Sheltowee Trace

Wow, I can’t believe how long it has been since I have posted. I had a great ride on the Sheltowee Trace near London, Ky. Work has been crazy so I will post some pictures just to pass the time. I hope to add some more text soon.

Daniel Ridge and Butter Gap

Sunday was another great day in the woods. It started out colder then the previous days, but we also started a little earlier. The plan was to do a short ride so we could hit the road early and still make it back home before 1 am. The ride started at the Fish Hatchery. We took off up the road and did Danial Ridge counter clockwise > road climb > Butter Gap > Fish Hatchery.

The water fall on Daniel was looking good as usual. As we were looking at it a biker came up from behind us and passed on. We said hi, but he seemed to be in a hurry. I didn’t think too much of this, but it seems there was a reason that we did not know yet. As we kept going on Daniel Ridge, we noticed some cars parked in different areas and several people hanging. It looked like there was something going on, but we were not sure. As we rode along Scott said, is the Swank 65 this weekend? Well, I had not thought about that. I did see that it was coming up some time, but did not know when.

Well not too long after that we knew for sure as what I think was the two leaders passed us. It was great! We were getting cheered by the crowd at the top of the hill as we were climbing.  Several of the top riders passed as we kept riding. Those front runners were flat out moving. I think I could have rode faster if I needed too, but I am no way ready for that kind of pace on those trails. We were definitely on some of the same path, but not exactly. At one point Scott asked a guy where they were headed and he said Farlow. Well, Farlow was not on our loop, so I knew at some point we would loose the racers. It just was not as soon as I thought it would. It seems they also climbed the road and headed out toward Butter before doing some loop to get back to Farlow. Oh well, it was interesting to see all of the riders pass. At one point the rest stop was even trying to see if we needed anything. We both declined and kept going. I am not sure if they knew we weren’t with the race or not.

That road climb up is one heck of a long climb. I did this back in March and thought it would never end. As you would crest a incline that looked like the top, you would turn a corner and then it would look like you were just starting. This weekend it seemed to go better, but it was still long. I know I am in much better shape then I had been the last few times I was there. All the climbing I have been doing on the SS has helped in some places, but it also has not helped in others. I am not as strong when I have to just sit and spin in the granny. I do much better when I am moving a little faster and pushing a little bigger gear. Either way I was still doing better. I just hope each trip keeps getting better. I have a goal of actually finishing PMBAR in 2010.

The road climb was worth it as Butter Gap was so much fun! There is nothing like a slice of Butter. Spread it all around and share it with everyone. As we rolled back in to the Fish Hatchery parking lot I was feeling a little sad. It is always depressing when I know it is time to leave and head home. If I could make it work out, I would move to Brevard in a second. But, there are too many issues that I will not push that to happen. If it was 20 years ago it might have been a different story, but it is not. We preceded to load up the shuttle and head north making sure to stop at the nearest Moe’s for some grub.

I would like to thank Scott @ ICS and the ICS Shuttle for making this trip possible. There is no better way to see Pisgah then with a guide like Scott that needs no map and can take you to all the great little gems that are hard to find. To top the experience off with a trip in the ICS Shuttle. It is so nice to just be able to park, pull the curtain and you are set. I also have to thank Scott for all the good pictures. My camera took the big dump two years ago and I have not had the pleasure of replacing it yet, that is on the list for this winter. So, if you happen to be in the Indy area make sure to stop by Indy Cycle Specialist. Tell them Bentcrank sent you.

Pilot Rock

I had to recruit a little help and found out a little closer as to where we actually went. The Friday ride looked a little more like this

wolf ford rd>SMR>Black>Turkey pen>SMR>Mullinx>Squirrel>SMR>wolf ford rd

Saturday was going to be a little shorter ride, but not lacking on fun. We started out about the same time, but figured we would not need the lights. The day looked like this: up Pilot cove>Pilot cove connector>laurel mt>Pilot rock. It was another beautiful day to be in the woods. We hung out on slat rock for awhile and just enjoyed the sun and view.

At the last intersection before the hike-a-bike up to Pilot, we ran in to a few other guys. Actually two groups of two. Two of them were more locals and knew what they were doing, but the other two guys were from WV and were having a rough time of it. The one guy was out of water and the other was feeling real bad. We have them a little water to help out and helped point them in the direction toward their car. It sounded like there were out there for a while and already did Squirrel before heading up to Laurel and were parked close to where we were. It was good to see at least one of them having a good time yet.

We then saw a SS’er and a dog roll by us as we were checking out the Pilot Rock view. He was rolling along good and didn’t stop for us to figure out who he was or anything. I have to admit that I did not ride the switch backs very well. Actually I think I rode it better the last time I was there and at the time the sun was going down fast. I don’t know why I didn’t do better. I didn’t think I would clean everything, but there were sections that I should have rode that I didn’t. I did start to ride a little better after I was past a few of the first corners.

The rest of the trip back was fairly uneventful. We loaded up and cleaned up a little then headed in to town. We needed to pick up a few supplies for food or go eat some place. It was decided to hit up the Mexican place just past the stop light. It looked like there were several bikers eating there. We then found a new place to park for the night since we were staring from the Fish Hatchery for our Sunday ride.

Shuttle ride to Brevard

I saw a small opening in my calendar for last weekend. I knew right away what I needed to do, so I made contact with the shuttle pilot to see if there was a chance to hitch a ride to Brevard. It seems the stars aligned for me and with the weather and some other things working out, the call was made to tell me what time the shuttle was going to pass over.

My bike was not fairing too well after last weekends ride in the mud. I didn’t think it was that bad, but my bike sure looked like it was. I made sure to wash it off when I got home, but time was tight and I did not have time to lube everything up and make sure everything was working. Turns out it would have been a good idea to do that a little sooner. With the planned crossing of paths to be on Thursday, I better get a move on. I had things going on every night and had to change some other plans around to make this trip work. At first glance the bike was not going to be good, but after lots of oil things started moving again and I could get it in fair working condition for the trip.

Thursday was quickly upon me and before I knew what was going on I was headed east to cross paths with the shuttle. I met up with Scott at Moe’s for some grub. We swapped my stuff over and headed to the parking spot. Shortly after that it was south bound. With the rock slide on 40 the trip is an extra hour longer. This is not good for a trip that is plenty long already, but eventually we rolled on to 1206 and looked for a spot to land the shuttle.

Friday morning started out a little cold and we didn’t get things started real early. The good thing with sleeping in is that it was nice and warm when we started riding. With the route planned for the day, this meant we needed to pack the lights to make sure we could find our way back. With short and short sleeve jerseys on, we headed down 1206 to the gauging station and on to the trail. Now I am not the most knowledgeable for the area. I can get by with a map, but I am not sure of all the names. I think we were on South Mills to start. From there we headed up to the stairs intersection. From there the trip headed us down Black for all the fun hike-a-bike sections of Black. It seems like just as things get going it was time to turn on to Turkey Pen. Turkey was a blast to ride and with all the leaves down it kept me on my toes just trying to see what I was riding over.

From the Turkey lot, I think we headed down another section of South Mills road headed toward Squirrel Gap. We did not make it threw Squirrel before it was time to put on lights on. If you want to ride something interesting, try riding Squirrel Gap in the dark with thick piles of leaves everywhere and with one HID light. The ride was going well and then I kind of slid out and not fully over the bars. It woke me up and I figured that I better keep my eyes open. Well I must not listen to myself very well, because I did not wreck one more time after that, but I flipped over the bars two times in 10 minutes. I could not believe it when it happened the third time. That one also hurt the most and left several marks on me and some that are still showing up. Well I decided to take it a little easier after that point and didn’t have any more unexpected trips for the rest of the ride. I did have a back tire that was loosing air and I had to stop and air it up 3 times. I should have just changed it, but I was not sure it needed it. The back tire has been loosing some air over a few days. It was since Wed. at lunch that I put any air in and the trip down in the cold might have made it a little softer. Well, after the second time I put air in it, I knew it was not just the cold air, but we were getting fairly close to the van and I just wanted to make it back. At this point I had put my arm warmers on, but was starting to get real cold. I should have put my jacket on, but it seemed like it was too much work to dig it out. I sure wish I took that extra time! Just when we make it back to the start of 1206 I was feeling good about the ride. Then I remembered how far up the road we parked. That was not a fun climb to the van, but it was sure a happy sight to see when my lights finally spotted home base.

After I changed in to some warm clothes and we chowed down some pasta I was done. We were trying to find something on TV and ended up putting in a DVD. I don’t remember much of that. All I remember is waking myself up with my snoring. After doing this a few times I gave in and hit the sack. I needed some good sleep to mend my wounds and tired body. We have another full day to ride on Saturday and a partial ride on Sunday.

I hope to have the rest of the weekend up tomorrow.

More French Lick fun

I took another trip up to French Lick on Sunday. I was not sure if I was going to be able to get out or not and I didn’t know if the weather was going to cooperate. So, when I got the go ahead signal for Sunday, I busted out the door as fast as I could and down the road. I took the NRS for this trip. I have recently had the seals replaced in the old shock and wanted to see if it was working or not. The temporary shock I picked up is starting to show some signs of not wanting to work, so I thought I better have something done before it is too late. I also tuned a few things up and replaced a bent brake lever with one that I had. It was time to get it prepared for some winter trips to Pisgah.

When I showed up to the entrance of the trail there were two riders hanging out by the platform. I chatted them up a little and found out that we knew some of the same people. So, I joined them on the trip up the hill. Knowing they did some road racing, I was a little concerned that they would be moving too fast for me, but I held my own on the way up. I could have used a little more warm up and not riding any gears for the last several weeks made the sit and spin harder. The trail was very soft in some corners and some wet sections too. I kept up for the trip up and didn’t have any problem keeping up on the trip down. The one guy even let me by him, but I was not sure he needed too. It was nice pushing it harder then a normal ride. That makes the last two rides a lot faster then I normally ride. This is a good thing. I need to build some speed back in my legs so I can get stronger. I don’t need to be a speed demon, but it does not hurt to go a little faster some times.

I talked them in to doing another lap the other way and I took them out on a loop that showed them some of the new stuff. It looked like there is more trail out there that I need to check out. Maybe the next time I am up there I will head deeper in to the new section. After this part we tied back in to the main loop and continued on down the hill. They let me lead for the way down. I guess I was going strong enough that they thought I would do just fine in the front. The one guy kept up with me and we were having a great time. Since the pace was pushed the whole ride it didn’t slow me down on the hills either. I can’t believe I didn’t crash on that down hill. The leaves were thick in spots and the corners were slick. I had several times that I thought I was going down, but it never happened. I made sure to catch a little air when I could, just to make sure I was smiling.

After we made it to the bottom and everyone got there, they figured it was time for them to head home. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. They went home and I went back up the hill. I thought about going out the new section to see the new stuff, but I was starting to run out of time and I didn’t want to get home late. So, I just did a normal lap. The way up was a little slower, but I still found some stuff in me to head down the hill normal.

The NRS didn’t ride too bad. I figured there would be some good things and some bad things. It did feel like everything was flat, but it was not. The suspension was nice for some stuff, but for some reason I missed the rigid on some sections too. Over all I don’t think I went any faster or slower then I do with my SS. There were sections that I went faster, but there were also sections that I went slower, so it all netted out in the end. I plan on taking the SS the next time I head up there, but would not be opposed to riding the NRS.

It does look like I need to make sure the NRS is lubed up and in good rolling form for this weekend. The shuttle is heading to Pisgah and I will have my self along for the ride.

Probar – the bar to end all bars

I have tried something recently that was too good not to pass on to my readers and everyone that I talk to. I now have a new favorite energy bar that will be hard to beat. Let me give you a little back ground incase you don’t already know. I used to race mountain bikes most of the way threw the 90’s. This meant I was riding or racing 6 days a week for most of the year. I would travel to neighboring states if that was where the races could be found. After my racing interest started to fade, that didn’t keep me from riding my bike. I would spend 4-8 hours at a time riding my bike in the woods with my friends.

During all of this time nutrition was always something that I was trying to figure out. To race or ride at your best one must keep your body fueled for the whole ride. This need lead to me experimenting with lots of different products. I witnessed the very first gel that hit the market and lot of different brands of energy bars. Most of the products would do the job if you could make yourself eat it. Some products tasted better then others, but overall they were hard to eat. I did find some products over the years that seemed to be the best thing ever, but in reality they were just better then all of the other products that are available at the time. As I kept eating these things, they keep getting harder and harder to eat.

Over the last several years I had started to stray from the standard energy bar and start to pack real food in bags. It was much better to eat real food then try to choke down the dry compressed energy bars. This was much better for me, but there is an issue with packing lots of food on the trail, it takes up a lot of room. I could manage if I was to carry a water pack, but if I wanted to just use my pockets it was more of an issue.

I had heard of a new name of a bar, Probar that some friends had been using, but never had the opportunity to try it. Well this year at the Brown County Breakdown I figured it would be a good time to try them out. I had the good people at Indy Cycle Specialist bring me some bars to the event for me. My plan was to ride the 75 mile route on my rigid single speed. This was going not going to be easy and to make matters worse it was wet the week up to the event. Trails were soft and some spots were very hard to keep the bike moving.

I was out there on my own and riding well. As the tank was being drained I figured I should stop and try to re-fuel. This was the big moment that I didn’t know I was waiting for. I grabbed a Whole Berry Blast Probar out of my pocket and started to eat it. WOW! This thing was like no other bar that I had ever tried. It was packed full of food. Not only processed and dried stuff, but real food!  I could not believe I was actually eating a bar. It tasted like I was eating a bag of fruit and nuts mixed together. This was not only good, but was full of good stuff that recharged me and had me rolling down the trail again in no time. I truly think that the Probar got me over the hump and kept me rolling toward my goal. There were a lot of riders that cut their ride short because of a section of trail that was really soft and took a lot out of their legs.

Once I was passed a easy turn around spot, I kept going toward my goal. The next big turn around rest stop I was feeling shot and was trying to talk myself in why it was a good reason that I went far enough that I could head back toward the start. Well, after another Probar was enjoyed I got up to tell the guy checking in the riders that I was going back, but when I got there for some reason I said I was going in to the next section and I was on my bike going deeper in to the ride in no time. I still don’t know what happened there, but the only thing I can think is that the Probar did its job and got me ready to go for some more. I ended up with 70 miles for the day in some less then perfect conditions in a time that I was very happy with. There were definite times that I was trying to talk myself out of everything, but the energy that the Probar gave me kept me going toward the goal.

If you have not tried the Probar yet, I highly recommend trying it. It is a pleasure to eat and there are several good flavors to pick from. I have a few more flavors on my list to try. I thought they were so good that I am considering eating a Probar for my daily breakfast to keep me full and energized for work.

I am famous

Well not exactly but I have shown up on youtube. Here is a video from part of the French Lick trail. I hope you enjoy.

I would like to thank Dirty Beaver Productions for this great video.

Racing the sun

Another great ride at French Lick. I had been planning on taking off work on Friday and heading up to BCSP for a ride. I knew I would be camping all weekend with the scouts and would not be able to get a ride in, so I figured this was my best bet. After hearing the forcast for the rest of the week, it looked like there was a good chance I would get rained out. So, after some last minute planning, I rushed out the door from work and was on my way.

I hurried home to get all my stuff and headed down the road as quick as I could. I signed in at the pro shop right at 5:00 and headed down the trail. With all of the rushing to get there, knowing Beaver was out there and then seeing Alex’s car, I was pushing it fairly hard to see if I could catch up to someone. On the way up the trail looked to be in great condition. I was trying to figure out if it was getting enough traffic to keep the trail clear or if the leaves were actually blown off of the path. Right around the short cut I found the answer to that. I could see Alex heading down the other side with a back pack blower in tow. So, I busted it down the trail to meet up with him. It is always good to hook up with friends that you don’t get to see very often.
At this point I start to get a little bummed about my decisions. What am I talking about? Well let me step back a few steps here. Before I knew I was going there were a few options rolling around in my head. One was to head to BCSP for a night right with the group. But, with further checking I figured out that the groups were on Tuesday and Thursday. So, that left me on my own. Normally I am limited on my time for Wednesday’s since the wife has her bowling night and I usually take care of the boys. I thought about taking Thursday off work and heading up to FL after she got home from bowling to do a night ride. That was frowned upon and probably for good reason since I would not have made it there until about 10:00. During this point I promised not to head up there and do a night ride on my own. I am not sure why the big concern, but I said it and was going to hold up my end. I decided to not take my lights along, becuase I knew if I had them, I would use them. Back to my conversation on the trail and I think it was the second thing out of Alex’s mouth was the big question, Did you bring your lights? Dammit! I knew I should have thrown them in the car. I have wanted to night ride there for a while and to have someone to ride with would have made it even better. Oh well, all was not lost. I still had a good ride before it was time to head home.

One good thing that did happen is I ran in to Beaver on the way up. I think he took some video of the ride back down. I am looking forward to seeing how I look from the back. The only negative about that is for some reason I dropped my chain again and had to stop. Well, I think the record button was missed when we started again. This is a bummer too because I was rolling good and hitting up the jumps and features. Big smiles were to be had on that down hill. The ride was a good one no matter how I look at it. I could have been sitting at home eating pizza or something non-productive. The good thing about not having a lot of time, I was pushing it fairly hard and still got a good work out. I am starting to think that I should try pushing a bigger gear and see how well I do.

The new extension trail was broke threw to the loop yesterday. It still needs a lot of cleaning up before it is like the rest of the loop, but it is shaping up real nice. It looks like there is a long way to go before it is complete, but it is on the way. Not sure it will be rideable for the grand opening this weekend, but all the other trails should be in good shape.

I tried my luck at French Lick

I had another great day in the woods at French Lick this weekend. I was not sure what was going to end up happening because of the weather, but it turned out much better then I thought it would. Friday night I figured the weather would keep me from riding on Saturday. Sunday looked like the better day, but with soccer games and other stuff going on, I did not think it would be a good option.

The sun actually came out fairly early on Saturday. I was doing stuff around the house like cleaning up the bike shop. I have had a lot of stuff collecting in that area and some stuff needed to find a home. I now have more room to work around while I work on my bikes. I also thought of a few things to do to help with future issues of clutter, but we will see how long it takes to do that.

Well, I could only walk by the window so many times before the thought in my head said to go ride or you wont! This was probably a true statement and it was not too hard to talk myself in to packing up my stuff and heading north. I didn’t make it to the trail head as early as I wanted too, but I was within a half an hour. I quickly geared up and headed out the trail. I started out CCW and figured that the worst section would be right at the start. Well I was wrong. The new section seemed to settle in since the last time I was up there. Just down the trail I did find the worst places out there. There were about two sections in this part that were wetter then I would normally like to ride. They were short and everything else seemed in good shape, so I kept going.

I did a lap each way and then mixed in the short cut for some other options. I tried to stay away from the one section as much as I could and only hit it up twice. I did take the tour and headed out to check on the new stuff that is being built. It looked like there was a lot done over the last two weeks and I wanted to check it out. I didn’t think the dirt would work for a test ride, but as I rolled on to the trail it held up nice and was much harder then I expected. I cruised along this new section amazed at how fun this place keeps getting. The bad thing is it was shorter then I hoped and had to turn around to head back out the same way I came in. Maybe the next time I make it up there it will be busted threw to the main loop or at least to a fire lane that goes to the loop. I sure hope they don’t changed their mind about the cost of riding there, but if they do, I hope there is a yearly option that does not cost too much.

Dino 2010 Series Schedule

Well it looks like the DINO series already have the races dates for next year.

5/1 Warsaw: Winona Lake Trail
6/6 Nashville: Brown County State Park
6/19 French Lick: French Lick Resort (US Cup Regional Qualifier)
7/4 North Vernon: Muscatatuck County Park (AMBC)
7/25 Versailles: Versailles State Park
8/15 Logansport: France Park
8/29 Indianapolis: Town Run Trail Park

Other mountain bike events:
4/10 DINO Spring Tune-up, Avon
9/11 24 Hours of DINO, Versailles
Looks like this year would be a good year for a southern Indiana resident to fair well in the series. I think it has been a while since there were so many races in the southern part of the state. A lot of that has to do with all the new trails that have been built over the last few years. To add to the newer location of Brown County State Park and Versailles, there will also be a race at the new French Lick trails. This place is a good addition to the trails available for races. It should be interesting to see how it is set up and how well everything runs. I will keep my eye out on this weekend and I hope I am free to head up there to check it out or maybe even race.

I am not too much in to the XC racing thing for a long term solution to my riding, but I am open to doing some races if I am free that weekend and I don’t have to travel very far. I am not sure how well I will do, but it is always good to run in to some people that you only seem to see at races. Never know, I just might find some good legs by then.

I do hope to find some money to finally do a 24 hour race that I have been wanting to do for the last few years. The only thing about not actually being able to do one so far, is the fact that I keep getting stronger for the all day rides. The more I ride 5-8 at a time, the more I will be ready to do battle with my inner self and see who comes out on top. I just hope that some things will work out so that I can do a few more things that I have missed the last few years.