Shoreline MTB

I forgot to post it, but about 2 months ago, I went mountain biking with 4 guys from work. 2 of them are really good (1 had a single speed, which you have to be pretty hardcore to take on these trails and climbs). We went on the Shorline trail, north of the other trail I went on (the Drake posting). The ride again started with a 500 ft climb which again killed me. Once up top, the going was pretty fun, but I didn't have much energy from the climb. In fact, I decided to not finish the ride because I wasn't feeling so hot, so one of my friends rode back to his car and came and picked me up. Not the best way to impress the coworkers the first ride out.

MTB Fort Collins Drake

First ride of the season. First ride in Fort Collins. Wow, the difference of mountain biking in Austin and mountain biking in Fort Collins is ... MOUNTAINS. The downhill was a blast, but the climb up 500 feet killed. Combining the cooler weather (50 degrees) plus the elevation plus my out of shapedness plus mild exercise induced asthma plus trying to establish some trail cred with a new person I found to ride with = puking. After that, my body felt much better and it was a fun ride.

Fun Saturday

In tribute to the Birds, who never waste a Saturday, I post my Saturday fun. It started off at 7am with an 8 mile ride at the 'Nut with Scott, Jeff, and Adam. Scott put it well when he asked, "did you bring your speed legs today?" I felt good and rode a little faster than usual, so the others had to try to keep up. We hit the log loop, power line trail, tangle of trails, severe consequences, and the BMX loop. At the BMX loop, 5 or 6 riders got there right after us and one of their friends was videotaping them. They were really good and made us look like sissies for just going down and up the whoop d' doo pit. One guy was pulling 180s off the top and riding it out backwards and they were clearing some of the other jumps. It was fun to watch. We probably spent 30 minutes just watching them and trying to not embarass ourselves. I got home around 9am, drank a smoothie Becca made me and mowed the lawn. Becca was glad I went back outside because she said I dragged the "stink" in.

After taking a shower, we headed to the Eastley's house to see our friends, the Willeys, who were in town from Dallas area after a short vacation they were taking in the Hill Country. We got some Rudy's barbeque and visited with them while the kids played until they heade home around 3. One note - Riley still hadn't had a nap. Yikes. We got home, put Riley to bed (she actually fell asleep in the car), and got a little bit of a break to watch some football and tennis. I got to watch the first half of the Utah vs. Michigan game online and some US Open on TV. Go Utes! At 4, we headed to a baptism for a few kids at church.

I changed at church and I went to the Texas football game (we got season tickets this year). I took a friend because Becca "didn't want to pay for a babysitter to stand in 97 degrees". I don't blame her. It was hot, but it was awesome! Texas just expanded their stadium and we were part of a record 98,053 to watch the game, a 52-10 rout of Florida Atlantic. I'm looking forward to 5 more home games.

It was a long day, pretty busy, but with things that were fun.

The 'Nut

The biking gods were not in our favor today. We decided to go early (probably 20 minutes before sunrise). I woke up 30 minutes early (go back to sleep!) so I got up. It was a good thing because my front tire was totally flat. My tube looked like it had a broken hernia or something. I'm glad that I always carry an extra tube. Right after starting, my chain was doing something funky and I looked down and realized that my front derailer was jacked up (it was bent in and down, so it was rubbing the sprocket and I couldn't shift up). We adjusted it enough to ride in middle gear, but when I climbed hills, it sounded like I was a roller coaster (that clicking chain sound). Looks like it's time for a tune-up. Jeff's seat was doing something funny and his front tire quick release was not tight, so he could've lost it. Nothing happened to Scott, luckily.
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We rode about 6 miles and decided to go a little faster with a little less technical work. We did try to climb what I call the "staircase to heaven" (I don't think it has a name on any of the maps I've seen). There are stone shelves with loose rocks and needless to say, we didn't make it up very far, especially with ole roller coaster. I needed one more major loop to compete my compiled GPS map, so now I have ridden every trail at WC (and recorded it, except for 1 or 2 small trail connectors). Does anyone have suggestions for a different mapping program (I have mapsource, which came with my Garmin GPS). Maybe I'll add names of the trails and harder features. Of course, there's already a map from Austin Ridge Riders that I use, but I don't like some of the directions they choose to go on some of the trails.
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Today:

Compiled:

Walnut Puke

Scott, Jeff, and I went out this morning to scout out a route for an adventure race we are planning for the youth at Walnut Creek park. After we rode that route (~1.5 miles), we rode for fun. It was a pretty good ride. My odometer said 7.25 miles and the GPS said 6.6 miles. I did pump up my tires to maximum pressure right before the ride, so I think the odometer overestimated a little bit.
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I drank too much water and rode up what I call "heart-breaker hill" and started feeling a little nauseous. I took it easy and then later had a little more water and rode another hard hill. When we got back to the parking lot at 5+ miles, Jeff got some water, Scott made an adjustment to his bike, and I sat on a park table bench, bent over, and puked three times. It had a nice burning citrus flavor from the glass of OJ I chugged before leaving home. Anyway, it was all water and after that, I felt great! We went and rode the bmx trail and had a good time. If you look at the profile, you can probably guess which hills did me in. I was proud to completely climb them.
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Since I've started tracking rides, I've ridden Walnut Creek three times. Just for fun, I made a compiled map. It's starting to look like the park map which is a little exciting. If I had better software (this one doesn't even have the correct southern boundary of the park), I could make my own map just for me and my friends. You can tell the parts that I think are a little boring, because I don't really ride them.

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Sunrise Surprise

A few days ago, my friend Scott asked Adam and I if we were in for a "sunrise surprise" this morning. Anyway, he meant an early bike ride. Adam's bike was in the shop for a tune-up, but Scott and Scot went out for a ride. We even moved it to just after sunrise, 6:30 (in the am persuasion). Of course, this was at our favorite local park, Walnut Creek.
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According to GPS, we went 5.1 miles. The bike computer said 5.54. I think I am trusting the GPS more, especially since the state of the tread and the tire pressure will slightly change the bike computer calculation (it just measures the rpm and multiplies it by the tire size you programmed - which could be slightly off depending on the tire). I also think that the topo map I have is a little off with the park boundaries. The track looks correct as far as where we were along the stream, the power lines, and creek crossings, but the south boundary seems off. There is a trail right against the fence there and both times I've tracked the ride, it shows us riding outside the park. I love the profile because I think it makes us look tough, like we fell off a 60' cliff or something. I don't remember anything that extreme, but hey, the profile is proof.
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We hit at least 3 new trails that we've never ridden and did it all in less than an hour. I actually got home about the same time I usually get woken up by Riley. I still was the first one in the office. Everyone thinks I'm a really early riser, which is funny since I usually get up at 7:30. I guess it helps that I live just 2 miles away and can get here in 5-10 minutes.
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Walnut Creek Ride

Walnut Creek is one of my very favortie mountain biking locations. Part of it is due to the fact that it is only 10 minutes away, but it also has easy to pretty extreme technical features. If you want speed, you can find it. If you want jumps, you can find them. If you want a whoop-de-doo pit, you got it. If you want rocks, roots, drops, heart-pumping climbs, tight spots between two trees, you have them all. The Austin Ridge Riders have done a really good job developing and maintaining the trails. Today, I went with my friend Scott for a ride and decided to go on some trails that we've never been on. That's the other thing I like - I've ridden there many times and there are still trails I haven't been on or only have traveled in one direction. We rode for about an hour and a half, found two geocaches along the way, and depending on who you believe, went 5.7, 6.5, or 6.6 miles. My GPS said 5.7, Scott's bike computer said 6.5, and my computer said 6.6. I don't really know which one to believe. I also don't remember if I started the GPS at the same time as my computer (I rode up to the bathroom before I started my GPS and can't remember if I reset my computer). Anyway, here is the route we took today and the profile.

Barton Creek

This afternoon I rode at Barton Creek. Last time I rode there was more than a year ago and it must've been dryer because the creek was a lot fuller this time (last time it was dry where the bike route was) and there was a lot more brush/weeds. For some reason, at some places there is water and then it disappears and then reappears downstream. I had something like 4 dry creek crossings and 4 wet crossings (up to my knees). At first, I tried to avoid the water as much as possible and it led me down a trail that I think is more for hikers than bikers because it had a 2 foot wide rock ledge 20' above the water with a chain bolted to the wall. Needless to say, I had to carry my bike on that part. I tracked my route on GPS and it looks pretty good, but I think there are a few points that are off, maybe because I was under heavy brush.
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