bottom of the barrel

I made it out to Ferdinand again for a ride. My cold finally got the best of me after coughing and stuff for the last week. I was only doing one lap, but that was hard enough. I could not get enough air in my lungs to keep me going. I thought I was going to pass out and that was just over 1 mile in to the trail. I ended up doing close to a complete lap, but I sure had to take a lot more breaks then I would have liked. I was just glad that I didn't take the SS for this ride. The granny was too much for most of the climbs. This was very dissapointing after was I just did the last weekend in Pisgah. I sure am glad that I was not in that condition for that ride. It would have been a wasted trip.

The Indiana Dino series has released there schedule for 2009. Here is a list of the races.
5/2 Warsaw: Winona Lake Trail
5/31 Nashville: Brown County State Park
6/13 Fort Wayne: Franke Park
7/5 North Vernon: Muscatatuck Park
7/26 Versailles: Versailles State Park
8/16 Logansport: France Park
9/5 Indianapolis: Town Run Trail Park

Other Mountain Bike Events
4/11 DINO Spring Tuneup, Avon
9/19 24 Hours of DINO, Versailles State Park

Too bad all of the races are a little farther then I would like. I would not mind traveling for a few, but for every race would be a bit much. Maybe I will take the 3 hour drive and check out the Versailles trail for the 24 hour race or maybe not. I would prefer to just take more trips to Pisgah for some full weekend rides. Normally the kids have something going on that would keep me from most of the races anyway.

Pisgah!!!

What a weekend!! I could not ask for much more. The weather was scheduled to be better then home, but still could have been a little cold and wet. Everything worked out and I could not have asked for much better weather. Things were a little wet on Friday, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

The whole weekend is one big blur as usual. I have a hard time remembering what trail we are on, where we are going or where we have been. The only thing that I could remember is we either are climbing or will be just around the bend.

This is what I am told we did on Friday. We started up Pilot Rock for 100 yards or so and hopped on Pilot Cove - Pilot Cove Connector/loop to 1206 - Laurel Mtn trail - Pilot Rock. It was right around a 6 hour tour. Good thing it was not any longer since we were running out of day light. It was starting to get dark way earlier then planned. It probably had to do with all of the overcast, rain and fog. The darkness made the decent down Pilot Rock even more interesting then normal. But, everything worked out with out any major problems.

Saturday was a bigger day in the saddle. The ride ended up right at 8 hours and took the lights along this time because we knew we would need them. The day was up from gauging station on South Mills River to Black mtn. - left to Turkey pen - back on and down South MIlls River to Mullinux to Squirrel gap and then back to South Mills River. That was a hard fun day. He said there is normally issues with runnning out of water in the summer, but the weather was better and no one had any issues and the lights held up. I was getting a little nervous when we were riding in the dark and I kept seeing those Bear sactuary signs. Every little noise I heard I kept thinking I was prime pickins to be some bear food. I was the slower one of the group so I kept falling off the back just waiting to be supper.


Sunday was planned to be a short day so we could head on home. The weather showed it was going to be the coldest day of our trip. I woke up cold and bundled up to handle it. The problem was it really did not get as cold as it sounded and the snow was not in that area. So, I peeled all the layers off that I could fit in my bag and just dealt with what was left.
Sunday we moved from our prime parking area and went up to the ranger's station. From there we went up Claw Hammer road to Pressley Gap - right on Black Mountain trail to the M loop. From there we went down Sycamore cove to finish the ride off. It was close to 5 hours in the woods.

There are so many trails we did not hit I can't even imagine what I would do if I lived there. I have decieded that I am not waiting 4 years to go back. I need to make another trip before the end of the mystery machine's winter tour.

If you have never been there, it is a must for any serious bikers. Pisgah puts the mountain back in mountain biking. It kind of puts all these hills around here in perspective. I just wish it was not 9 hours away.

South bound toward Pisgah town

I can't believe that I am actually going to be riding in Pisgah tomorrow. I can hardly wait. It has been since 2004 that I was first down there. The weather does not look too good, but it will be all smiles to be riding there again.

Three full days of riding. That should get my November miles up to where they should be or at least my hours on a bike. I just hope my sinuses straighten out by then or it will be on heck of a hacking time. Should be worth every cough.

Back in the saddle again!

I have not been on a bike since the BCBD. I have tried, but it just has not worked. With the hunting season underway and the night falling faster with the time changes, the weekly wed. night rides have started. I could not make it last week, but I knew I needed to get out this week. I have been going stir crazy not getting out.

Since I knew who would be attending, I decided to take the Giant because I know I can't keep up with them on the SS because we are riding Ferdinand. It has been a long time since I rode that bike last, but it was rolling fairly smooth considering all the things that could go wrong with it. I did figure out that I probably need to move my seat forward because I was having trouble keeping my front end down on the climbs. Speaking of the climbs, that thing sure seemed to climb slow. I don't know if it was because I could not put the power down that I wanted too or was it just because I was used to riding the SS or even the fact that I have not been on a bike in 4 weeks? Hard to tell, but probably a little of all three.

After riding tonight and thinking about the possibility of riding Pisgah real soon has me kind of thinking. I know I want to work on getting a new bike for next year, but should I get a kick ass 29er or should I get a bigger gearie that would be good for the bigger places? I know people ride SS and even fully rigid at Pisgah, but I also know they walk. I am not above walking some, but if it is a lot then that would be too much. The perfect solution would be to get both, but there is no chance to come up with that much money. Maybe I just need to grow some nads and really get to climbing the SS. Maybe not.