The Yips

"Another one bites the dust. And another one down, and another one down..."

Ever had one of those rides where it doesn't matter how wide the bridge is, you ARE going to fall off of it? I've had two such rides.... No worries though, "Marty" is fine. He landed in the water once, while I made it to the stream bank, but nothing serious. The bridge, on a lesser used trail in Horse Hill Preserve, was sketchy at best, but.....

My second fall, at Yudicky in Nashua, was off of a narrow ramp going over a large tree. The ramp I rode up was much wider than the one going off the other side. Rode up, saw the downside ramp, grabbed brakes, and rode off the side and fell into the bushes. The bushes sustained crushing injuries....

So now I have the yips.....you know....when everything suddenly looks scary to ride on the bike, even the stuff you've done a million times! And then it's yips squared when it happens two days in a row....

But I'd have to say, I've had some great rides this week. The trails in the area are drying up nicely, and lots of trail gnomes have been out cleaning them up. (THANK YOU!)

Harold Parker in Andover, MA is great. On Wednesday we rode on the Jenkins Road side....more technical and rocky. "Marty" was great until the near dark flat (I"m still dealing with the thorn issue in the rear tire....) On Saturday went to Tucker Brook in Milford. Most of the trails had been cleared although we found a section that suffered immensely from the ice storm. Milford was one of those towns without power for almost 2 weeks this winter, so it's no wonder the trails need work. But Tucker Brook is a must ride. A lot more trail there than it appears on the map. If you look closely in spots (when you get to places that a trail should be....)you'll likely find one! My first ride there last summer did cause me to ride some trails the WRONG way.....trails that were definitely built to ride downhill! On Sunday we rode at Grater Woods in Merrimack. Tom Vallincourt has built some sweet trails in this area.....the milliped, the salamader, and now the eft trail. All sweet, twisty singletrack with some challenge thrown in here and there. Probably about 4 miles of trail total, and if you go out and back, it makes for a good ride. I've never seen a map of this area though..... On Monday John and I rode at Yudicky (as mentioned above). Another GREAT place to ride. About 1 1/2 hours of riding if you do all the trails. Again, a lot of nice twisty singletrack with a few more challenging trails with some stunts on the other side of the road. I first explored this area using Peter DeSantis' book "Get Out and Ride". It a good place to start....

Don't Eat Poop!

"I used to be disgusted. Now I try to be amused...." Elvis Costello

Let me tell you about my morning ride. I decided that despite the cold temps and the wind I would enjoy the sunshine and ride in Bear Brook State Park before heading off to work. The park still has lots of areas of ice (mostly on those downhill sections where you would rather not encounter any ice!) and sticks and branches from the winter ice storm, but the trails are otherwise in amazing shape! On a pleasant downhill section of trail I got a small stick stuck between my front derailer and my rear tire. Thought nothing of it....stopped, removed stick with gloved hand, and proceeded to wipe my nose with the same hand....mistake! I just wiped dog poop on my nose! NASTY! Proceeded to find large puddle, wash off glove (the beauty of Gortex) and face. As I was doing all of this I was reminded of the sage advice of a veterinarian regarding how to avoid parasites....."Don't eat poop!" I'll be weary of any unexpected weight loss after this mornings encounter!

This past weekend, John and I headed over to Franklin Falls in Frankin, NH on Saturday. These trails also had small areas of snow and were still soft, but overall the trails were in great shape. Franklin Falls is a fun place to ride and the Central NH NEMBA chapter has done lots of work building some excellent trails. They are fast and flowy, but still have some short steep climbs to get the heart rate up. I'm having some trouble adjusting the rear shock on "Marty". There seems to be very little difference in the firmness between fully open and ProPedal 3. I'm experimenting with pressure. Right now I'm riding it at 150psi (seems like a lot for someone 115 pounds!) I'm going to try to contact a GT techie and find some guidance.

On Sunday, we rode at Harold Parker in Andover, MA. We rode what I refer to as the "middle section" and found some muddy spots. There has been a lot of work in there since the Wicked Ride late last October. We spent some time working on the technical stuff. The GT goes very well in those conditions. I'm still very pleased with it's climbing and descending, especially over technical terrain. It's easy to ride and very forgiving. (Thinking of you, Hoss) John and I are looking to head over there again after work on Wednesday. This time we're heading to the Jenkins Road side to really beat ourselves up!

Looking to get some long rides in this weekend. The weather is supposed to be dry and relatively warm this week, so the local trails should dry up nicely. Maybe we can try someplace new.....

Down to Business

"Some they do, and some they don't, and some you just can't tell. Some they will, and some they won't, and some it's just as well." Supertramp

Been doint some riding....go figure! I now realize that I'm going to have to put in a lot of miles to have a respectible finish in the expert catagory. On Monday I was out in Bear Brook State Park. The singletrack trails still have lots of ice and snow in places, so I took to the snowmobile trails. Wow, talk about a hard ride! The trails were like riding on the beach! To say the least, harder than my planned recovery ride. On Wednesday I went out on the road bike with my good friend Holly Carson. I don't think I rode that bike last year.....but after putting some air in the tires and dusting the cobwebs out of the spokes, it was good to go! We did 30 miles of cold windy riding. But Holly showed me a great route with plenty of hills.

Tonight after work my plan is to ride over to the hospital trails in Concord, do a short loop in there (they are relatively dry for this time of year!) and then combine with a rode ride and another short loop in the Upton Morgan Town Forest on the edge of Concord. Hope not to run out of light....

Long Live the Queen

Sunday evening and I'm resting up after my first race as a member of the GT dirt coalition, the King of Burlingame Time Trial, held in Charlestown, RI. After all was said and done, there was a crowning of the King and Queen, and yes, last years reigning Queen still lives.....and it's NOT me! I managed a second place finish (or last, depending on how you look at it!) in Expert Women with what I thought was a respectable time of 38:04 (this by the way would have beaten the winning time from last year!) The winner however crushed me with a time of 34 minutes and some change! This was the first time I've ever done a time trial and it was fun! The course was challenging and I appreciated every inch of travel on the Marathon Pro (aka Marty)....he saved my butt a few times on course! Marty is fast and responsive and I think we are going to have a wonderful time together this summer.

April Showers

"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." Ben Franklin

(I wonder if he minds being called Ben....or is he one that would have preferred the more formal, Benjamin.)



Took the day off hoping to get a nice ride in, but instead the rain relegated me to a run. I went to Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH to run. The trails are still FULL of snow! Some of the trails are going to need some serious clean up.....the debris was covered by snow quickly after the ice storm. I'm hoping to get a clean up day with Southern NH NEMBA set up for May 3rd.



With all this rain, I decided it was the perfect day to make a cake. My dog agreed with me. Unfortunately (for me) the dog decided that the cake was fair game in the front seat when I went in to buy cat food! Maybe she just knew it would slow me down in the time trial this weekend....( I was trying to post the picture, but it won't let me.)

Now On to the Training

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." Robert F. Kennedy

I can only hope that when I dare to go "brakeless" down that downhill it doesn't result in MY death! But my hope runs high when I'm riding "Marty".....very stable on the descents. I"ve got the bike fitting me better and had a great ride last night at Harold Parker in Andover, MA. We rode in the area by the State Police barracks and it had been raked out and all the roots and rocks were dry....absolutely hero conditions! It was fortunate because I was willing to try to test my skill on the bike and see what both I and it can do. The front end is easy to get up and over things and that front and rear wheel stick when going over stone walls and log rolls. I'm still working on the best position to climb from.....

John and I are going on Sunday to the King of Burlingame time trial. It should be fun.....I'm looking forward to about 40 minutes of pain.