Off to Maui tomorrow with Jeff, Sara, Ckucke, and Root for some Upcountry MTB trail riding. We’ll load up Jeff’s Taco and ride the early Super Fairy over, then catch the late one back on Sunday. With any luck, we’ll be riding all four days, so stay tuned for some interesting tales of adventure, suffering, and woe! We’ll be staying up there in Dr. Kenny’s downstairs, so the trails will be close at hand. I got all my stuff for the ride – I just have to pack it all into one gearbag tonight and head to Jeff’s by 04:00 tomorrow morning!
Archive for the 'bike' Category
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I had a little trouble getting the pictures in the blog entry on the gloves formatted without crashing IE yesterday, so I got home a little late. The sun was still high in the clear sky, so I went out on a spin on the Bridgestone. It was about as unbearably hot as it was on the weekend, but the humidity was low, so as long as long as I was moving, evaporative cooling kept me cool. I just wanted to get out and spin Sunday’s fatigue out of my legs in anticipation of the upcoming Maui trip. The distance and physical exertion level on the Sunday ride was on the mild side, so there wasn’t a whole lot of residual leg burn. Since Saturday night, my chest and arms were sore from a Friday workout. The discomfort was fairly acute after the ride. With some stretching, it should be fine for riding on Thursday.
D = 15.16 km (9.42-miles), Vavr = 19.4 km/h (12.1 mph), Vmax = 51.7 km/h (32.1 mph), T = 47-minutes
Sunday was amazingly hot. It was on the warm side all weekend, but a nearly cloudless sky allowed the sun to bring the air up to oven temperature by mid morning. Granted it was uncomfortable, but it sounded better to be outside in the wind than inside in a hot house. Just getting my gear together made me run with sweat.
Movement.
Outside.
The nearly vertical curtain of the Ko’olaus were sunlit from overhead – the deep folds of the pleated stone cast black with shadows. The vog was long gone, but the intensity of the sunlight still excited the molecules in the air to a thin blue haze. Ckucke and Scat were taking refuge from the sun when I pulled up. I knew there would be at least one, “and we are doing this why?” When Jeff, Sara, and Danny rolled in, I got it from everybody. Black doggy buddy started down the street to say, “hi,” but the heat turned him back. He lingered briefly in the shade of a Java plum tree halfway down the street, but dejectedly returned home, bouncing gingerly on the hot asphalt. Root called to say he was running late, so we retreated under the cover of the trees just inside the trailhead gate. Continue reading ‘Ride, Rode, Rid’
Ever since the MX market embraced stadium showmanship as the new god, I haven’t been able to find a decent set of armored trail riding MX gloves. I like the extra protection the finger and knuckle pads provide, especially in this current era where bar ends are either short or nonexistent. When my old box-fingered Answer MX gloves got mangled by a chainsaw, I got a couple of pairs of Answer-made Gary Fisher gloves. Made with the same pre-bent ventilated box-finger construction, those held up for many years. The padding has long since compressed flat, and the molded armor plates have faded to a pastel version of the once bright red and yellow. I looked long and hard, and all I could find were non-armored bicycle-like lycra backed gloves. WTF?! I guess nobody rides trails anymore. Continue reading ‘Mechanix Wear M-Pact Gloves’
I got home early on Wednesday, so I spun through the training loop. After being stuck late at work for a bunch of days bracketing the weekend, it was very nice to finally get out and ride. The upper section of the course is lined with mango trees, so I had to slalom through the smashed mangoes on the road and avoid the bombardment of falling mangoes from above. I could see the hint of white flowers on the albizia trees infesting the area along the H3 service road. In addition to the usual walkers and runners, there was a pair of other cyclists out riding. At the end of the ride, it wasn’t my legs that were tired, but my arms from stand climbing in the drops.
D = 21.27 km (13.2-miles), Vavr = 21.0 km/h (13.1 mph), Vmax = 38.7 km/h (24.1 mph), T = 1-hour, 1-minute
Another nice weekend. Sunday afternoon Dave, Jeff, Sarah, and I meet at Waimanalo for the Ditch Trail. There’d been some spotty rains through the week, but nothing too heavy. There’s a Jeep Wangler and Ford Explorer with Speedgoat.com sticker, looks like there’s some riders in the trails. We gear up and grind up the Government road. Trail is nice. Also some fresh horse dumplings. Following the route we’ve been using lately, we pass Maunawili Ditch and head up to the loop. It’s feels nice to hit the loop when fresh. Dave rides past the mango drop-in to explore and perhaps find the source of last rides archeology finds. As the rest of us wait at the mango tree, a bunch of guys come down the Government Road. Probably the guys in the Jeep and Ford, look like maybe military guys so it fits the image. Dave’s been gone a while, Jeff comes down and drops into Mango. Aparently Dave dropped in higher up, so we take the mango drop-in and hit the loop trail.
WTF?
The Albizia trees bloomed toward the end of April. I’m driving back from Waimanalo Yesterday, and the Albizia trees along Kalanianaole are throwing a new set of flowers! Do they bloom every two months? The fallen flower debris from last time is still visible in areas along the Ditch Trail, and the trees are going to go off again!
Get ready for another round of allergies!
Okay, I’m sold. Jeff and Chris have been using those Clif Shot Blok gelatinous carb chunks for a while now. I remained on the fence and stuck with gels for a quick boost and bars for sustained energy. The blocks were just an intermediate substance in a somewhat inconvenient package. Clif recently introduced a high-salt “Margarita” flavor intended to aid in replacing lost electrolytes – ideal for the hot, humid riding conditions we have to deal with here. For around $2 USD, you get a heat-sealed plastic bag containing 6 blocks. The serving suggestion is half the package, yielding 90 calories and 210mg of sodium per serving. The sealed edges of the package are serrated-cut, so it is pretty easy to tear into. The plastic also rips fairly straight, so it is possible to tear along one edge without too much difficulty, leaving enough material to fold over after half the contents are eaten. The flavor is good. It sort-of reminds me of the flavor of a margarita, but really, if I’m sitting sweating out on the trail in the middle of nowhere popping one of these warm blocks in my mouth, I’m not fooled one bit. Continue reading ‘Convert’
Took the Bridgestone out again Wednesday afternoon. It’s such a fun bike! I switched out the 12-32t XTR cassette for a 11-30t XT cassette on Tuesday night. I didn’t notice the loss of the easier climbing gear on the ride, but I did notice the one higher speed gear. I’ll probably throw on a larger outer chainring when the existing one gets worn out – I probably won’t go throwing on a road crankset or anything like that… unless maybe I run across something good for really cheap.
D = 15.63 km (9.71-miles), Vavr = 20.3 km/h (12.6 mph), Vmax = 41.4 km/h (25.7 mph), T = 46-minutes
Monday, Scat sends the feelers out for a evening freeride down St. Louis. It’s been a while since I did that, so I was itching to hit the downhills. The night before saw some rain at my place, but the day was shaping up sunny and hot. 
By the end of work, clouds were rolling in, but Scat, Ckucky, and I were in! Met up at Ckucky’s to be greated by the wonderful aroma of someone cooking dinner. Dang, I’m hungry already! We cram everything into his work van and take the drive up the hill. As we climb in elevation, there’s a noticeable drop in temperature, and when we park at the top, we’re greeted by a drizzle and that grassy smell of rain in the air. We’re not detered, in fact there’s no mention of calling it, we unpack and gear up. Continue reading ‘Saint Loui’