Mud Dobber, Huffman Trails, & Chinese Chain Challenge

June 9, 2008 - Monday

The Chinese Chain Trick

06:30 PM – Road Cycled for 22.75 miles (85 minutes)
Today’s Total: Cycled 22.75 miles (1 hr 25 minutes or 85 minutes)

Took off from home in 90 degree heat and hit the Rip Rap bike path south to Needmore Road. In that little section I came up on two guys and I split down between them only to see it was Mark and Matt! I looked back and yelled and they responded with a little surprised look. I mean, here I am at 52 cruising along as I normally do. I don’t think they realize that the ole’ man can still crank it. That nourished my ego a little even though I wasn’t trying to impress anyone.

I took a left to head to Eastwood Park and my chain jumped the chain ring and got really screwed up. I had to dismount and work with it to get it untangled. I thought I was going to have to call Doreen and abort the ride ‘cause it was really a mess. It reminded me of one of those Chinese puzzles. I got it undone, and to this moment, I really don’t know how I did it. My hands were a mess so I was glad I had on black shorts.

Once my hands were fairly wiped off, I mounted and continued, soon to be hit with a half mile climb to the old Meijer store. I cruised from there somewhat cautious of the cars. The road was fairly busy with little to no birm to escape the idiots.

I was battling a head wind of about 12-15 mph so my mph was around 17.3 (not shabby). I got a little frustrated because of all the stop lights that took forever to go green! I finally got to Eastwood and jumped on the Mad River Bike Path and headed to Dayton. Did some goofy turn around at Riverscape and crossed the bridge (not sure – maybe Webster Street) and got back on the path on the opposite side of the river. I had to dismount at the construction zone under I-75, which was another delay and rhythm killer. Then the wind picked up and a cool front came through with no wind. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees and it shifted coming from the SW to NW. Of course, that’s now the direction I was heading home in! It really made me work because along with the long climb on Needmore toward Rex Hill and my legs beginning to fatigue, my mph really slowed down. I really didn’t care though since I wasn’t time trialing or anything. It was a good ride considering a few of the obstacle I had to confront.

June 8, 2008 - Sunday

Huffman Mountain Bike Trails No Longer a Mystery

10:30 AM – Mountain Trail Cycled for about 7.5 mile (47 minutes)
05:00 PM – Walked with Doreen 1.5 miles (30 minutes)
Today’s Total: Cycled 7.5 miles; Hiked 1.5 miles (1 hr 17 minutes or 77 minutes)

Well, at least two of the six trails are no longer mysteries. This was my first visit to the trails, which is somewhat embarrassing. I mean, they are only a twelve minute drive from home! It was about 10:30 AM when I started with the both temperature and humidity high for this early June day (91 degrees). The trails were greasy with the rain from yesterday. I rode my ole’ faithful Raleigh since my Trek Y5 is sitting on the rack at home with two flat tires. I have to admit, the 20 year old Raleigh always seems to come through. I’ve lost some knob tread, so I was sliding a bit here and there, but managed it okay. I could tell I was a little trail rusty ‘cause there was no way I wanted to go much faster than 6-8 mph. In fact, I have no clue my speed or distance since I had on cyclometer (go figure).

I did the “Creekside Trail” first. It was a pleasant trail with rolling terrain, but I wouldn’t say hills. I kept it my middle chain ring form most of the ride and stayed in the saddle quite easily. I nailed the course in about 22 minutes or so and decided to go back out and do the “Twisted Trail”. I got a little frustrated when my feet came out of the clips and I had a hard time getting them back in with all the ups and turns. I finally had to just stop and hold a tree to insert them again. The mud caking in the clips and shoes didn’t help much.

I finished both trails in about 47 minutes, which was pretty slow, but again, I was exploring a lot today and the reduced speed helped me survive the heat and humidity (I was dripping) as well as the unknown territory.

I’m looking forward to doing the other four trails, which are the “Voodoo,” “Upper/Lower Stealth,” “Mr. Zig Zag,” and “Hawk’s Lair.”

June 7, 2008 - Saturday

Beat Thunderstorms but Not the Mud

08:30 AM – Ran 4 miles & Hiked 1; Total 5 miles (60 minutes)
05:00 PM – Road Cycled 18.5 in 18.1 mph then recovery cycled 6.5 miles @ 8 mph (1 hr 45 min)
Today’s Total: Run 4; Cycle 25; 1 Hike (2 hr 47 minutes or 167 minutes)

After one hell of a week at work, I finally got outdoors today. Unfortunately, when I dragged myself out of bed the TV was announcing huge thunderstorms on the way. Turning down a 10 AM ride by Dave who emailed me earlier, I decided to forget riding and laced up the running shoes and headed to the NE trail at Taylorsville. I didn’t waste time stretching, but hit the trail running to get as much in before the rain hit. The upper trail, furthest from the Great Miami River was wet, but the footing was okay.

Things were soon to change as I got closer to the river at about the 3 mile mark. We’ve had a lot of rain the last week and the river was swollen and moving along quite fast. I could tell it had been over the trail recently and the trail was literally one to two inches of mud. With the river to my right and thick woods to my left, I had no choice but to keep running (or sloshing) forward. I bit it once going down and sliding when the trail sloped and I began slipping toward the river just a foot from the trail. I figured it was better to avoid getting sucked into the flow. That made the adrenaline flow and I spewed out several swear words in my frustration to regain my footing.

Unfortunately, when you cuss in the woods, God still hears it. But He had to be having a good time laughing at me up there using nature for His own sense of humor. I found a creek flowing rapidly out of a ravine and forded it for about half a mile just to get further from the river. I came out on a trail heading north/south so I took it south knowing it would run along the river. I was doing fine until that stupid trail took me right back toward the river and mud after about a half mile of running. I finally found a second creek and did another creek run similar to the last and eventually got the hell out of there! I wasn’t expecting much on this workout today, but ended up having a rather fun adventure for about 5 miles. But hey…it didn’t even rain on me. I beat the thunderstorms, but not the mud. Today, it won.

Later in the day, I took off from home and rode to Tipp City at a good clip. Hills are still a challenge with the legs getting an early burn and breathing is obscene, but certainly better than a couple of weeks ago. I did my best mile per hour average at 18.1 mph. It’s more humid today, so had my biggest sweat in awhile. Although I did hydrate during the ride, I could have done better with two water bottles versus one. I cooled down with a 6.5 mile cycle with Doreen on the bike path. My legs needed that. I’m done for the day. Getting pizza tonight, but skipping the beer to keep the calories down.