Tonight I enjoyed some more Ferdinand Forest Fun. The plan was to get a good cardio workout, so what better way to do that then take my SS to Ferdinand when the heat was over 100 degrees yesterday. I loaded all my stuff up at lunch and was going no matter what. We had a good down pour when I was still at work, but I was going anyway. Riding in that would not have been as much fun, but I am sure it would have been cooler then it was. All the rain had stopped by the time I made it to the woods and the heat was picking back up. This was not so much fun, but it helps accelerate the training results. Nothing like sweating out several pounds of water.
I have to thank Shane for having us park at a different spot last week. We parked in a little farther then normal and closer to the lake. This is good for getting a little bit of road ride in to help warm up before we just drop in to the trail. That is part of the reason I liked parking down from the fire tower in the past. So, this time I headed toward Foxey Hollow and before I knew it I was on the trail. I was not sure how well I would climb with the SS since I have not been on it much this year and I was feeling tired all afternoon. I was shocked when I made it to the fire tower intersection so quickly and really did not have any trouble with the climbs. They were not easy, but I was plenty strong to ride them. I took a very short breather to take in what I just did and then took off for more fun. I didn’t stick around long because I was sweating bad, my glasses were fogging up and the flies were driving me crazy.
I was still riding good when I made it up the hill to the road. I don’t know why, but for some reason I went left and headed up to the fire tower. I can not remember how long it has been since I have gone that way. I normally go right and head down the road and over to the other fire lane that get’s to that trail. There is a fast down hill right behind the tower that will come up and bite you at the bottom if you have not been there before. The rock section was not too bad. I think a lot of them have settled in and ride smoother. When I made the next corner I quickly remembered the other reason I didn’t like going that way. That hill is relentless. I thought I was going to make it up, but had to get off late in the climb. I felt good about riding all that I did, but would have felt better if I had climbed it all.
The next few sections were not much more then normal and time was going good. I don’t know if I was going as fast as I would on the geared bike, but I was holding a steady pace and I am sure I was climbing faster for some sections. All of the weeds that were a problem last ride were taken cleared out. It was great not having sticker bushes scratch you all the time. The only bad thing with this is the fact that the weeds made me not notice just how bad the bugs were. I was wishing that I had some bug spray on to help. This was the first time this year that I had a problem with anything like that.
The rest of the trail rolled by nicely and I was ready to tackle Southridge. I decided to cross the dam and not mess with the section of trail the other way. Once again I had a moment that I must have lost my mind. I took the right and went up the craziest climb out there. I was doing much better then I though, but when it went even steeper, I had to stop and get off. This made the second time that I did not ride something, but those two hills are hard to clean with any gear.
After that section I figured out another good reason for parking in that spot. I headed out of the trail and really didn’t feel like riding down the road just yet, so I found myself dropping in to Foxey Hollow again. My legs and back were hurting and wore out, but I was going for more. I climbed everything again, but it was not as easy as the first lap. At the fire town intersection, I decided to take a right and head down the camp ground connector. I did not go all the way in to the camp ground, but took the left and headed in to the section that ends up behind the house.
I felt really good about my solid climbing with the SS. It is hard to say how fast or slow I was really going with out someone else there or a computer on the bike. I did end up riding for 2 hours, so none of that really mattered. I would say I ended up with 15-18 miles with the road sections. My lungs got a good work out and even felt good on some climbs. The only bad thing about the whole ride is I wished I had a 29er SS to ride. I hope some day that will be true and I will be happy with both bikes. I don’t hate my 1×1, but it does ride different then I had been riding. The other issue I had is it turns out that I guess I broke an eyelet on my front rim. I hope they hold up until I can get some thing figured out for a new ride.
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