Yesterday I had the opportunity to go for a quick ride in probably my favorite biking location of all. I was only going to be in Greenville for about 24 hrs, but I wrangled my schedule in a way that would allow me to get in a quick MTb ride.
Wow, I miss it. This park has gotten more and more biking friendly, and the trails have gotten better and better. We park by the main offices and headed out along the amphitheater.
I noticed right away that the trail had been maintained pretty well over the years. It was holding up really well or the amount of traffic it gets every day. This is a section of trail that I started on, or at least where I really learned to love and prefer single track riding.
Mark, a great friend, and an avid MTb enthusiast was riding with me and told me he had heard about trail improvements on the sulphur springs trail, and that we would be able to ride all the way to the top now without having to get out on the blacktop. He was right.
The ride was incredible. The backside of the mountain has an awesome downhill trail called Kanuga that takes your breath away. The views are impressive, the workout is brutal, but the reward is always worth it. Flying back down sulpher springs to the parking lot as fast i dared, with mark breathing down my neck on his bike behind me was the most fun I've had on a bike in a long time.
Scratch that. It was the most fun I've had in a long time. Thanks for an epic time mark. 1 hr 30 min. Not too shabby.
I have spent most of the winter going to the gym from 6-7am. There i either lift, spin, or run on the treadmill. Then I rush to get home and get my oldest daughter on the bus by 7:35. It's a good morning routine.
However, the gym has been getting in the way of biking. I really want to be out there riding trails instead of spinning miles in an exercise room. This week, I determined I would ride early morning no matter what.
My friend Cody is just getting into mountain biking. I've been helping him look for deals on craigslist, and finally he was able to borrow a bike for a few months until he is ready to pull the trigger on his own. Cody texted me at 10pm and told me he had the bike. I was so excited, I invited him to join me at 6am for a ride. To my surprise, he agreed to meet me there.
It was barely showing light when we arrived, but Cody was willing to give it a shot. I've been doing this now for a number of months absolutely alone, and I can't tell you how much more fun it is to take to the trails when you can share the experience with another dude.
Just a few days later, another one of our friends, Kevin overheard us talking up the big rides we have been having, and asked to join us. This is what biking is all about. The community built in the saddle.
Cody is still learning the bike. He probably will be for quite a while. But, if he is willing to meet me again and again at dawn and give it a go, he and Kevin might just be one of the best things I've got going on a bike these days...a few friends.
I had the most incredible ride last Saturday morning with my friend Austin over on the Isaqueena trail. It was a beautiful morning... the calm AFTER the storm. The night before there was a big thunderstorm, and it had even hailed in some areas. But this morning was just perfect. The leaves were still wet, so they hit you with a plump smack as you went by. The trail was slick and a bit slow, but the morning was so peaceful I didn't want to ride that fast anyway.
Isaqueena is a great place to take riders who don't have as much experience, but still get in a good ride yourself. The asphalt road runs across the top of the hill, and two long dirt roads run down to opposite ends of the lake. This creates a box with a grid network of trails in-between. The great thing is, that if your buddy gets tired and wants to go home, just send him up the road. If he wants to go off by himself, he really can't get lost. Just meet him at the car when your done.
Austin and I started out by taking some logging roads off to the the side of this main trail block closest to the Six Mile Water Tower. This ride is an an enjoyable logging road on the way up, and some fun single track on the way down. I noticed that the trail has been modified to adjust for some big trees down after a big storm last year, and I really like the new trail route.
After tooling around over there for an hour or so, we made our way back into the main block where we picked up the lake trail. This trail is gorgeous.... and fast. But man, if you don't like riding on the 18 inch path, you may find yourself over the bank and in the drink in a hurry. I like "the rock" crossing about halfway down the trail, a technical spot testing your balance and use of momentum.
After passing the rope swing by the time we made our way to the dam and climbed back up the other dirt road. At the top of the main climb we turned back into the woods onto a trail we call "center line" trail.... I'm not sure what the real name is. This trail is flat and fast. Again, this is a perfect trail for a beginner to leisurely ride if they choose, or for a more advanced rider to really drop the hammer and fly!
This trail carried us back across to the parking area we began at. It took us just 4.5 hrs to get around the trails that morning. The fun thing is, there are still many more trails to add into the ride. Maybe next time we can go for longer!
original video source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSsPYJdVvuY&feature=player_embedded
Before you watch this video and think I am an amazing rider, please let me clarify... this is not me! Boy do I wish I could fly like that! However, I have a job, wife, and 3 little kids to support, so I am a little less extreme. This video is shot in real time, and takes the guy 2:28 to finish the course. Mark and I rode the course again on Monday afternoon, which is located on the Sulfur Spring trail coming down from the upper parking lot at Paris Mountain, and we finished it in just over 5 minutes. Now, we had been riding for nearly an hour, and had climbed for a good percentage of the ride, but this does not shave 2:30 off of our time... These guys are good! Real good!
Here was today's ride.
I got to the park, unloaded my bike, and jogged over to the bathroom to change my clothes. It was cold, way colder than what I had brought riding gear enough for. Nonetheless, I decided that once I began to sweat, I would be plenty warm.
Here is a side note: while changing, a woman in the bathroom on the other side of the building flushed the toilet, and the floor drain on my side let out a sonic explosion that scared the mess out of me.
I took my normal route up mountain creek trail, and headed out towards the Hincapie challenge. This climb was particularly miserable today with no gear shifting possibilities. It is weird how your mind fights with itself, and I started making excuses why I might need to stop for a moment...is my seat set too low?... is my shoe coming untied?... do I need to stop and check the crank arm that fell off last week?
As I told myself to keep going and not quit, I spit over my left shoulder, and suddenly found myself off the road and in the ditch on the right side of the road. This was stupid mistake. Why would anyone be so idiotic to lose control of their bike while spitting? Now, I had ridden into the ditch, and because of my pep talk with myself earlier I refused to quit. This meant I rode up the hill in the ditch for about 15-20 feet before I could get back on the road again. What a momentum killer!
Now some of you might be saying: "So what, it was only 15 feet, what is the big deal?" The deal is, this Hincapie Challenge is a horrible hill. It is like riding up the trunk of a redwood tree. So, 15-20 ft is a huge deal!
Fortunately I made it home with no broken bones or bike components... it was a great ride.
Moral of the story: Keep your eyes on the road. It is a painful return when you get off track.
What ways are you getting distracted from the goal you have before you?
I took the same route as last week, but today's ride was on the single speed. (this is a bike stripped from its gears and derraliers.) It would be a tough workout. However, my crank arm came loose halfway up the hincapie challenge. I turned back towards the truck, because like i said earlier I didnt have any tools with me today.
Partway back, the crank arm actually fell off. I rode the rest of the way with one pedal like a handicap man. I am glad I have two legs. Only one leg stinks...
I have to give the disclaimer immediately, that this video is not of me. It is done by Jonathan Pait, someone I only loosely know through the blog world, and is a contributor to the Greenville News.
I have ridden at Paris Mountain a number of times at night. However, i have never been fortunate enough to have a light with me. Usually I have overestimated my own riding speed, and bit off more than I could chew, or pinched a flat mid-ride, which forced me to come home after dark. Nonetheless, these guys look like they are having fun, and I hope to give night riding a try in the near future...wanna join me?
So I found out a few days ago about the paris mountain downhill race! The Greenville News did a great article on this weekends festivities.
Now if you will click on the small picture link for the race pic/vid site, you will notice these guys floating over the same rock with brilliance and ease. they look so peacful don't they? Aren't they looking like it is a bunch of fun?
I met Mark today to ride for lunch... it was anything but the perfect ride. First we were both about 15 minutes late, construction on Hwy 29 set us back. Then, when I arrived, I realized that I didn't have any bike shorts with me. Fortunately I did have some gym shorts, but the ride is much more unpleasant without all that extra padding. Mark arrived with no shoes, helmet or gloves. I had some flat pedals which he was able to use, and he put his black dress shoes back on. We had a great time, but I am dead tired because of it. Croft is a trail with a great deal of up and down, so Mark and I had decided to ride our single speeds... It was a decent ride considering all the reasons why we could have given on it, but Croft is not meant for single speeds... not until I get into better shape anyway. Maybe next time!
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Corey called me up and asked me to ride today at the drop of a hat. Fortunately I was able to do so today. It was a blast!
We rode Paris Mountain...
We parked at the culdesac at the top of the mountain so that we could get back to the truck easier if need be. We climbed Firetower trail pretty quickly, I stayed in 2-6 through 2-8 on the whole climb. Its a deceiving climb, but we had both done it a hundred times it seems, so no big deal. We reached the top of the newest trail at Paris, Kanuga. What a ride! We went left at the top, and just flat out hammered down to the lake. I got into the big ring up front coming over the top and just let it rip. for a sweet 5 minutes of descent. We took a left at the bottom when we hit the North Lake loop. We completed the loop all the way back to the base of Kanuga where we had come down. Corey wanted to climb this new trail and see how it felt on the way up. I hated every minute of it. What was incredible on the way down was miserable on the way back. I ended up shredding my chain at one point when I stood up in the pedals for a moment - which slowed our overall time considerably. Fortunately, I have had this happen before and I had the chain tool with me to fix it. We climbed back to the top of Kanuga, but instead of heading home on Firetower we took the downhill run of Kanuga over to Brissy Ridge. Again, it was an awesome downhill section. Corey asked me if it reminded me of slalom skiing up north as a kid, and I most definitely had to agree. This particular trail has some tricky off camber turns that really could be nasty mistake if you aren't on your game. Then the familiar climb out on Brissy Ridge back to the Xterra. We cam in at 68 minutes even with the broken chain. It was a great ride. I love riding with guys like Corey. His legs are waaay stronger than mine, and it is all I can do to stay with him.
Awesome.
So we went to the Student Life tour this weekend with 5 guys and really had a blast doing it. The speakers were great,the music was loud, and the dramas were intense! The schedule gave us a 2 hour time block for lunch on Saturday afternoon, but we had to go out and get it on our own.
I received an email from Chic-fil-a about a week before the tour letting us know that they would provide lunch at Miliken in a field where kids could play Frisbee or football if we wanted to pay $5 for it. Well, this gave me a brilliant idea. Right next to the Miliken plant there is a 7 mile Mountain Bike (MTB) trail which is fairly easy for beginners, yet challenging for advanced riders if they really push it an ride fast. I decided to work it out where I brought 4 bikes on our vehicle, and had a friend bring another 4 so that all of my guys could get a bike and do this thing.
These guys were not good. They fell all over the place. They walked up all of the hills. They complained about the rain. They would keep their helmets on. They also walked across this narrow footbridge over a creek which can be ridden very easily.
One of the kids asked Tracy, (the other guy who brought bikes for me) who was better on a bike - him or me. Tracy puffed me up real good when he said "Aw man, Milo is waaaay better!"
So there is a verse in Proverbs that says: Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall... you get where I am going with this right?
I fell off that footbridge trying to ride across. I have never fallen off of it before - I doubt it will ever happen again. But yesterday I fell off a bridge and looked like a big loser in front of all my guys. Not because they saw it happen. Nope, no one saw it but me and God. It was like God was saying: "Nice bike skills Milo, but next time keep your pride in check - WAM!" Next thing I know, I'm bleeding all over the place, my bike is twisted in half, meanwhile my 7th grader rides peacefully along with noticing a thing.
I love all of my 5 readers very much so I'm not gonna lie to you. It really hurt - and I am really sore. Keep your pride in check!
