Amalgamation Post for the past few days
Alright, so I’ve been a bit behind the past few days but I’ve got some just cause. Here’s my recaps of the last few days, all in one sweet post for your reading
Last Weekend
On this past Sunday, I headed down to Naples to put in some big dirt miles with Chad. Definitely did not disappoint
We climbed up Gannett Hill, hit some of the new stuff in Ontario County Park, and some of the new singletrack that will be a part of the Hardcore 24. After that we rolled over to Cutler and did the ‘Humbler’ route, heading up the carriage road and backwards a bit on the old hardcore 24 course till we caught up on the orange trails. Trails were in mint condition, nice and ripe and ready for shredding
Once out of Cutler, we descended the old road into Naples, refueled at the car and decided to climb up the gorge trail. I’d never ridden it and probably won’t ever do it again. It was more hiking than riding uphill, but it had some cool views of the gorge. I frankly didn’t even know the gorge was really as big as it was, so that was cool to see.
After Hi-tor and ripped it over the top to the Hanglider descent. As soon as we hit the top, I heard some nasty noises and felt some bad juju vibes. Apparently, the carbon cage on my XO had shredded itself up a bit and was widened away from the pulleys. Chad had some magic and found a bolt that fit the pulley wheel, but also had a big flange to push the carbon cage back together. It worked great down the Hanglider, and then down and up Italy Hill.
We climbed up Wood Hill, because it was there and would be better than a road climb. Though 20% + grade on a mile long + climb gets awfully hard near the end of the ride. Somehow or another the legs finally came together on this climb and was able to push out some good power.
After Wood Hill, we hit some more of Hi-Tor heading over to the final DEC descent. My derailleur started acting up in Hi-Tor and before long she just plain ripped herself right off the bike. In doing that it took a big chunk of hanger. I’d forgotten to pack my hanger and we were left with a few miles of descending and 30 minutes before Chad had to be back to make it home in time. We couldn’t singlespeed it cause the wheel sat cocked with the hanger missing so much. Decided to just send him to the car, and call the wifey and I’d do what I could do.
I took my trusty 0×0 and rocked it down the ski trail till I ran out of momemntum, then ran the blue trail for about a mile to where it connects with the DEC. From the top of the DEC, I got to play probably the funnest game I’ve played in a bit. Could I make it to the bottom without pedaling? Mind you, this is a super tech trail, and I didn’t even have a chain to help supply pressure for lifting over logs, rocks, and no ability to gain any momentum into or out of corners or tech. I decided I’d just let the bike do what it needed to do. Just held on tight rode the lines clean and smart and was able to roll all the way to the bottom with no problems! Once at the bottom, I scootered my way the last half mile of flat trail along the creek on my way out. Chad had just gotten back to the car about 5 minutes earlier, was on the phone to tell the wife he was gonna be late, and had to re-tract. I didn’t really do anything special to go faster, just plain ol rolled it down the trail.
It was a good weekend though. Combined with the Ithaca Ride, I managed a solid 10+ hours on the bike!
Mid-Week Road Riding
Not much to write-up about here. Did some fun but short lunch time rides. Tuesday, the legs were still sore and tight from the weekend, but I gave er’ for about 5 minutes up a slight climb and even with sore and hurting legs somehow managed to put out my best 1 and 5 minute power numbers of the season, so I’ll take that as making some progression! Wednesday rolled some Sweet Spot 30 minute intervals, legs were still wicked from the weekend, but managed to stay where I needed to be.
Home Court Basketball
I visited my mother Tuesday night, and my brother was over there. A basketball game broke out. A lil one on one action. There was loads of airballs, bricked shots, tripping over each other and a few argumentative calls. But that’s what playground bball is all about right? I managed to win 11-9, though only cause my brother missed a 2 that would have won him the game. I also managed to make my ankle quite sore in the process and still hurts like hell at this point. I’m now retiring from basketball at this point, going out with a win!
Farmall Spring Series kicks up this next week!! Looking forward to that. This weekend, I’ll put on some good road miles on saturday and a fun chill ride on the dirt on sunday possibly as I just got word the XO showed up today.
