjoyable. Path took me down the hill and the rest was along the road edge, which was hairy at times. Dead ended at the stop sign so backtracked a little and found a path up the hill to do it again. Saw a doe with two fawns so stopped for bonding time with my camelback and watched the deer feeding only 50 yards away, completely oblivious to me. The skinny fawns still had spots, though fading fast.

Back up the hill and begain what I THOUGHT was another of the same lap. Somehow I made a right and started heading downhill. I mean DOWNHILL! I kept going thinking "this has to level out soon". It didn't. "What goes down must go up" kept echoing in my head. Being tired and hot, I cut my losses and turned uphill to backtrack up the same trail. 100 yards up or so there was another trail off to the right. "What's down here?" he says. I'll tell you what was down there. Sickness, utter disregard for the body, stuff that causes Evil Knevil to wake up screaming. There is a wooden jump of some sorts there off the top of a rock. I wouldn't try it in a million years. I sat on the edge, had a drink and laughed in admiration of the madmen and women who built this contraption. I don't believe I would have ever tried it in my youth, and certainly not now. Not even with an ambulance standing by feet away and a stunt bag. I was hoping it was some of this "North Shore" stuff I had been reading about, but there seemed to be about 50 feet of it missing. I want to try a see-saw and some other things, but NEVER this launch into hell. Ah well, some day.

Back up the hill and did pretty well all things considerd. Granny gear was a life saver, this thing really comes in handy yet again! Found my trail, made some changes but essentially uneventful and a similar lap. Much more comfortable this time carrying more speed and less brake. I seem to tense up pretty good though on the downhills and quads and front of my thigh seem to burn a little as I stand on the pedals soaking up the bumps to prevent yesterdays malady.

Did about 5.5 miles in all with about an hour of actual riding according to the computer. Not sure how much time elapsed while I was out there, but like McArthur, I shall return.

P.S- Seat adjustment worked wonders. Keep it there. Rear tire pressure still too high. Do I keep lowering it until it blows?

Tekkening Two-step

Tekkening. Look it up on Google and you find a fair bit of unreadable posts with odd looking characters from Scandanavian countries. To me, Scandnavia evokes thoughts of cross country skiing and reindeer with crisp, lung burning air. My first foray into the shadow's of Martin's creek radioactivity couldn't have been further from that imagery.

"Realfeel of 98" the weatherman crowed over the hum of my air conditioning. I slugged a bottle of water and a coke in my truck in a feeble attempt at pre-hydration. A bowl of stale lucky charms 4 hours before was not going to provide the energy required if this place was anything other than flat. I had no information on Tekkening Trails other than directions of where to park from the Dirt Devils site on clubMTB.com. There could be anything at the end of this asphalt road.

The previous evening had seen me pulling an all nighter at work to rebuild a server that decided to trash about 10,000 user files for fun as the hard-drives slowly ventured into the River Styx. What was I thinking heading out here in the noonday heat? I was thinking adventure, I was thinking ANYTHING other than keyboards and cranky users. That's the funny thing about this new mountain biking hobby I picked up this spring. The harder I crank on the pedals, the less negativity enters my head from my cranky users and my cranky ex. It's both a mentally and physically purging experience for me. Maybe that's why I don't mind waking up in the morning with a sore rear-end so often lately.

I'm here. It's a pretty non-descript parking lot, but there is a big board with a map, and little pamphlet maps of the trails. A quick once over the big board and a stuff of the pamphlet into my seat bag with my cell and truck key and away I went down the gravel road and into the woods with the weird name. I had decided that I wanted to be a little adventurous. The blue trail along the Foul Rift of the Delaware was labeled "scenic". Scenic is for old lady's and people with skinny tires. No sir, I would not take the scenic path. I have portly tires and a jet black bike. I'm Darth Vader with a camelback dammit, and I want woods and rocks and sticks and mud.

This is easy. It's like the towpath with hills and trees. I passed the blue glow of the porta-potty about 100 yards into the woods and leaned into overgrown single track with the orange markers. This place must not get ridden a whole heck of a lot as the weeds from the sides encroached onto my new spiked platform pedals and threatened to untie my shoelaces. In and out of fields and woods the orange trail wound. Pretty easy stuff. A lot of twists in the trails kept the conservative side of me off the bigger rings. A couple of 3-4 inch logs took the high-speed mini-wheelies with ease. I like this place already. It's pretty hot on the field edges, but the woods are cooler. It must have rained this morning because the rocks in the trail are wet, but they are smooth river stones, and not much of them.

"Damn, forgot to hook up the cycling computer" i mumbled as I hopped off at the start of the first decent hill. Technology trumps reason, it's an illness I guess. Stupidity apparantly trumps knowledge because now I am at the bottom of a wet hill spinning my tire and wandering into the vegetation as i try to climb from a standstill. Well, this sucks. Time to walk it up I guess. Funny how your mental state changes. Last year, I could have been hiking here like a true bi-ped. I didn't own a bike and would have been happy with the trudge. Now it just seems so lame, a failure of sorts. This sport gets into your soul somehow, pushing you do do un-natural (and stupid!) things and never give up. Such a let down when you do, maybe that's part of being a newbie. Finally I reach a section level enough to pick up some speed and hop back on to my trusty black steed.

I'm soaked with sweat at this point. The walmart 2% that my horseshoes, stars and green clovers marinated in this morning is feeling a little squirrely. That little green guy on the box looked so happy this morning, at this point I could choke him and his silly accent. Fortunately, i filled my camelback to the top with ice before I filled it so a nice long tug of ice water evened me out a bit. A little more downhill, a little up hill. Trying to keep off the the brakes on the downhill. Brakes are a security blanket I need to shed. At least I am learning to use the front one rather than generate smoke with the rear...

Things start getting rockier. The smooth and rounded river stones are starting to mix with some sharper edges now so a little weaving is in order and I am back to enjoying myself. I can duck off of orange to head over to the sissy blue trail, or keep going onto the red trail. Did ol' Darth eat lucky charms before battle? I guess not, he couldn't get the spoon into that helmet. Plus, milk breath with all that breathing would not a grand leader make.

Red it is.

Hamburger. That's what my shin feels like. I have no idea what I just hit, but my pedal caught on something hidden in the weeds. These new pedals Liz Allen suggested are sweet, and I slip off way less then the crappy plastic ones that came with it, but this is a side effect that will take some getting used to. No pain no gain, no guts no glory, ride fast and ground meat metaphors begin to apply.

This trail is getting more difficult by the yard. Gone are the smooth stones that my suspension soaked up so easily. These boogers are sharp, odd angled and frequent. I have to get off and push again. I think it is primarily a skill deficiency, but the heat, what's left of my shin, and my energy are draining from me pretty quickly. The next 3/4 mile or so provides more of the same pedal a little, two-step a little. This place is beautiful, but a little beyond my skills, at least in my present condition. I take solace in the fact that the granny blue trail lay just ahead of me. Smooth sailing back to the truck is just what the Dr ordered after the humiliation Ma Nature is just piling on at the momet.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a little blue sign, and rock piles, oh dear. OK, scenic at this part means 40 foot cliff 2 feet off the "trail" with a beautiful view of the river below. It also means pretty much no dirt and basketball sized rocks piled upon each other. I am reduced to riding granny gear for 30 feet, walking 60, convinced I am about to splatter bike parts in multiple directons at any moment. This is no Jacobsburg. It is certainly no towpath. I am feeling less like Darth Vader, and more like the Will Farrell character in that Taladega nights trailer.

I learned a lot the last 100 yards. I learned that pedaling over rocks in the wrong gear can send my heartrate up through the tree canopy. I learned that if I concentrate, and stare where I want to go rather than at the razor sharp nasties (Thanks Liz) I can actually navigate some things I would not have thought possible 10 minutes ago. I have also learned that obstacles at 45 degree angles to the trail can take my back tire and shoot it about a foot from where it started. I also learned that these bikes are pretty darn tough, even if it is a cheapo from Dick's.

The trail starts to open up, it's soft sand with only scattered smooth rocks here and there. I am back up to a respectable gear and getting some good wind through my helmet to help cool this sweating heap that seemed so invincible 45 minutes ago. The sights and sounds of the river have always been special for me, and now I am back to enjoying it and taking my eyes off the trail, if ever so briefly.

As I piled what remained of me into the truck (that should have had the windows cracked) I felt myself already wishing for more. This weekend I want to try Jordan and the Sand Pit at Salisbury, but I'll beat this place someday and will be back to practice the conquest in the very near future.

Note to stupid: Eat a real lunch next time and leave the lucky charms for the little princess!