8/31/11 Loon Lake

I went to McCall to ride Loon Lake today. 

This is a narrow rocky trail.  The rocks were rather rough on my pedals.

The lake was pretty and the day was nice and sunny.  Not too hot or too cold.

This wasn't as great a ride as I hoped.  It was pretty, but I spent a fair amount of time walking my bike because of all the rocks and tree roots in the trail.  But, my mountain bike is officially broken in.

8/29/11 I take it back

Ok.  I take it back.  I do want to do another century.  I had a great 20 mile ride today.  I felt fresh and fast in the saddle. 

Looking back on the riding season, I've had a great one.  This is the first year that I had riden seriously and put on real miles.  The first time I rode 35 miles I thought I was going to die.  When I rode the blue cruise and did the 50 mile route, I thought I was going to die.  Now 50 miles is nothing.  If I keep up my training next year 100 miles will be nothing. 

Maybe I'll get two centuries in next year.

8/27/11 I'm Never Gonna Do That Again

Today I rode my first (and last) century.  I was out in Payette and Washington Counties.  The first 50 some miles were great, but then I started cramping.

I must have taken a wrong turn and ended up in Africa, because I saw a Zebra and an Emu.  I had to walk my bike across this crazy bridge, because there were only two strips on the bridge for car tires to fit on.

I proud that I finished it, but it was extremely painful.  My right leg kept craming and I had to repeatedly get off my bike to stretch it.  I had to do this every mile or so towards the end.

08/25/11 Rabbit Run Trail and D's Chaos Trail

I used my new Ridge to Rivers map to try out some new trails by Eagle.  These two trails were great.  It was narrow single track, with lots of curves and switchbacks.  I was almost thrown from my bike a couple of times.

08/21/11 Breaking in the new mountain bike

Yesterday, when I dropped off my road bike to get tuned up, I bought a new Fuji 29" Nevadan mountain bike.  I decided to break it in today.  Unfortunately after church, it was 98 degrees out.  The trail was really hot.  The upside was that I only had to share the trail with some cows and grasshoppers.

Mountain biking is so different than road biking.  It's all anarobic.  You pedal really hard to go uphill, then you fly downhill.  I think mountain biking is probably the closest thing I can do to flying.  It is amazing how you fly over all the bumps on the trail, with your body sitting lightly on the saddle.  It is an amazing feeling.

8/20/11 1,000 mile mark broken

Today I broke the 1,000 mile mark with a 40 mile ride.  I felt great in the saddle and am feeling ready for my century next weekend.  My ride was shortened by a flat tire.  I wasn't prepared for that.  Fortunately Stephanie and the kids came to my rescue with a ride home.

8/11/11 Corrals Trail 31 & Hardguys Trail

I took off on a 1 & 1/2hr mountain bike ride.  I started off on corrals trail 31, but chose to branch off on hardguys trail.  There should be a sign that reads studs only, because that trail is straight up.  Much of it I had to walk my bike.  It was a lot of narrow and rocky single track.  The climbs were steep and I could taste the sweat on my lips.  Some of the decents were so steep I had to walk my bike down those as well.  I'm going to half to get my breaks worked on after this ride though.

The high desert is beautiful.  It reminds me of my childhood.  The sage brush, cattle, thistles, and the flowers are all so beautiful.

8/9/11

I tried a different route today.  I left my house, rode through Meridian and Boise and South of Kuna.  Nice climb up Kuna Cave Road and came home on Robinson Road.  59 miles in all and it took 3hrs 38 minutes.

I'm starting to come to the realization that the century ride and the end of the month may be a bit out of my grasp at this time.  It may take another year of riding to get to a point that my body can handle that many miles and that amount of time in the saddle.

8/7/11

20 miles of interval training in the heat.  Feeling a little soreness in my left knee.

8/6/11 a new loop

I tried a new loop today.  I left my house and headed to Middleton, then took the old Emmett Highway to Emmett.  I took a short break in the Emmett Park (one of the places that Stephanie and I fell in love).  After my stretching break and rode up Freeze Out Hill and took Hwy 16 home.  The trip home was super windy.  In total 46 miles in 2 hrs 56 minutes.

My Century in a couple of weeks seems daunting after this.

8/5 Communting to work

Storing my gear in my office after communiting to work.

8/3 100 degrees

Hot 20 mile ride.  Just working on getting my pace up for the upcoming century ride on 8/27.