Never A Bad Day…
I have been out riding alot during the past few weeks trying to get my fill of moderate temperatures and daylight hours before it all disappears. As rides during the week are coming to an end with the advent of Day Light Savings Time and 4:30 sunsets, I have come to grips with the fact that another winter is here. I’m no groundhog but I think we are in for a wild ride based on how bad the weather has been lately. Consistently heavy rain with strong winds have produced soft ground, lots of downed trees and created obstacles with many branches acting like Velcro to an unsuspecting derailleur. On the bight side, leaves blanket the terrain with a beautiful array of colors. Never-the-less, riding is slightly dangerous between the mud, wet leaves, rocks and roots.

Great Fall Colors...

Jumping Jack Flash

More Great Fall Colors...

Law of Averages…
I have been out riding a lot this year. The Road and Mountain bikes have certainly had their use. So it really comes as no surprise that the law of averages caught up with me.

In August I flatted out while on a road ride in New Hampshire. I was about 6 miles from the hotel when the flat occurred. To make it worse I was using tubulars. It was a slow leak so I used my air cartridges to make it about four miles back before I used them up. As luck would have it, there were two gas stations on the way back so I figured I could use air at each. At least that was my plan until the nice people behind the counter said “Air we don’t have no stinkin air”. And the rest as they say, was history as I walked the bike about two miles back to the hotel. Leaning from my experience, I now use Stan’s Tire Sealer in the tubulars and Slime Lite tubes on the Stumpy.

Lightning doesn’t Strick Twice???
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and once again the law of averages caught up with me. It was a grey and cold Saturday. I figured I would get a few hours of thrashing the trails at Otis. The conditions weren’t good as it had been pouring for days and heaving winds had produced lots of downed limbs. Keeping a smooth and moderate pace I worked my way toward the Otis Rotary. Taking an alternate trail that carves and twists along a ridge line, I was having a blast.

Then it happened, on a fast sweeping curve, a rather large stick some how got wedged in my rear wheel sheering the valve stem off. Like a wounded alien, green goo began shooting out of my rim as a loud hiss pierced the air. So there I was, once again looking at a flat tire and a GPS reading 6 miles back to the Jeep. No patch kit would solve this issue. Nothing short of a new tube would help me now.

Ugh...

Sheered off...

Sucking it up, I threw the Stumpy on my shoulder and started hoofing it. I must say the trails and scenery sure look different at a walking pace. It took me about an hour and forty five minutes to get back. I guess it could have been worse; at least it didn’t rain on me.

Hoofing it...

Most rides leave me tired and sore. This ride was no different except which muscles were sore. My shoulders, biceps and ankles (of all things) were killing me. Good thing the S-Works Stumpy only weighs 23lb.

“It aint heavy it’s my bicycle…”

Enjoying the fall…
I have resigned myself to the fact that fall is here once again despite my best efforts to keep it from happening. With the Orbea on the Cyclops trainer, I have been able to get two to three trainings in per week now. It’s not as good as being outside but I’ll take what I can get. 

The basement set-up...

Beating the clock…
The sun sets at about 6:00pm now so to ride during the week requires leaving work around 4:00pm. This past Wednesday, I was scrambling to get in a full ride but still managed to enjoy myself. The Popple Bottom parking area of Trail of Tears is o-so-convenient and has been my starting point for many late afternoon rides. The S-Works has been riding great even with the mysterious fork issue. Smooth and fast over even the roughest sections. Man I love that bike, however, I guess I need to suck-it-up and get the fork serviced.

Rock Ride...

Saturday found me out for a long ride at Trail of Tears. The last five times out the trails have been pretty wet and this time was no different. I parked in the main lot and road the fast loop, to the outer loop, to Otis Atwood and back. It was pretty uneventful as I did not get chased by any Pheasants. The ride was smooth and flowing covering about 13+ miles.

Passing by...

Sunday was a reasonable day so I dug the P2C out for a ride. Covering about 17 miles, I cruised around Cotuit and Mashpee. It was quite windy but fun non-the-less. As I have been mountain biking a lot, the road bike felt so smooth and efficient. While I was roaming the country side Iron Chick was out for a 15+ mile run. Three weeks to the Cape Cod Marathon!

In front of Willow Bend Golf Club...

On another note, this weekend was Kona, the holy grail of Iron Man events. Iron Chick was pinned to the computer watching live streaming video. The usual suspects were there so the competition proved to be heated. We watched in awe as the competitors ground it out through a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. Yeh, I know what your thinking, they’re crazy.  In the end Craig Alexander won the men’s division and Chrissie Wellington won the woman’s.

Swim Start Ironman Kona

I think Iron Chick could do that some day if she wanted to. I would certainly support her any way I could.

Finishing it up…
Although I had to work Monday morning, I was able to meet Frank in the afternoon for a ride at Otis. We had a great time jamming around the usual loop and conquering lots of rocks. Frank had recently built a new Salsa 29er with which he proceeded to tear up the trails with. Very cool Bike. What a great fall day. Here are some shots… 

Frank, King of the hill...

Chasing Frank...

Rock Garden...

Follow-the leader...

The Salsa...

The Salsa...

Great deals…
If you frequent this blog, you know Iron Chick is friends with Wendi from Jersey, another died in the wool, hardcore athlete and all-a-round Iron Chick. Wendi works part time at Ridgewood Cycle where my wife bought her Cervelo P3c last year. Ridgewood Cycle has a few great internet deals happening if you are in the market for a new road bike.

These bikes are for sale on North Jew Jersey Craigslist  through Ridgewood Cycle if you have an interest or comment on this page and I’ll have Wendi contact you. Come on, you know you want one…

Cervelo Soloist
Size 54 cm
Full Ultegra
Easton Vista Wheels
$3,500 OBO

Cervelo Soloist For Sale

Jamis Eclipse
Size 53 cm
Ultegra Front & Rear
105 Brakes
Easton Vista Wheels
$1,900 OBO

Jamis Eclipse For Sale

Look 595
Size Medium
Full Dura Ace
FSA Crank
Bontrager Race Lite Wheels
$4,750 OBO

Look 595 For Sale

Calfee Tera Pro
Size 52 cm
Campy Chorus
Mavic Ksyrium Elite Wheels
$4,999 OBO

Calfee Tera Pro For Sale

Pinarello Galileo
Size 54 cm
Campy Centaur
Gipiemme Parade Wheels
$2,500 OBO 

Pinarello Galileo For Sale

  

Change of Seasons…
Well its official, the sun is setting around 6:15pm, Fall is here and the road bike is now on the trainer. With a change of seasons comes a change of routine. It’s not that I dislike riding on the trainer; it’s that I miss riding on the open road. I am moving to my Winter schedule, which calls for indoor training rides during the week and Mountain Biking on the weekends as leaving work early enough to make a decent ride is now challenging.

Might as well pick up the pace…
This past week I was able to ride Otis Saturday, Trail of Tears Sunday, the trainer on Tuesday Wednesday and Saturday and Trail of Tears again Sunday. Not a bad week. 

Cranberry Half…
Saturday absolutely poured rain. I’m talking buckets. The day was a washout but I had to work so it was no loss. I was starting to think the weekend would be a total loss for out door activity but Sunday turned out beautiful. Thank god it did as Iron Chick was running the Cranberry Half Marathon with her sister. Needless to say it would have been miserable if it hadn’t cleared.  The girls did great with Iron Chick running the half in just a hair over 2 hours.

Iron Chicks

Making a new friend???
I decided to go to Trail of Tears for a long ride. The trails were still pretty damp and wet rocks and roots were like landmines in the trail. Thank god I had no issues other than running in to a a crazy pheasant.  So I just finished climbing a killer hill and stopped to take a leak when I hear rustling in the bushes behind me. When low and behold out of the under brush comes a pheasant. It starts walking around me in circles almost like it’s stalking me. I decide to secure the family jewels and head down the hill in front of me riding a bit to the cross trail ahead. There’s a great jump there so I set up the camera for a few shots.  

Air...

After gitting a few photos, I stopped to load up the camera when I spotted the pheasant again and he’s back in stalking mode. Ok this thing is freaking me out now as he begins circling me again. I decide to see if it can keep up with an S-Works Stumpjumper and in a rooster of mud I’m off. Really weird but hey, I’m an attractive guy, what can I say.

Ramp ride

Rocking it...

I covered about 14 miles riding over the power lines to the fast loop then back along the outer loop (very hilly) to Otis Atwood where I almost crashed ridding up on the big rock. I guess muddy wet tires and a wet board don’t make for good traction. Squaring myself away, I head back to the main trails where I work my way back to the parking lot. The stumpy and I were both covered in mud but damn that was fun!    

Trailing...

I got it, no worries...

The S-Works...

Gotta love it…
Yeh, it’s great to live in such a beautiful place. I definitely consider myself lucky. With fall here, the days are getting shorter and I’m trying to enjoy every last minute of the good weather.

Roading it…
As I was working down in Falmouth for the day on Wednesday, I took advantage of the beautiful location by bring the Cervelo for a ride. It was slightly overcast but still tropical temperatures. I cruised the harbor and beach roads then took the bike path to North Falmouth and back.

Falmouth ride...

Making a few detours off the path to check out the near by beaches, I ran into a group of kite surfers having a ball in the wind. I covered about 27 miles and would have gone further but I was worried about running out of daylight. Good thing I elected to head back when I did as by the time I got the bike load up it was pretty much dark. Ugh, 6:35pm is just far too early!

Kite Surfers...

Riding Falmouth...

The Cervelo at rest...

Otis or bust…
Saturday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. Packing the S-Works into the Jeep I headed down to tear up Otis for a few hours. The weather and trail conditions were perfect for a 14 miler. Choosing the “Outer Loop” again, things were much smoother this week. I generally made all the hills only putting a foot down here and there. Even the killer rock garden hill was made again. Less tire pressure is definitely better.

Jambing...

Twist & shout...

I felt pretty good at the end of the regular loop so I added on a few more miles. Just rambling along, I came across a new set of ramps off the main trail. Serious drops were ser up on a down hill. The rock pictured here is about six feet up.

New ramps...Up and on...

Rockin it...

No- I did not go off it...

There were lots of others out as well. I ran in to Adam, who is one of the riders Tim and I met last week as well as a few other groups of people enjoying the day. I couldn’t have asked for a better ride.  

Adam out endoying the day

Plugged in…
As I sit on the front porch basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun, the lawn is freshly cut, the grill is sizzling up some burgers and Iron Chick is relaxing next to me. As I take a sip of my cocktail I think, “Damn good day”

Feeling it…
All work and no play is finally taking its toll on me. I have been feeling like an old sack of potatoes and worse yet, I’m beginning to look like one! To top it off, I just can seem to find enough energy lately.  Granted I have been pushing myself both at work and at home but my current state just sucks.

Not broke but you can see the cracks...

Last the week before I had been traveling which left me tired and cranky. However, this past week I was able to road ride Monday, mountain bike Tuesday, road ride Wednesday and mountain bike Saturday.

R & R is in order….
Saturday’s ride found Tim and I mountain biking at Otis. I had just been there on Tuesday but I don’t think Tim had been there for a few months. We head out about 9:30am on a beautiful but cold morning. I have really been craving off road riding so I planned to make the most it.  However, the S-Works is having some minor issues with the forks. I can’t put my finger on it but something is not right. I had the rear shock swapped out a few months ago and now it looks like the forks may need the same. The bike still rides nice but the travel seems to be limited to 100mm and I do not think the brain is working at all. Let me clarify that I am talking about the brain in the forks and not the one in my head all though that one may need to be serviced as well.

Tim rocking it...

Regardless the bike hauls ass and carried me over some 12+ miles of rough terrain. Trail conditions were decent but the ground still felt soft to me. I also think I had too much air in my tires as I lost traction on a few hills that I normally have no issues with. Letting out a little air seemed to help. As Tim and I headed to the Rotary, we made good time dicing and slicing through the overgrown trails.

Jamming...

From there, we elected to take what I call the “Outer Loop”. This section skits Otis Air Base and has a few killer rock gardens and some quad burning hills. I used to ride this loop years a ago but gave it up in favor of a more flowing one. I probably have not ridden it in a year and half. Most of my memories were of pain from the hills and rock gardens. At the time I was riding a Rocky Mountain Slayer which is really more of an aggressive trail bike or light free ride bike but at about 33lb it was heavy and at about 180lb so was I! Now I’m riding the Stumpy at about 23lb and I weigh about 162lbs, nice 30lb difference!  
 done

The cool thing was almost every section that I remember being dreaded was no big deal. I made the killer rock garden hill (I never made that damn thing) and made short work of other areas that once were my nemesis. We ran into a few other riders enjoying the day as well.

Other Riders Enjoying The day...

All in all a great ride on a beautiful day!

Sunday Bloody Sunday…

My wife had surprised me a couple of weeks ago by securing tickets to U2 at Gillette Stadium. This would be the second time I have seen U2, the first time being a couple of years ago in Hawaii at Christmas. That was a great concert and Boston proved to be just as great.

Fidelity Area

I had never been to the new Gillette Stadium but heard that is was great venue for concerts. To make it better, we were in the Fidelity Club Area.  Snow Patrol opened and played for about an hour. We made good use of the Fidelity area which has lost of cool amenities. I mean were else can you get martinis and sushi at a stadium?

Iron chisks and Martinis...

U2 came on at 9:00pm and played until about 11:00pm. The stage was spectacular and really an impressive use of technology. The sound was fantastic, generally crisp and clear with enough low base to rattle the rafters.

Before the show...

The concert was a good mix of old and new songs with a little political rhetoric thrown in for good measure. I am certainly no music critic but I find that I like U2’s older music better. It seems more powerful, raw and emotionally generated than the new stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I like most of their new music but really love their classic stuff.

Nearing the end of the show...

During the U2 Concert...

A great way to finish a great weekend.