Well today started out as kind of a ho hum day. I had planned to ride, wanted to ride and had been dreaming about it all weekend but when the day arrived....no energy. I just wanted to sort of sit around. I got the kids to school and the boy to the baby sitters and then I came home....and sat! It was quiet and a bit dark and I just wanted to lie around the house. I ended up on the lap top on STR and slowly got motivated. I had started to get the Allez ready to ride earlier in the morning but it just wasn't turning me on so, but when I walked past the FSR it grabbed me. I felt motivated and excited so I grabbed it checked tire pressure and spun out of the house. I ended up riding for a total of about 5 hours and covering between 40 and 50 miles give or take. I really wasn't caring.
I rode to skinner and did that in 1 hour and 20 minutes (that's about a 17 mile ride) and the plan was to head back but I was feelin' it and after a Cliff Shot continued on to Temecula. I ended up stopping at Chipotles for a quick Chicken Fajita Bowl and then at B&N to stock up on Mtn Bike mags. I rode in and around the mall area after that and ended up over by Bicycle Warehouse with a mean need to use the Restroom so I stopped in there and they were pretty cool. I chatted with them for a few minutes and then it was back out on the bike.
I just rode like I did when I first started this sport and didn't have the money for four bikes. I just rode what I had and took it anywhere and everywhere. I rode up hills and down, I rode this road and that road. I ended up by the first house we rented with Shawn and then ended up over by our first apartment exploring the trails (or lack of them) in Murrieta. All the trails I used to ride are gone, bulldozed for homes, or closed by the Open Spaces Distrcit of Riverside. Its such a waste. Why have open spaces if you won't allow users. (But that's negative thinking and I don't wanna do that on here) I ended up finding a pretty cool DH section in the hills to the North of Clinton Keith. It'll be a gnarly hike a bike from the Farm side but it'd be a good 2 or 3 minutes run down to the streets of Murrieta. It might be worth it on the Heckler or the Slopestyle rig I'm shopping for.
All in all I left the house at 930 am and came arrived back at the house at 315pm. I figure with the stops I wasted about 30 to 40 minutes so that's about 5 hours of riding today. Pretty killer.
In other Jman news the gym is going well. I've been there three times and am falling back on my old routines until I can find newer and better ones. It's working and I've been sore most days which just means its working. It actually feels pretty good to be lifting again and the smallness of the gym is nice. The times I'm using it the place is fairly empty which is cool.
Alrighty that's it for now, I'll see everyone on the trails!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Just call me Mr. Gym Rat....
Well not really but I did join a gym today. My best friends wife has been going to Fitness 19 and she loves it so when one opened up about 10 minutes away I figured I would give it a try. It's only $14 a month and I figure since I dropped Aikido I should be able to swing this. I've also wanted to get back into some weight lifting to strengthen the whole body and be able to keep riding/running longer. This will beat my little garage gym all day long and I'll be able to get some better hamstring exercises in. They have a cardio section but I doubt I'll use it too much. Overall it seems like a nice small gym and the times I'll be going should keep it easy to use the equipment. We'll see how it goes.
On the riding front I had aimed to do two laps around DVL but I woke up and it was just plain crappy out so I sorta fell into a lil mini slump. I ended up doing the gym thing and then for giggles went over to Bicycle Warehouse, I ended up chatting with the Mechanic there, (a guy named Mike who was pretty up on bikes and seemed like a cool guy), it was a blast actually, if I can't ride than talking about it is usually the next best thing! Anyways this got me pumped and after lunch at Peoni's with Kelly I ended up hitting Sylvan Meadows by way of Slaughter House Canyon. It was a decent ride, I still felt a bit sluggish but I got nice and wet and muddy from the half-a-dozen stream crossings. All in all not a bad day. Sorry no pics though, gotta get me a smaller camera.
On the riding front I had aimed to do two laps around DVL but I woke up and it was just plain crappy out so I sorta fell into a lil mini slump. I ended up doing the gym thing and then for giggles went over to Bicycle Warehouse, I ended up chatting with the Mechanic there, (a guy named Mike who was pretty up on bikes and seemed like a cool guy), it was a blast actually, if I can't ride than talking about it is usually the next best thing! Anyways this got me pumped and after lunch at Peoni's with Kelly I ended up hitting Sylvan Meadows by way of Slaughter House Canyon. It was a decent ride, I still felt a bit sluggish but I got nice and wet and muddy from the half-a-dozen stream crossings. All in all not a bad day. Sorry no pics though, gotta get me a smaller camera.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Southridge #3 and SART....
Well we'll start this here Blog entry with a quick recap of the Southridge Series Race #3. It was a good race overall and I felt both strong and confident after the fun ride on the 5th. I realized as I lined up and look over the other riders in the group that the top four places were already spoken for so I knew a podium place was doubtful. With this in mind I quickly reordered my ultimate goals with the first being to ride the whole race (no hike-a-bike) and the second being to simply try and better my previous time.
I downed a gel (probably a bit early again so at the race in march I'll be waiting until the pros start before I down the gel) and felt that cool rush of adrenaline as I waited for Donny to start us. With the horn I was off. There was a quick crash at the first left turn and I must've passed at least one member of my class, then another guy dropped out and I knew I wouldn't be last! Kewl. So I just ponied up and gutted out the first climbs. Before I knew it I had passed them and hadn't walked (score one for Jman!). I felt strong and ready to rumble. I made it to the rear hell climb and made it about 75% up when I lost traction and had to walk the last 50 yards or so. (score one for the course) I rode the rest of the course and passed one more member of my class as he tried to dismount but couldn't unclip and over he went. (score one for Jman). He was never able to recover and I finished in 7th place out of 11. Not bad but the best part was that I was able to knock 5 minutes off of my first race. Now that ROCKED!!!!
The 4x course was fun but I put alot of effort into the XC race and I could feel it in the legs. It was not a pretty warm day and even though I had had about 2 hours to rest I felt a bit heavy legged. I did buy a new 50mm stem and that did make an enormous difference. I felt way more confident.
Donny came up with a new race format that gave us at least two runs on the course which was way better than one. I warmed up (too much to be honest) and finally lined up. When the gate dropped on the first race I was pretty quick out of the gate but one of the riders just flew ahead of me. He cleared all of the doubles and had myself and the other guy beat by the middle of the course. The other guy, his name was Gil, and I went neck and neck for the middle section but his BMX skills really came into the game on the lower course and he took second place.
We rushed back up to the top and lined up for the second heat. When the gate went down I instantly knew I was in trouble, my legs were just dead, I tried my best and saw a lower line to try and pass Gill. I tried to swoop under him but my rear tire slid a bit and I grabed som brake which killed my momentum. At the point I was shot and I literally jsut cruised into the finish. I was done for the day. Still it was a blast and I have really uped my riding ability BIG time on the course and overall as well. I'm looking forward to the race in March. Here are som pics of my races on the 4x course.
The doubles at the start of the 1st race, we're neck and neck here
Here I am pedaling out of the big berm and lining up for the doubles.
Neck and neck, I'm trying to shooty for the lower line here and failing BAD!
So in other riding news I pulled out the road bike on Wednesday the 13th and hit up the Santa Ana River Trail (SART). I'd heard about this ride recently on STR and on a trip to Disneyland the day before decided to just do it. So I started out at Green River Rd. and rode all the way to the beach! It was a great ride except for a 10mph head wind the last 5ish miles to the beach. Whew that was tough. The return ride was sweet though, the head wind turned to a tail wind and that combined with two shots of gel propelled me in the big ring all the way home. The final tally was 60 miles in 3 hours and about 45 minutes. It was just over 15mph for the ride. My knees were a bit sore but overall I felt great. I wasn't really sore on Thursday which was good news and by Saturday I was feeling well enough to hit the local trails for a quick 4.5 mile run with Kiara (my Australian Sheppard mix). Life is good and I'm feelin' awesome about my fitness right now. Thanks for readin' and keep the rubber side down!
I downed a gel (probably a bit early again so at the race in march I'll be waiting until the pros start before I down the gel) and felt that cool rush of adrenaline as I waited for Donny to start us. With the horn I was off. There was a quick crash at the first left turn and I must've passed at least one member of my class, then another guy dropped out and I knew I wouldn't be last! Kewl. So I just ponied up and gutted out the first climbs. Before I knew it I had passed them and hadn't walked (score one for Jman!). I felt strong and ready to rumble. I made it to the rear hell climb and made it about 75% up when I lost traction and had to walk the last 50 yards or so. (score one for the course) I rode the rest of the course and passed one more member of my class as he tried to dismount but couldn't unclip and over he went. (score one for Jman). He was never able to recover and I finished in 7th place out of 11. Not bad but the best part was that I was able to knock 5 minutes off of my first race. Now that ROCKED!!!!
The 4x course was fun but I put alot of effort into the XC race and I could feel it in the legs. It was not a pretty warm day and even though I had had about 2 hours to rest I felt a bit heavy legged. I did buy a new 50mm stem and that did make an enormous difference. I felt way more confident.
Donny came up with a new race format that gave us at least two runs on the course which was way better than one. I warmed up (too much to be honest) and finally lined up. When the gate dropped on the first race I was pretty quick out of the gate but one of the riders just flew ahead of me. He cleared all of the doubles and had myself and the other guy beat by the middle of the course. The other guy, his name was Gil, and I went neck and neck for the middle section but his BMX skills really came into the game on the lower course and he took second place.
We rushed back up to the top and lined up for the second heat. When the gate went down I instantly knew I was in trouble, my legs were just dead, I tried my best and saw a lower line to try and pass Gill. I tried to swoop under him but my rear tire slid a bit and I grabed som brake which killed my momentum. At the point I was shot and I literally jsut cruised into the finish. I was done for the day. Still it was a blast and I have really uped my riding ability BIG time on the course and overall as well. I'm looking forward to the race in March. Here are som pics of my races on the 4x course.
The doubles at the start of the 1st race, we're neck and neck here
Here I am pedaling out of the big berm and lining up for the doubles.
Neck and neck, I'm trying to shooty for the lower line here and failing BAD!
So in other riding news I pulled out the road bike on Wednesday the 13th and hit up the Santa Ana River Trail (SART). I'd heard about this ride recently on STR and on a trip to Disneyland the day before decided to just do it. So I started out at Green River Rd. and rode all the way to the beach! It was a great ride except for a 10mph head wind the last 5ish miles to the beach. Whew that was tough. The return ride was sweet though, the head wind turned to a tail wind and that combined with two shots of gel propelled me in the big ring all the way home. The final tally was 60 miles in 3 hours and about 45 minutes. It was just over 15mph for the ride. My knees were a bit sore but overall I felt great. I wasn't really sore on Thursday which was good news and by Saturday I was feeling well enough to hit the local trails for a quick 4.5 mile run with Kiara (my Australian Sheppard mix). Life is good and I'm feelin' awesome about my fitness right now. Thanks for readin' and keep the rubber side down!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Nice little ride...
So I posted my first ride on STR and had a few takers. I wanted to go out and ride the Fontana race course just for fun without the pressure of a race day so I met up with DavidB and Speckled Trout (Quinn) and we hit the trail. It was a beautiful day out today with lots of sun, mountains covered in snow and the dirt was in great shape. It was a bit windy but nothing so bad that it was miserable.
We ended up doing our first lap and I felt good, David had the idea to do another lap but with our stomachs growling we decided to stop at Subway for a bit o' lunch and then hit the second lap. I was a bit surprised that I actually felt better on the second lap. I climbed al the hills without walking and THAT felt great. Now that I know I can do it I'm hoping to let it all hang out on Saturday at Race #3. I rode the Heckler and it sure is a nice ride. It felt like it rode better than the FSR but I know it's not quite as fast. I'll ride the FSR on Saturday regardless as it felt pretty good on a ride I did last Thursday. In all we rode about 15 miles in about 2 hours or so. Not lightening fast but that was not really the point of this one.
It was a fun ride with some good people. All of that equals a great day out on the trails.
DavidB
We ended up doing our first lap and I felt good, David had the idea to do another lap but with our stomachs growling we decided to stop at Subway for a bit o' lunch and then hit the second lap. I was a bit surprised that I actually felt better on the second lap. I climbed al the hills without walking and THAT felt great. Now that I know I can do it I'm hoping to let it all hang out on Saturday at Race #3. I rode the Heckler and it sure is a nice ride. It felt like it rode better than the FSR but I know it's not quite as fast. I'll ride the FSR on Saturday regardless as it felt pretty good on a ride I did last Thursday. In all we rode about 15 miles in about 2 hours or so. Not lightening fast but that was not really the point of this one.
It was a fun ride with some good people. All of that equals a great day out on the trails.
DavidB
Quinn still smiling as we start the 2nd lap.
The road up...this particular climb ends at that water tower. One of the tougher climbs of the course.
Just a self portrait just to show that I was there....not the prettiest of pictures!!
I was using an older HP camera with like 2.31 mp so the pictures aren't the best BUT I can fit it in the camelback so I can get a few pics 'cause we all know that a Ride Report is nothing without pictures.
'Till next time keep the rubber side down.
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