Weddings & Training Don't Mix

My last update was last Thursday and it's Tuesday already! Didn't do much over the weekend due to my daughter's wedding, which was much more significant than any training or adventure I could create! It was well worth taking time from myself and focusing it on her (Bethany), the new young man in her life (John), my other daughter (Lindsay), her boyfriend (Stephen), other family, and friends.

But take note - As I write this, Doreen and I will be heading out to Hocking Hills today. Four days of hiking, running, biking, and kayaking. Oh, and eating. I'm not sure which of those I do best, but by the numbers on the scale lately, I think the last one! Next post will be when I return from the trip (either Friday or Saturday).

Mountain Bike @ John Bryan State Park

July 19, 2006 (Wednesday)

Outdoor Adventure: Hoo Rah - Did the entire Mtn. Bike Trails (3 of them) at John Bryan State Park for the first time today. This was about 9-10 miles of cycling. I found them to be easy to moderate single track and relatively flat with no dropouts. A beginner could do them at an easy pace. I pushed it for the most part, which made it more challenging due to "many" turns, switchbacks, and trees close to the turns. If you don't slow it a bit on the turns, you'll hug a tree. I loved the boardwalks and ramps over fallen trees! That took some time when they could have just cut the tree away from the track when developing the courses. I took one minor spill on a mud slick rounding a turn and got some shoulder burns on those trees on the turns mentioned above. Other than that - no major incidents. I did the courses in 65 minutes. I'll do this again due to its proximity to home and try to burn the course in under an hour, unless the trees win.

July 18, 2006 (Tuesday)

Day of Rest: Unfortunately, I didn't get out today - too many home projects and I spent way too much time trying to finish Mercenaries PS2 game. Oh well, tomorrow's a new day. Going mountain biking.

July 17, 2006 (Monday)

Activity: Took a short hike of 30 minutes or so (1.5 miles) with Doreen today at Englewood Reserve. The lake (or pond) at Englewood Dam is filling up with silt. It's disgusting. I remember 2 years ago when Howard and I took an island hop through the shallows and the muck was up to our kness - and it stinks like sh**. They won't even let you out there with a kayak anymore. A sign said they're going to let it continue to fill in (nature's way) which is a nice way of saying the lake is filling in with silt (dying) and they're not going (pay) to dredge it.

Cycling with Friends in Yellow Springs

July 16, 2006 (Sunday)

Outdoor Adventure (relaxed fun): Doreen & I took Kim and Terry (our neighbors) to Yellow Springs today. We met Dave & Lynda and took a leisurely cycle of 10.5 miles on path toward Springfield. Turned around at St. Rt. 68. We all ate @ Peaches afterwards & met D&L's friends, AJ and Barbara. This was a good recovery ride for me from yesterday - plus spent some time with great people. Sharing the outdoors with others & turning neighbors on to cycling was well worth it.

Cycled 54 miles - Thanks Dave

July 15, 2006 (Saturday)

Outdoor Adventure & Training: Friend Dave asked me to join he and a group of 5 other riders (including his son Eric) for a 54 mile road bike ride from Young's Dairy in Yellow Springs to Corwin (south of Xenia). Great ride, which was entirely on Miami Scenic bike path. Kept my cadence about 110 for most of the trip and avoided killing it. Pace was normally around 17 mph with some pushes of 19-20 once in awhile. More rest stops than I'm used to, but I enjoyed the non-competitive feel of the ride and just relaxed and enjoyed the breaks, which included a free pasta stop at about mile 33. Today's miles actually let me cover 8 more miles of the Buckeye Trail, which veered off east when we passed Spring Valley. If you're reading this, thanks for the invite Dave. (bc)

July 14, 2006 (Friday)

Activity: Relaxed a little 'cause I know tomorrow (Saturday) is going to be a long "hot" ride (50+ miles). Doreen and I hiked 2 miles on the Charleston Falls trail. Always nice to go there. We hung out some at Cedar Pond. Water fall was pretty quiet today. You can tell the summer flow has been effected by typical July heat.

Closed a Gap on Buckeye Trail

July 13, 2006 (Thursday)

Outdoor Adventure & Training: I had a gap between Fairborn and Mud Road near Yellow Springs. Doreen and I closed it today by cycling 13.4 miles together at a leisurly pace. Good news is 1/2 of that was Buckeye Trail roads, so I've now completed 71 miles. Again, every mile on the trail so far has been out & back, so I've really done 142 miles of it in the last 16 days. This section was surprisingly nice. A good mix of rural and quiet country roads. It's been nice seeing Doreen enjoying the trail. She was all excited today biking her longest distance of the summer/year. I'm pretty proud of her too. She conquered to good hills.

Two Days of "Down" :-(

July 12, 2006 (Wednesday)

Forced Rest: Boy, that's a whiny little title! Did nothing today (ouch). Actually, I feel I can always make time to do something physical. So here's the excuse - was working on getting John & Bethany wedding stuff done today (video, decorative lattice background, etc) for about 11 hours! I just wanted to get it done so I have more time to play! Missions accomplished. No excuses for tomorrow - the outdoors is calling....

July 11, 2006 (Tuesday)

Training? I Don't Think So: We've been pretty busy with home projects and wedding stuff - plus, it rained all day. Just went out for a 30 minute mini hike/walk with Doreen just to say I did SOMETHING.

Map Update June 26 - July 10, 2006

Update on July 10, 2006: 64 miles covered by hike/bike/run. Doesn't look like much does it - hey, the pickin' thing is 1300+ miles! 1-A = July, 2006.

As an F.Y.I., Doreen and I will be traveling to Hocking County to do some of the trail in Hocking Hills the last week of July.

WPAFB to Fairborn

July 10, 2006 (Monday)

Adventure & Training: I've picked up a pretty consistent partner in my pursuit to cover the Buckeye Trail. I think Doreen has caught the bug, or just doesn't want to left at home! We cycled today from WPAFB to Fairborn. Most of it was on the Wright Brother's Bike Path, which is a pretty nice section following Kaufman road. We cycled 11.6 miles out/back extending my B.T. miles to 64 miles.

My next post will be a pretty simple map of the trail. The section(s) I (we) cover will be marked with a black line. I'll update that from time to time.

15 Day Streak Going...

July 9, 2006 (Sunday)

Activity: Really can't call today an adventure or training, but hey, I did something. Took a short hike (30 minutes) with Doreen just to keep what I call "my streak" alive. That would be the number of days "in a row" I can go doing some type of outdoor physical activity (or indoor during that nasty winter stuff) that lasts 30 minutes or more. My current streak is 15 days in a row. Hoo Rah!

Bethany & Doreen Cycle w/ Me

July 8, 2006 (Saturday)

Adventure & Training: Bethany was home for the weekend so she and Doreen wanted to get a little adventure today and help me extend some miles on the Buckeye Trail. We traveled to Yellow Srings and did an hour+ on country roads heading west. We cycled 9.7 miles and 4.8 of that was on the B.T. Highlight of day: The car that crashed in the cornfield and the stinky hog farm, which we had to go by twice - pew.

Eastwood to WPAFB

July 7, 2006 (Friday)

Adventure & Training: Did an hour of training today running 30 minutes and hiking 30 minutes. I figured I may as well extend my mileage on the Buckeye Trail, so did an out and back from Eastwood Lake to just past a WPAFB gate. Covered 4.8 miles today with 2 miles tacked onto the B.T.

Cycled to Eastwood Lake

July 6, 2006 (Thursday)

Adventure & Training: Today's training took me on my road bike to the Buckeye Trail where I left off the other day (Rip-Rap and Needmore). Since the majority of this section of the B.T. is road and Miami River Bike Path, I figured I'd cover some miles that could be rather boring on a hike. I cycled 27.3 miles and 15.8 of that was B-Trail. I've now completed 51.6 miles of the Trail by hike/bike. I now have two waypoints to extend from; (in the North) just west of Piqua (Linear Park) and the other (in the south) beside Mad River in Eastwood Lake Park near St.Rt. #4.

Clifton Gorge Hike & Rip Rap Rd

July 5, 2006 (Wednesday)

Training & Adventure: Doreen and I took 2nd day in row hike. We went to Clifton Gorge and did the loop I've probably run a million times, but you can never get tired of seeing C. Gorge! We noted that doing trail hikes with rocks, roots, and things to look at can sure slow down the pace. We covered 4.8 miles in 2 hours 8 min. for a 2.2 mph pace. It was a great day and much cooler (70's) today. This hike was not part of the Buckeye Trail.

July 4, 2006 (Tuesday)

Training & Adventure: Doreen and I took another long(er) hike today. She's trying to help me stay on the Buckeye Trail, so we started at Rip Rap Road parking lot and headed south until the bike path ended (near Needmore Rd). We hiked 5 miles today, but only 2.25 of those miles extended my mileage on the B.T. We kept a good 3.o mph pace today and did the hike in 1 hour 35 min.

Beginnings & The Buckeye Trail

July 3, 2006 (Monday)

Training & Adventure: I was back on the mtn-bike today and did a 13.6 mile mountain bike ride (roads) in 12.4 mph and 1 hour 15 min. Five of these cycling miles was on the Buckeye Trail extending my coverage to 33.5 miles to date. It was HOT (92 degrees) today.

July 2, 2006 (Sunday)

Training & Adventure: Got back on the B.Trail today. Doreen is continuing to increase her hiking in preparation for a trip we're planning on July 24th to Hocking Hills. She and I did a 3 mile hike today going south on the trail this time, which took us down Bridgewater Rd. She helped me extend the trail 1.3 miles southwest and increase the total trail miles to 28.5 miles covered.

July 1, 2006 (Saturday)

Trainin & Adventure: Marc Hoffman and I took a mini-adventure today which took about 3 hours. We mtn-biked 6.5 miles from Taylorsville State Route #40 to Canal Park in Tipp. Then we kayaked back south to our starting point, which was about a 7 mile kayak on the Miami River (slow water, but fun). Ended the trek with a half mile run from river to van. Our total mileage was 14 miles of bike-river-short run. Marc did great!

June 30, 2006 (Friday)

Training & Adventure: I took Doreen on a hike on the BT today. We started at my last waypoint. When we finished we hiked 3.4 miles and a new waypoint was established northwest of Piqua at Linear Park just off State Route #36. I've now covered 27.2 miles of the Buckeye Trail.

June 29, 2006 (Thursday)

Training & Adventure: Was on the Buckeye Trail for a 4th day in a row. I biked 19.5 miles total with 9.75 miles of the ride taking me to just south of the center of Piqua. I've now covered 25.25 miles of the Buckeye Trail.

June 28, 2006 (Wednesday)

Training & Adventure: I continued a 3rd day on the BT, only today I elected to mountain bike this portion since the majority of the trail is on road or bike path. I biked 15 miles today in an 1 hour - 15 min which is about 12 mph (not bad for a mtn-bike). My trip today took me 5 more mile northwest on the BT extending me to the middle of Troy on the Miami River bank.

June 27, 2006 (Tuesday)

Training & Adventure: I hiked for a 2nd day on Buckeye Trail. Although I hiked 6.8 miles today, only half of that extended further north on the trail since I have to go out and back. Essentially, doing it this way covers the trail twice, but that's okay. I've now covered 6.4 miles of the Buckeye Trail and have covered from Taylorsville to east of Tipp City.

The piture here is a canal boat in Tipp City on the Buckeye Trail.

June 26, 2006 (Monday)

I started a list of the "Top 100" things I would like to do (which I may share later) and Completing the Buckeye Trail is one of them. From now on, I'll refer to this as Top 100 - Buckeye Trail when I have accomplished any of the route. The trail is 1200 to 1300 miles (depending on what resource you're reading), and a portion of it local. When I refer to "completing the trail", I mean by foot or bike.

Training & Adventure: I hiked 3 miles of the Buckeye Trail today. It took me an hour, so I seem to average about 3 miles and hour when hiking "easy terrain". I'm head north from Taylorsville Dam west parking lot.

About My Blog

Like many blogs, I'm creating this blog primarily for myself. I tend to be a "reflective thought" type of person, and this just seems like a uniue way to keep a journal (even if I'm the only one who reads it).

I've always been an "outdoor" person. I think that started when I was a child - always wanting to take adventures fishing, camping, and running away from home. I really wasn't afraid of too much. I thought nothing of swimming in unknown ponds and creeks or staying out all night fishing.

Later, running was my passion. I spent loads of time outdoors searching parks for 6 - 15 mile trails to run. I used to think it was cool getting lost! It added to the adrenaline rush. I think I've run in every park within a 30 mile radius of home.

Then came cycling. Man, have I put in some miles on a bike! My greatest distance achievements have come doing 24 hour marathons when cycling over 200+ miles was the norm.

In my late 30's and mid 40's I became a duathlon and adventure race freak. Most du's were a run 2 - cycle 20 - run 4 types of events. These were done in many of the major State Parks across Ohio. I also got turned on to mountain bike racing and have raced single track at Hueston Woods, Caeser's Creek and Atwood Lake to name a few. The adventure races normally took me about three hours to complete and involved running, mountain biking, orienteering, and kayaking. Kayaking? Yep, have done that too. In fact, I own my own little kayak as a toy.

I may not be as competitive as I was 10 years ago, but the personal spirit to "get out there" and do some things I've not accomplished continues to excite me. I just have to do them in a different gear. Whereas once a competed to defeat other athletes, I'm more interested in defeating a trail, a river, an event, or to accomplish things I've never done before.

So here's to new and different outdoor pursuits and adventures.

Bob