Weather Perfection: Saturday Delight

So I know that lately I've been gushing about the mountain biking, but honestly I can't get enough. My buddy Ryan (who happens to be a professional cyclist) and I went out to Issaqueena today. It was the first really nice day in quite some time, and it was great to spend a good deal of it outside. The dirt was packed down and dry, but still damp enough to gain some serious traction. I also tried out this new portable speaker I bought specifically for biking so I could listen to some tunes while riding and it worked perfectly. Despite the large number of cars in the lot, we only saw a few people on the trails; probably because many were walking or running up and down the fire roads as opposed to the actual trails. Good thing, too, because we were moving at a pretty good clip.

With some of my other friends, I occasionally have to wait up for them just because I tend to ride quicker. With Ryan though, he moves really quickly and it's even tough for me to keep up sometimes. But this is a good thing, as it challenges me to pick my lines quicker and react on a moment's notice to the trail ahead. It really takes a lot more concentration than you might think; it amazes me how the downhillers do it all in milliseconds.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect: sunny, not a cloud in sight, in the 50's and 60's. Now that Daylight Savings time is beginning, I'm hoping to get out there riding more often! And on that note, don't forget to push your clocks forward!

On a side note, I've been realizing that what I write about is starting to sound like journal entries, and that's not really what I intended this blog to be. If you have topics you might want to hear about, or ideas of things to write about, please leave them below! I look forward to getting back to material with some real profundity.

Satisfyingly Muddy .

Today, despite the pouring rain of the morning hours, I decided to head out on a trail ride with a buddy. We knew it was going to be wet, but nothing could have prepared us for the rivers that were on the trails.

The thing about mountain biking is, the more mud you add, the more fun it is (save for, of course, the much larger potential for spills on the trails). If dry trails are a challenge, wet ones are more challenging. But rivers on the trails means every root is slippery, even just a normal turn will send you into a rear wheel skid, and if you don't sit back on the climbs, you'll be spinning your rear tire faster than you can clip out.

I liked the added challenge, and thankfully, once you were wet, you were yet. Once the bottom of your pants are soaking and you have that nice mud trail climbing up your back, it won't get any worse than that (provided you don't slide off the trail into the low-side lake at Issaqueena where we ride). At times it was a little too wet for me, and the mud was so crazy that I even had it in my face by the end. Who knew that the front wheel could kick up so much crap?

The one unfortunate thing I am learning is that if you want to keep your bike in top shape, that means cleaning it every time after you ride, especially after a super dirty ride like this morning. That means taking apart the brakes, wiping down the spokes and the rims, degreasing the chain and the cogs and gears, and making sure the forks are free of dirt and grime. I don't necessarily go to that extreme, and in some cases I am lacking some of the tools (like degreaser and a stiff brush to clean the gears) but those things will come in time and I have gotten in the habit of washing down my bike pretty good when I get home (and my shoes too).

Basically, if you don't mind getting a little dirty, mountain biking is a great sport to take up that keeps you in some serious shape. It'll kick your butt, literally, and murder your legs. But it's really fun too, and nothing can really beat flying through the woods pedaling as fast as you can while dodging trees and hopping rocks.

hartshorne in a a heat wave .

Feeling ambitious, yesterday I scheduled a morning ride with a coworker up at Hartshorne Woods. The woods is located in the Highlands area of New Jersey, which is probably one of the coolest areas. Think steep hills, woods, nice houses, and a great cliffside view of the oceanic waterways. Despite the multiple-day heat wave (which honestly is 10x worse because of the feckin' humidity) we decided to go for it. Traffic in the morning was a bitch as it usually is during rush hours, but we made it, and started with a steep, rooty climb up the fire road.