Black Friday ride with Ana

Today Ana wanted to ride out at Boyette, she found out how difficult the trails we ride really are. We started out at Loch Ness, then rode Randy's Trail, then rode the fire roads to the East Meadow. We took East Meadow to the West Forest, to the fire Road, and down to Red Shirt (a red shirt is indeed hanging from the tree at the beginning of the trail). We rode Red Shirt to the end of the NW quad and then headed back.

Ride Stats and Map:
Ride Time: 1:13:18
Stopped Time: 44:54
Distance: 8.92 miles
Average: 7.30 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 16.03 miles/h
Climb: 99 feet
Calories: 449


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Dual-a-thon 5K turkey trot and 10 mile bike ride

Today I finally accomplished something I have wanted to do for a while - completing a dualthon. Now, unfortunately this wasn't an official race (the 5K was) but there isnt an off road bike race anywhere near here.

5K:I started the morning off at the Fishhawk Turkey Trot 5K, ran a 31:31. Not bad. The crappy part of this race was that I had updated my iPhone the night before and it wiped all of my music off. I even tried to buy an album and found that it still wouldn't let me get to it. This sucked, because I have a hard time running without it. I suppose I could have grabbed my ipod from the car, but I digress. Overall the race was good and as fun as organized running can be.

10 Miles at Boyette:
I met Shawn, Ryan, and Pepper's brother, Peter at Boyette (which is a 10 minute drive from where the 5K was being held. My goal here wasnt necessarilly for time, but for distance. I also had to be back home by 11:30, so I did need to keep an eye to the clock. I ended up getting a little over 10 miles done, in just under 60 minutes total ride time.


Run Statistics and Map:
Started: Nov 25, 2010 8:13:21 AM
Run Time: 31:59
Distance: 3.11 miles
Average: 10:16 /mile
Fastest Pace: 9:04 /mile
Climb: 8 feet
Calories: 451


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Ride Statistics and Map:
Started: Nov 25, 2010 9:23:18 AM
Ride Time: 59:31
Distance: 10.91 miles
Average: 11.00 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 17.08 miles/h
Climb: 181 feet
Calories: 511


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Tuesday Night Ride

Well, when you can't ride in the dirt...the roadz will suffice!

Ride Stats:
Started: Nov 23, 2010 8:42:38 PM
Ride Time: 32:55
Stopped Time: 5:35
Distance: 8.52 miles
Average: 15.52 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 19.32 miles/h
Climb: 17 feet
Calories: 568
158 average heart rate
181 heart rate peak

Sunday Night Ride

Well, I didn't get to hit the trails today, so after the baby was asleep and the trash was taken out, I decided to go for a run...which after the first mile turned into a bike ride....

Ride Stats:
Started: Nov 21, 2010 9:02:16 PM
Ride Time: 35:41
Distance: 7.77 miles
Average: 13.06 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 18.74 miles/h

Santos Trails Ride (Ocala, FL)

Well, after talking about going to Santos for a few weeks, we finally made our way up to Santos mountain bike park in Ocala. Jason, Ryan, Shawn, and I headed up around 7, and after stopping for breakfast, finally arrived around 9:30. We couldn't have asked for better weather, with the day starting off in the low sixties and rounding out around 80F with no humidity. It is so nice not to need to change shirts three times due to the heat.

The first thing we saw was a small skills building area - it was a small pump track, a low penalty bridge and other various little obstacles. We rode around here for a little bit and then hit the Pine Tree trail. This trail is an easy trail that loops around the Santos trails. We took the Pine Tree trail to Marshmallow, a windy trail with a few rocks and roots tossed in for good measure. The next trail we did was called speedway which featured several switchbacks and offered a quick pace (especially on the downhill sections. From here we rode up the Blue Hiway and at this point we split up a bit. Jason, Ryan, and Shawn took the John Brown trail, a red (very difficult trail) while I opted to take Dr. Ruth around to where John Brown exited. This section of Dr. Ruth was a miniature rock garden, meaning that there were several section of rocky, gnarly sections to ride over.

I arrived at the exit of John Brown and snapped some photos:

The exit to the John Brown trail


The Spesh looking up towards Magic Mountain


From here we rode down Cow Bone to the Blue Hiway, and crossed the street to the Vortex trails. We rode down dog bone (which while being an easy trail, had a couple of jumps that were awesome fun).

Vortex Area and Skill Filters

"Skill Filters - better be pedaling fast"


The vortex area has what they call "skill filters". The first skill filter was a small wooden bridge that was about 2 feet wide and at the highest point was about 2-3 feet tall - plenty easy. We entered the play area, which consisted of a pump track and several insane jump areas. We all played around on the pump track for a bit and watch guys who were jumping their bikes at least 6-8 feet in the air and then riding a wall turn at the end of the track. After watching for a little while we headed back toward the enterance of the park. Shawn and Jason decided to ride back in and go take the red trails, Ryan and I took the 3 mile twister trail.

Twister is the equivalent of our Golf Cart trail at Boyette, except it was about 2 miles longer and had 3 or 4 substantial drops (all of which had a branch that extended over the drop to make you think it was going to decapitate you). We reached the back enterance to the Red trails where Jason and Shawn said they would meet us. The said the trail they took didnt connect and they were waiting at the pump track for us. At this point we walked our bike over the skill filter (a few huge bolders) and rode into the free ride area. We met up with the guys again and then headed over to Santos again. This time we took the bunny trail, which was a very fast, flowing 1.5 mile trail. At the end of the bunny trail the guys headed down to the Ant Hill trail, and I rode around to Dr. Ruth to where Ant Hill exited. From here I rode up Dr. Ruth to Cow Bone to the end of Magic Mountain (the guys went and rode it). The guys said that the drop wasn't too bad, but you had to drag your brakes the whole way down and steer as best you could.

The exit to Magic Mountain was a fairly steep drop full of rocks:


It was about this time that we were going to head up Dr. Ruth and back to the trailhead to eat, but we quickly discovered Jason had a flat tire. We made quick work of the flat and were back on our way. We were flying down Dr. Ruth when a pair of guys came up behind us and apparantly we were holding them up (not that I heard anyone free wheeling!). We stopped at Sinkhole where they went down the trail, and then so did the other guys. I rode down the rest of Dr. Ruth, back around to Pine Tree and over to Marshmallow where Sinkhole ended. From here we rode back to the trailhead.

Jason and Shawn had decided they had enough and packed up and headed back. Ryan and I ate our lunch and got back on the bikes for one last tear through the trails. We rode down Pine Tree to Marshmallow, flew threw Speedway and Dr. Ruth and made our way back to the parking area.

I've been playing around with a new iPhone app and took this picture of the Spesh when I was waiting for the guys at the end of one of the trails:


Ride Stats and Maps:
Started: Nov 14, 2010 9:36:40 AM
Ride Time: 1:38:12
Stopped Time: 2:25:00
Distance: 14.49 miles
Average: 9.07 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 13.49 miles/h
Climb: 693 feet
Calories: 2871

First Section of the Ride:

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Second Section of the Ride:

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Mental pain week...turns physical

So....this week really sucked. We had major problems with our email server in which I had to fix (and I'm not an Exchange admin)...So I ended up working almost 60 hours in the last 4 days, so I was able to take today off. The weather was perfect - mid 60s and no humidity. Add the rain from the day before to the mix (no sandy spots!) and you couldn't have had a better day.

Ryan and I met at around 1pm at Boyette and headed out. We decided that we were going to do some of the trails we don't normally do just for some variety. We took the fire road in and took the creek crossing side (we always turn left and go up Loch Ness and around). The creek level was pretty low (and we could see the concrete pavers under the water) so we forded it. It should be noted that this crossing can be really really bad or nearly dry. From here we hung a left and headed down Inner Loch Ness (I personally cleaned and trimmed this trail last week, so I had to ride it). We could already tell it was a bit slick out here - the pine needles and leaves were still wet from yesterdays rains. From here we took the West Meadow Trail to Randy's trail, to Spider Berm. From Spider Berm we went over to Golf Cart where we both almost went off the side of the trail (Nevegal tires will go where ever you point them, including right over the edge of the trail!!). Thankfully at this point neither of us actually did. After Spider Berm we headed over to Pandemonium to SideWinder. At this point we decided we wanted to go ride Garry's loop, so we took the shortcut via the fire roads.

And then I found the PAIN TRAIN.

Up until this point, the ride had been fantastic. We rolled up and took a look at the drop in (about 15 feet down, at a fairly steep angle). I moved back a few feet to drop in and didnt like the approach. I rode around a bit to get the angle right and then I caught a branch in my rear derailler. At this point I should have known to just skip it. I didn't.

From what I can tell, I dropped in and somewhere about 8-10 feet down I found myself too close to the wall of limestone and a small tree on the right side of the trail (probably because I didnt want to go off the left side which puts you into an alligator infested lake) at any rate my shoulder either found the tree or the limestone, as did my knees and sections of my right arm. Ryan made his way down to see if I was ok. After regaining my witts and making sure nothing felt broken we both looked at my bike. Something seemed amiss. It appears that during the fall, that the quick release sheared off. I did find the parts, Ryan carried those back up and I brought the bike up.

We were able to get the quick release to hold enough tension to let me ride the bike back out of the park (just a leasurely 4 miles back!).

Ironically I was familiar with the fire roads because just last week we rode these in trucks when we were doing trail maintenance.

After I got home, I cleaned up and put ice on my knee and bacitricin on the scrapes...

Shoulder:




Arm:

Right leg:

Ride Stats and Maps:

Started: Nov 5, 2010 12:55:09 PM
Ride Time: 1:11:47
Stopped Time: 47:16
Distance: 10.84 miles
Average: 9.06 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 14.54 miles/h
Climb: 34 feet
Calories: 578


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Boyette work day

Today we actually worked on our trail system instead of riding. It's nice to be able to help maintain something we love so much, since so many people take it for granted. Out of all the folks on bikes who passed us, only a handful offered their thanks for what we were doing. Most people seem to think that the state or county maintains the trails - they would be wrong.

Ryan started out working on the section of reeds on SWAMP thing that are just North of the enterance to Ridgeline that always seems to be overgrown (he had machinery) while Garry (the trail system boss) and I cleaned up the rest of SWAMP Thing and Garry's loop by hand. We returned to the trail tool shed and grabbed some pic axes and shovels and rebuilt the drop in and the sharp switchback drop on the far side. Additionally we removed some roots that were rather obnoxious or in very inopportune places.

After cleaning up this section we dropped Ryan off at the front of the park and returned to Inner Loch Ness. Garry trimmed by hand and I used the power tool to cut back the overgrowth.

All in all a great day, 5.5 hours of ass busting for everyone to enjoy!

Post Sickness and Vacation Ride

Last weekend I didn't end up riding since I was sick, and couldn't ride all week since I was in NYC. Finally I was able to redeem myself! There were only two downsides to the activities today, for one it was almost 88F again. Two, I am still taking antibiotics for my ear infection, and one of the side effects says to stay out of the sun...I found that as long as I smothered myself in sunscreen, I didn't feel the burn.

While today started out as status quo since we rode most of the same trails - Loch Ness, Randy's Trail, Spider Berm, (Shawn and Jason rode Gator Pit), Golf Cart, Pandemonium, Sidewinder, SWAMP Thing. From here it changes...

RIDGELINE....This trail has been closed since mid-May when the rains in this part of the state began to put the lower lying sections underwater. The trail is too new to me to describe turn by turn, but I can give some pretty good impressions.

Climbs: The climbs are no joke, you really have to ride clean and not use your brakes. If you use them on the downhill, you'll walk your bike up the next hill. I consider myself pretty fit, and unfortunately due to both acclimating back into 85F+ temps and getting over a cold, I felt pretty bad on some of the climbs. I saw my heart rate regularly in the upper 180s to 196ish (these are the kinds of numbers I see when running 5Ks....

Drops: The drops on this trail can damn near make you want to crap your pants. Some of the drops you literally cannot see over, you just have to go over. There are several series where you really dont have to pedal up the next hill - you carry enough speed to keep yourself going.

Overall: Freaking amazing. One of the drops I did today called "Max G's" was very aptly named. After getting a rolling start and taking a slight right turn, down the 75-85% grade you really get the momentum going...and then you feel it - the downward force being applied to you and your bike as you begin to go up the next hill of nearly equal grade makes you and the bike feel like you're 100lbs heavier. About this time you are really trying to pedal hard to get the rest of the speed you need to get to the summit...which, I thought I had...I did have about 95% of it, and unfortunately it is all sand, so trying keep from falling off backwards with the bike was a real challenge. That being said, when I got to the top, I found myself confronted with another steep drop but without any run up, one basically has to push off and get your feet on the pedals ASAP. Happilly I did this and was rewarded with a rush of a ride over 2-3 more hills without having to pedal once.

A video taken of Ridgeline, by another member of the club.



Ride Stats and Maps:
Started: Oct 24, 2010 9:03:01 AM
Ride Time: 1:08:17
Stopped Time: 1:38:37
Distance: 12.10 miles
Average: 10.63 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 19.42 miles/h
Climb: 147 feet

Stats from Heart Rate Monitor:
159 Average Heart Rate
195 Maximum Heart Rate
2671 Calories Burned


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Boyette Scrub Park

Today marked Shawn's return to a trail with some really difficult sections after his nearly 10 weeks of off time due to a fractured wrist. It was also Ryan's first trail ride on his new full suspension bike. We were also greated with 68F weather, albeit a bit humid, the cool air was a treat.

For the most part we kept our normal route as of late, but we added a few extra laps of Spider Berm and Golf Cart. The main difference today was finally conquering several drops on Pandemonium. As long as I don't actually look over the edge before I attempt the drops, I am typically OK. Today was no exeception. I started in the first drop (which seems to have been repaired since I saw the guy go OTB and put his bike on the sign), rolled up the second hill and down. When I crested the third hill I had to walk the bike up the last bit to the top as I did not have enough momentum. When I got to the 4th drop I felt like I was going to go off the trail, but a quick correction and a little braking corrected the course.

The section of the trail I rode starts at 1:29 (the portions before are too rough):



This represents a pretty significant increase for me, having not ridden these drops before. It felt great to finally conquer these few drops. I definitely see myself repeating these in the future.

At this point we finished Pandemonium and hit Sidewinder. We rode Sidewinder down to Swamp Thing. I really hate this trail so I rode the fire road around to the other side and met Shawn and Ryan on the other end.

All in all it was a great time as always!

Ride Stats and Map:
Started: Oct 10, 2010 8:36:49 AM
Ride Time: 1:34:50
Stopped Time: 1:20:21
Distance: 14.64 miles
Average: 9.26 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 16.90 miles/h
Climb: 114 feet

Heart Rate Monitor Stats:
Max Heart Rate: 195
Average Heart Rate: 155
Calories Burned: 2067


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Tampa Police Department 5K

As you can see - it was a gorgeous morning for a run. Temperature at race time was about 75, but it was quite humid. I got there, picked up my t-shirt and number and then returned to the car to put the shirt away and drink my Gatorade G1. On my way back to the starting area, I thought I'd hit the restroom...till I saw the line was literally two blocks long. At this point I decided to become a patron of Indigo coffee a block up the road. I offered to pay for a coffee if I could use the bathroom and the friendly barista said not to worry about it and let me on it. Nice clean potty instead of port-o-hell. With that task completed a women accidentally bumped into me. It was Betty Castor, the chief of the Tampa Police. Cool lady.

They were getting her ready to run:


I also saw Tampa's mayor jogging the race, she was at the back of the people running, but at least she was out there.

At any rate, my self timed shows my run at 31:34, identical to last week's Breast Cancer 5K. I'll be interested to see what the official chip time shows...

Run Stats and Maps:
Started: Oct 9, 2010 8:07:51 AM
Run Time: 31:34
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 3.23 miles
Average: 9:46 /mile
Fastest Pace: 6:18 /mile
Climb: 20 feet

Splits:
1 Mi: 8:29 min/mile (whoops, went out a little too hot!)
2 Mi: 10:26 min/mile
3 Mi: 10:27 min/mile

Stats according to Heart Rate Monitor:
Average Heart Rate: 175
Max Heart: 195
Calories burned: 607


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Trout Creek / Morris Bridge / Flatwoods Ride

Today Ryan, Shawn, and I headed out to the wilderness trails. My main intenion was to get a club jersey (SWAMP was doing their monthly ride out there and would have them for sale). The weather today was arguably the best it has been since April - low 70s, no humidity. This was also Shawn's first day back on his bike since he busted his wrist back in August. All I can say is that we had a fantastic ride and Shawn's wrist seems to have healed and we all had a great relaxing ride through the parks.

Ride Stats and Maps:
Started: Oct 3, 2010 8:47:30 AM
Ride Time: 1:24:57
Stopped Time: 38:51
Distance: 13.83 miles
Average: 9.76 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 17.26 miles/h
Climb: 255 feet
Calories:1337
Average Heart Rate: 137
Maximum Heart Rate: 171


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Susan Komen Breast Cancer 5K

Today I ran the Susan Komen Breast Cancer 5K, a race I have ran the last 3 years. I started out the day thinking I was just going to jog it, to deciding I was going to run at about 85% effort to see how I would do and how I would feel.

This morning was cool and dry, the first time I have experienced that at this race (it is normally held in September and it is much warmer and humid). This is also the first race I run in the fall, so it usually is a pretty good predicter of how the fall will go. I did this in 31:34, which felt way better than last year, and was only 20 seconds or so slower...

I have decided this fall that instead of trying for a specific time, that I am just going to go out and run, and place where I place.



At any rate, the statistics and map:

Started: Oct 2, 2010 8:18:26 AM
Run Time: 32:48 (started almost 3 minutes after the buzzer)
Stopped Time: 0:12
Distance: 3.19 miles
Average: 10:18 /mile
Fastest Pace: 9:01 /mile
Calories:771
Average Heart Rate: 167
Maximum Heart Rate: 197



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The heat is on

Well, today's ride was nothing like last week's - the humidity has returned with a vengence. Still a few more weeks till our riding season gets really nice. I got a new heart rate monitor this week, and it is amazing to look at the calories burned. We ended up doing about 5 miles further than the usual loop out at Boyette. Additionally, I ran out of water around the 10.5 mile mark. which sucks considering we still had about 4 more miles to go...

So the course I rode today: Main trail to Loch Ness to the fire road, fire road to Spider Berm to Randys Trail. At this point Jason headed out to go get Dona and Eric. Tony and I then went back down Randys trail to spider berm again, then to golf cart and back to Spider Berm to meet up with Jason, Dona, and Eric. Tony and I rode Spider Berm for the 3rd time. Then they all did Gator Pit while I found the outdoor urinal, then Golf Cart again, to Pandemonium, to Sidewinder. At this point Eric was feeling the heat and asked if I could take him around the back way to where west forest was. tony, dona, and jason did Swamp Thing and eric and I met them on the other side. At this point I ran out of water! My entire 3L camelbak emptied. Jason echoed the same. At this point we headed down the west forest, to west meadow, back down spider berm, randys trail and out the park. Whew....

Ride Stats and map:
Started: Sep 26, 2010 8:49:04 AM
Ride Time: 3:15:05
Distance: 15.33 miles
Average: 9.30 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 19.42 miles/h
Climb: 163 feet
Calories: 2531 (Based on my Heart Rate Monitor!!!)
Heartrate Average: 143bpm
Heartrate Max: 187 bpm


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Saturday wake up and ride

Since we are taking the pumpkin to get halloween pictures done, we decided to bike locally today (well I did, Ana ran on the treadmill). This also gave me the chance to try out my new heart rate monitor (Suunto t3c) which came with a bike pod for my bike that measures speed and distance in addtion to heart rate. While it certainly wasn't cool by any means, it wasn't scorching either (benifits of getting out early!!). The sad thing I saw today is that a huge stretch of trees which normally shade the path have all been removed to make way for a road expansion project. I hope that they were able to repurpose them elsewhere!

At any rate, ride stats:
Started: Sep 25, 2010 8:24:08 AM
Ride Time: 59:23
Distance: 13.70 miles
Average: 13.84 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 22.02 miles/h
Climb: 265 feet
Calories: 973
Official Route: No

Bike computer results:
Ride Time: 58:50:04
Distance: 13.96mi
Average: 14.2 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 23.7 miles/h
Calories: 837 kcal
Average Heart Rate: 153bpm
Max Heart Rate: 184 bpm

I tend to put more accuracy in the $150 heart rate monitor than the $4.99 iPhone app...

Week of 9/19 run review

This week I missed running on Monday due to being to exhausted from the concert the night before. On Wednesday I was able to pick back up and ran a 5K in 38 minutes at lunch, and on Friday ran a 5K again in 38 minutes. Not my fastest times but my motivation level just hasn't been there. I did pick up a new heart rate monitor this week, the bonus is that it also had an attachment for my bike so I can watch my heart rate and speed in realtime (I cant watch the iphone since it is in my backpack or big bag).

This time next week will be the breast cancer 5K...

Boyette Scrub Park - weather just getting better!

Today I met up with Jason and his friend Tony from work to put in some work at Boyette. On the way down to the park, the cars outside temp guage said it was 74F, and riding with the windows down confirmed this. Today's ride wasn't much different from our usual route out there - the two mile fire road out, to lock ness, lower spider berm, upper spider berm, golf cart, pandemonium, sidewinder, Swamp Thing, West Forest, West Meadow, Spur loop, back down upper spider berm and back down the two miler. All in all, nothing too out of the ordinary went on (no over the bar shennanigans for our little group, although I did see one poor guy do a complete endo and his bike hang upside down on pandemonium). The temperature drop was quite welcome - I could have easily rode for another hour. It was so nice to get back to the car and not feel like I had been riding in an oven for two hours. I can't wait for the winter!

Ride Statistics and Map:

Started: Sep 19, 2010 8:49:44 AM
Ride Time: 2:07:43
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 13.14 miles
Average: 6.17 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 49.30 miles/h
Climb: 81 feet
Calories: 571


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Finally under 90F ride

Well, finally! We headed out late and still had awesome weather for the whole ride. On top of that, Ana began using the 3rd cog on her bike which meant she was averaging over 10mph for the first time since we began riding.

It is quite amazing how much more enjoyable outdoors activies are when you don't feel like you are being baked alive!

At any rate, ride stats and map:

Started: Sep 18, 2010 11:07:59 AM
Ride Time: 1:19:33
Stopped Time: 1:29
Distance: 14.13 miles
Average: 10.66 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 19.06 miles/h
Climb: 176 feet
Calories: 721


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Edgewater Linear Park Ride / Clearwater Pass Bridge Climb

This weekend Ana and I parked over in Dunedin and headed south, this time skipping the Pinellas Trail and instead going down the sidewalk that is called the Edgewater Linear Park. The humidity has once again returned to us (as expected for summer in Florida), so it was quite hot. We road down Ft. Harrison to to downtown Clearwater, then over to the Clearwater pass bridge.

Passing roadies...

Quite humorously, I had a laughable moment when I passed a spandex clad road bike who was barely making it up the overpass. He heard me coming up behind me and looked at me in disbelief as I rocketed past him (while being on the 3rd cog too!).

At any rate, Ana rides quite a bit slower than I do, so I try to slow my pace so we are so seperated by distance. All in all a great ride.

Ride Stats and Map:

Started: Sep 11, 2010 10:22:14 AM
Ride Time: 1:20:47
Stopped Time: 2:00
Distance: 11.44 miles
Average: 8.49 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 25.11 miles/h
Climb: 267 feet
Calories: 639


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Lunchtime 5K - Friday 9/10

Well, I finally recieved my new running shoes Thursday, no better time than to break them in on Friday at lunch. I ended up running 3.1 miles in 36:25, about 8 minutes off my best effort, about 7 minutes from my average. It's been a long summer, the last race I ran was back in June, which was the Picnic Island adventure race (3.6 miles, 96F, 49 minutes). I never felt more like death than at that race. Since then I had taken two nasty spills on my bike, my left knee is still a little sore from the first fall, so 36:25 is better than not...

I also signed for 2 of the 4 fall runs I usually do. I added a new one to the mix. October 2nd, Ana and I will be doing the Komen Suncoast Breast Cancer 5K, on October 9th I'll be doing the Tampa police 5K, and then on November 5th I'll be doing Richard's run for life. After that I am still trying to decide what to do, but I am pretty sure doing the Santos 42mile "epic" ride will be a part of it.

Labor Day Weekend Ride #4

Baby asleep - Check. Ana asleep - Check. James putting the road wheels on the bike and going for a ride - Check.

Today I woke up and decided that since everyone was still asleep that I was going to go for a ride. Nothing too exciting, except that it was much cooler this morning because I was out an hour earlier than normal. It was nice not to have to ride with a camelbak for once.

I did forget how much incline Fishhawk Ranch Blvd has to it (well, at least as far as elevation change that I have access to).

At any rate, tomorrow is a rest day, having pedaled nearly 60 miles this weekend...

Todays ride stats:

Started: Sep 6, 2010 7:37:06 AM
Ride Time: 57:36
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 12.99 miles
Average: 13.53 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 22.95 miles/h
Climb: 266 feet
Calories: 747

Labor Day Weekend Ride #3

Initially today was supposed to be a last ride at Boyette before it was closed for a few weeks, but it turned out that several posts on the forums indicated that it was still really nasty out there. So Ryan, Alex, and myself decided to go back out to the Wilderness Trails. We took a similar route to what I rode on Friday, until we got to the trails on the inner loop - in which we went ahead and rode. I'm glad we decided to do this, because the trails were dry in all but one section. Additionally, having never ridden the trail "Panther" we decided to ride it. Typically I ride guide position, and there are pros and cons to this. I rode by a 6 foot gator laying next to the trail, but didn't want to yell back to the others for fear of spooking it. Naturally when the other two came past it they couldn't help but yell "Gator!"

We ended up doing almost 17 miles today, and had a terrific time at it. Today was also the first time I ever drank the entire contents of my 3L Camelbak, which I finished just about at the end of the trail loop...

Ride Stats and Map:
Started: Sep 5, 2010 8:40:58 AM
Ride Time: 2:23:47
Stopped Time: 3:49
Distance: 16.82 miles
Average: 7.02 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 17.95 miles/h
Climb: 227 feet
Calories: 930


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Labor Day Weekend Ride #2

As is our usual Saturday routine, we loaded up the bikes and the princess and headed out to Ana's parents to drop off the babe, and head up to the Pinellas Trail.

Today we decided to start at Curlew Road and The Pinellas Trail. Heading north from this location really cuts down on the number of side streets to navigate, and really has you riding through some pristine sections of the county.

The humidity came back with a vengence today, so much for the nice dry air we had the last few days. Is it mid October yet?!

At any rate we kept an easy pace and rode almost 15 miles. As always we had a great time and our inlaws got to spend some time with Alana.

Ride Stats and Map:
Started: Sep 4, 2010 10:43:50 AM
Ride Time: 1:30:12
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 14.31 miles
Average: 9.52 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 22.15 miles/h
Climb: 3 feet
Calories: 801


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Labor Day Weekend Ride #1

So, I had already taken today off to make the most of this being a 3 day weekend, but to make todays ride even better, I haven't been able to get on my bike for a week and a half due to a bout of "Hand Mouth Foot Disease" (thanks day care!). Surprisingly this week has been a bit cooler and much drier than we ever get to see here in Florida (no less in late August/early September). Today was no exception. After waiting for the traffic to ease, I loaded up the car and headed out the road around 9am. I got to the trails and was riding by 9:30, with low humidty and a temperature of around 84F degrees. Considering the last few rides I have been on have been in 94F+ and highly humid weather, this was an absolute blessing.

Due to all the rain we have had the last few weeks, a fellow SWAMPer had posted a "dry ride" itenerary for the Wilderness Trails.

I parked out at the Trout Creek parking lot and headed for the first two trails, Bayshore and Coconut Grove. These are two of the nicest trails I have ever ridden on. Nice flowing trails with little climbs and drops, a few roots here and there to keep it technical. After finishing up these trails I continued down the access road and crossed Fletcher and dropped into Hole in The Fence. I felt like I would be pretty safe today, as it appears that several law enforcement agencies were out on a group ride. I hit the rollers and then down to Misery. I rode misery to the Main trail and then down to Palmetto. I ran into the peloton of Police officers on the main trail, and they all gave me a "hey!". From Palmetto I ran down Grandpa, to Techno Pig (Piglet was closed) and then caught the main trail. I rode the main trail up to Morris Bridge, hit the highway down to Flatwoods and into the main trail again. Since the inner loop trails were pretty damp, I stuck to the paved trail and rode it around to the top of the loop and stopped to get a drink and take some pictures.

A controlled burn was recently performed out here:



After drinking a bit of water and catching my breath (hadn't taken a break yet at this point) I continued down the trail toward the Bruce B. Downs parking area, rode over the bridge at the high water point (the paved trail was under what looked like 2-3 feet of water). I headed for the berm so I could ride down and catch the trails at the end of trout creek. I stopped and took a few pictures of the trails around markers 43-44:





Finally, I finished up my run and headed back to the car, happy to have gotten out and put some miles on the bike.

Ride Stats and Map:
Started: Sep 3, 2010 9:29:21 AM
Ride Time: 1:30:10
Stopped Time: 2:34
Distance: 14.39 miles
Average: 9.58 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 17.97 miles/h
Climb: 113 feet
Calories: 567


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SWAMP Club Urban Assault and Social at New World Brewery

Tonight I rode with the SWAMP Mountain bike club on their bimonthly urban assault and social. The meeting spot was the New World Brewery down in Ybor City. We left at 6:30 and headed toward downtown Tampa. Now, it should be said it was starting to rain a little (it has been raining nearly nonstop the last 3 days), so we took out knowing we may have to abandon bike and head back. At any rate, we headed down some of Ybor City's back streets, down Channelside Dr to where there was a Navy Ship docked. We headed back down Channelside, through the Channel district (it was quite fun to see nearly 30 mountain bikers riding down the sidewalk). From Channelside we went over the bridge and into Harbor Island, did a quick run through there, back over the Florida Avenue bridge, back behind the Convention Center (and watched a couple of the more advanced riders go up and down the staircases), back up to Platt Street, over the Platt street bridge (the wet metal grates of the drawbridge coupled with mountain bike tires makes it feel like you are riding on moss!), around the little dock where the Gasparilla pirate ship is docked. Next we rode over the David Island bridge, around Tampa General Hospital and through Davis Island. We pretty much rode the reverse back, except when we came back we took the new Riverwalk all the way back to Channelside. The riverwalk is pretty nice, albeit a little slick on off road tires.

Back to the Brewery...
Knowing that I am not a beer drinker, one of my coworkers suggested the Lindeman's Framboise Lambic a raspberry beer. I ordered a beer and a cheese pizza, and they were both fantastic. The beer was really smooth (it really didn't taste like beer!) and the stone seared pizza was unbelievable. I relaxed and chilled out with the rest of the crew, until it was time to head home and it started pouring rain again anyway...

Ride Stats:
Started: Aug 25, 2010 6:24:47 PM
Ride Time: 1:21:42
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 9.93 miles
Average: 7.29 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 12.80 miles/h
Climb: 245 feet
Calories: 401


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Today exercise

Today was a dreary rainy tuesday, I got in 20 minutes on the tread mill and 15 minutes on a stationary bike...Not much else to post ;)

Back on the treadmill

Since my birthday I have had a pathetic start to getting back into running shape. Today was one of my best efforts, thanks in part to Juno Reactor's 1997 album "Bible of Dreams". Definitely helps me forget the pain of running those first few weeks. You'd think with the amount of biking I do, that I wouldn't notice it, but that isn't the case at all. What it does help with is endurance (the same could be said as to why I can out distance most of my riding buddies).

Today's workout consisted of the following sets of leg press (weight x reps)
60x10
120x12
160x10
200x7

I also busted out a miserable 3 pull ups, then I stretched for a minute and ran.

Did a 5 minute warm up, varied speeds from 4.5-5.5 mph, cooled off at the end having put in 2.75 miles.

At least we're back on track!

Fording the river

Well, sort of.

Today started out like any other Sunday, waking early to go biking. Ryan and I had already agreed to ride the Wilderness trails (Morris Bridge to Flatwoods to Trout Creek and then back to the parking lot). I almost thought we wouldn't be biking today as I was awoken by the sounds of thunder and rain against the patio. A quick look at the weather and it looks like the rain had escaped the Wilderness trails. I texted Ryan to be sure he was still up for it and he confirmed. Jason and his crew headed over to Alafia today, so we wouldn't be seeing them. At some point I'll convince them to give these trails a run.

At any rate, we were just finishing up Heartbreak Ridge when the deluge came. The weather to this point had been terrific - nice and cool, and surprisingly dry. Now we were riding in an all out downpour, not my favorite thing to do, but alas, no lightning and it looked like it was going to be short lived, so on we continued.

Depends?
I suspect that if I were to guess what depends must feel like to wear, a soaking wet biking short chamois must be really close in comparison. As we were doing the road section between Morris Bridge and Flatwoods, I ran through a 2" deep puddle that the tires decided to deposit down my back and my ass. Fun times. At this point we are about 1/2 way through the distance we plan on covering.

By the time we made it to the paved loop at Flatwoods, the rain had stopped and the sun returned. The interior trails on the loop were pretty muddy but the clay gully was no worse that normal (bottom of the pedals touched the water).

Fording the river...
At this point we were already fairly soaked, but I wasn't really prepared for this. I wish I had taken a picture, but Ryan and I were trying to figure out the driest way around a section of trail that had turned into a small lake. Lord knows we couldn't back track 40 yards to the paved trail, and then walked our bikes through the brush on the other side.

This is where the "Oregon Trail" approach kicked in.
You have 3 choices 1) ford the lake, 2) ride around the lake, or 3) wait for conditions to improve.

We decided to do a combination of 1 and 2. We geared down (too far) so that when we were pedaling, sometimes the rear tire would just throw mud up on our backs. After some major pedaling (and eventually putting my feet straight down into the water when I sunk) we made it to the other side. It was about that time I noticed the paved loop was only 30 feet to our left.

At this point the trail really straightens out as it approaches Trout Creek. I dropped the hammers and blasted through the rest of the trails until we got to the parking lot, never happier to see a towel in all my life.

We did avoid the "going to die feeling" but still had a great time.

Ride Stats:
Ride Time: 1:58:40
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 12.62 miles
Average: 6.38 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 16.39 miles/h
Climb: 315 feet
Calories: 685


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Boyette Scrub Park

Its Florida, in mid August. For those not in the know, that means the dew point is in the 80s, and its in the mid 80s to 90s before noon. Today was no exception.

I really like Boyette, it is easily my favorite park as the trails here have so much variety and there really is something for everyone. It was sad to see the amount that burned about two weeks ago (apparantly due to a lightning strike). If I had to guess, we rode past at least a mile of burned trees. The SST trail which used to run through this section was pretty much destroyed from what we could tell.

At any rate, our journey took us through Lock Ness, to Spider Berm, to Upper Spider Berm, onto Golf Cart, Mt. Boyette, Canyon, Pandemonium, Sidewinder, Swamp Thing, West Forest, East Meadow, back through Spider Berm and out. Everything felt so good today, not sure why! It was all going well until the heat began to take its toll on us and it just wasn't fun anymore.

I will say the new rear tire (Maxxis Ignitor) is leagues better on the back then the Kenda Nevegal was!

Started: Aug 15, 2010 8:30:34 AM
Ride Time: 2:00:19
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 11.36 miles
Average: 5.67 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 14.71 miles/h
Climb: 102 feet
Calories: 628


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Saturday Pinellas Trail Ride

As is our usual Saturday custom, we dropped the angel off at Ana's parents house and headed out to the Pinellas trail. Today we did a little more than 15 fast miles and went up a little further than we had previously. It seems like the further north we go, the prettier the trail gets. On the way back, we did our usualy stop at Cafe Alfresco and rechareged.

Ride Stats:
Ride Time: 1:35:18
Stopped Time: 6:09
Distance: 15.23 miles
Average: 9.59 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 19.45 miles/h
Climb: 213 feet
Calories: 787


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Fast ride with wagon wheels

So I decided a week or two back that I wanted to get a road wheels and tires for my mountain bike since I end up putting way more miles on my bike on the road than I do on the trails. Combine the expense of replacing mountain bike tires which wear out quick on the pavement with their inherent slowness and it makes sense to swap wheels unless you want to buy another bike. I already had an extra front wheel that I ran the stock tire on for the streets (which was still really slow), so I just needed to get the back end and another tire.

I ended up getting the Kenda Kwest tires in the 700x35 size (since I bought a 29er, I can swap road wheels all day) which have enough tread not to be a slick, have a liner to prevent flats, and at $16, are a freaking bargain. I mounted everything up last night, and finally got a chance to take it out. Man what a difference. So very quiet untill you get up to speed (where the wind noise gets very loud). It makes handling a snap (you could never turn as fast on the MTB tires).

So, my ride stats were as follows:
Started: Aug 12, 2010 7:36:41 PM
Ride Time: 45:53
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 10.80 miles
Average: 14.12 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 20.57 miles/h
Climb: 78 feet
Calories: 624

Ridin' Dirtay!

As you can tell this isn't a song by Fidy Cent. Today's ride was actually fantastic. The threat of rain loomed all morning - in fact we felt a few drops from the trailhead to the start of Rock Garden. Today some new folks joined us, Donna and Eric, friends of Jason's from work and surprisingly, a lawyer from the State Attorney's office. No mixed company there! We started out with Rock Garden so that the newbs could get a feel for some of what Alafia had to offer. After a quick run through there we headed down Sand Pine. At the end of Sand Pine the Prosecutor challened us to a race back to the trailhead. Now this is where the entertaining part comes in. He was on a 26er but has been riding for 4 year. I am on a 29er and have been riding for 4 months. Now off the line he will be faster, but once I am rolling I can carry much more speed because of the larger wheels.

If we were rolling a straight section (takes his skill out of the loop) I highly suggest I'd have been faster, but since I don't have the skill to ride dirt curves nearly as fast as I can straights, he did come in first by a narrow margin. None the less that was fun!

After the mini race we headed back to the trailhead for a few minutes to rest. Since I am not one for the more difficult trails (I like fast and flowing, not crazy technical) I headed for SandPine and Rock Garden and told the rest of them I'd see them on the other side of North Creek.

This is where the dirty comes in. About the time I hit the middle of the section of Sand Pine that takes you from the trailhead to Rock Garden and Sand Pine, it began pouring rain. Not small drops, bucket sized drops. I had initially planned on riding Sand Pine into Rock Garden and then into River Loop to get to the other end of North Creek. Well, I recalled how much burned forest I had seen on the last path through (from lightning strikes!) so I decided just to hammer the pedals and go down to Rock Garden (thick forest). About 1/2 way through Rock Garden I had to stop and take off my riding glasses because they were just covered in water and I couldn't see a thing. It was about this time I saw another rider come up and he stopped and asked how to get back to the trail head. I gave him directions and got back on my way.

The trails as it seems becomes so peaceful but so alive at the same time during a downpour. The whole forest seems closer to you - and everything is moving. The percussive nature of rain drops crashing down on the leaves creates a form of white noise that soothes the ears.

While peaceful, it becomes unbelievably slippery and muddy. When I finished Rock Garden and headed to River Loop, I forgot how long the distance was to get to North Creek this way. Normally it isn't an issue, but due to the rains, most sections were muddy, and by muddy, my tires were sinking 2-3" inches into the ground (deep enough in some sections my pedals and feet were in the mud!).

By the time I hit North Creek the rain had subsided for the moment. I did the last drop on North Creek about 10 times while I was waiting for the rest of the group. After the group appeared we headed out and called it a day (albeit a damp and dirty one!)






Ride Stats:
Started: Aug 8, 2010 9:09:23 AM
Ride Time: 1:54:53
Stopped Time: 6:58
Distance: 6.19 miles
Average: 3.23 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 13.66 miles/h
Climb: 1818 feet
Calories: 392

Ride Map:

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Saturday Ride at Pinellas Trails

This weekend I was able to get two rides in, one on pavement, on on the trails.

On Saturday, Ana and I biked the Pinellas Trails, from Dunedin to Honeymoon Island and back. We did a little more than ten miles, and this was mostly due to the fact that we didn't want to push our luck with the rain that was looming. Combine this with a solid 15 MPH wind once we headed down the causeway, and it doesn't make for good times!

Ride Stats:
Started: Aug 7, 2010 11:27:09 AM
Ride Time: 1:13:03
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 10.52 miles
Average: 8.64 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 17.05 miles/h
Climb: 256 feet
Calories: 458

Google Map of the Ride:

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Alafia Sunday

As is typical for a Sunday, we headed out to Alafia. We did some quick runs through Sand Pine, Rock Garden, and then about 1/3rd of River Loop (it was way too wet). After this run we headed back to the trailhead to relax a bit. After cooling off, we headed back to Rock Garden, then headed back to Sand Pine to run it in reverse.

Along the line, we took some video of all of us running through some seperate sections of Rock Garden:




Ride Statistics:
Started: Jul 25, 2010 8:47:57 AM
Ride Time: 1:54:54
Stopped Time: 0:18
Distance: 7.42 miles
Average: 3.87 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 10.76 miles/h
Calories: 373


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Tour de Riverview

Since the weather was questionable today we decided to stay local and just take turns watching the baby. I ended up getting out the door around 9:30 and was welcomed by the tropical storms 15-20mph SE winds. Not particularly fun when headed south or east. On the way out, I head South then west, and finally a long southern leg, which is thankfully, slightly downhill. On the way back, the wind was at my back which really helped (One section I averaged 18mph, which is dam fast on a mountain bike). It wasn't till I hit the east route on the way back where I really felt the wind, and it was very brutal!


Started: Jul 24, 2010 9:37:21 AM
Ride Time: 56:07
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 11.59 miles
Average: 12.39 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 21.19 miles/hr
Climb: 230 feet
Calories: 579

Ana's first ride at Alafia River State Park

Today we headed out to Alafia River State Park, so Ana could pedal some of the more intermediate beginner trails that the park has to offer. We started off doing Sand Pine - a beginners trail more difficult than any of the beginners trails on the other nearby mountain bike parks. We were pedaling along when we came across this "obstacle": Ana posing after getting past the "obstacle" Shawn attempting to clear it: We finished up with Sand Pine and headed into Rock Garden. It is interesting that Rock Garden is supposed to be more difficult (blue instead of green) but I have yet to find anyone who feels that it is any harder than the other green trails at Alafia. Perhaps it is due to the couple of drops and several bridges found throughout the trail. At any rate, Ana did just fine! Shawn rode the black (difficult section) with ease while we watched him enjoy the run. Shawn riding through the difficult option on Rock Garden:

Here is a vid of Shawn taking the drop on the hard option on Rock Garden:


Here is a vid of Shawn taking the drop back up(and he didn't actually fall):


After Rock Garden we headed back to the trail head for a breather. Ride stats and map for the first part of our ride: Started: Jul 18, 2010 10:01:28 AM Ride Time: 1:33:23 Stopped Time: 0:20:22 Distance: 3.61 miles Average: 2.32 miles/hr Fastest Speed: 12.36 miles/hr Climb: 771 feet Calories: 230
View Larger Map After the break we headed down the other side of the park to do the River Loop. Ana was starting to tire out so we took it easy. The trail was very muddy and was in real need of trimming. We met a man and woman out on the trail looking for the way out, so I gave them directions. It was funny that on our way out of the trails, we caught up to them as they were walking their bikes out of the trail. Ride Stats and map for the second part of our trip: Started: Jul 18, 2010 12:06:43 PM Ride Time: 32:41 Stopped Time: 0:00 Distance: 2.21 miles Average: 4.06 miles/hr Fastest Speed: 10.53 miles/hr Climb: 331 feet Calories: 133
View Larger Map As usual we all had a great time, and Ana is really enjoying the off road trails, and I enjoy having her out with me!

Saturday Pinellas Trail Ride

As typical on Saturdays, we headed over to Pinellas County to ride the Pinellas Trail. We headed out about an hour earlier this week, and we were rewarded with it being a little bit cooler than normal. We rode almost 14.6mi today, from Dunedin to Clearwater Beach and back. The most challenging portion of this ride was the uphill sections of the Clearwater Memorial Bridge. On the way from Clearwater beach back to the mainland, it is an absolute climb from sea level to 75 feet on a mountain bike. To climb I ended up on the 3rd cog up front, and on the 5th gear on the back, while literally stair stepping up the entire way.

Ana at the top:




On the way back, we stopped for lunch at our usual spot, the Cafe Alfresco in Dunedin. If you ever get the chance to stop there, I highly recommend it!

Ride Statistics:
Started: Jul 17, 2010 10:24:09 AM
Ride Time: 2:13:11
Stopped Time: 1:45
Distance: 14.43 miles
Average: 6.50 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 27.32 miles/hr
Climb: 988 feet
Calories: 628


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Tuesday Night Ride

Last night Patrick stopped by and we went for a ride on the new paved trails on 301 in Riverview. Patrick is working on getting back in shape so I proceded to kick his arse on a 10 mile short ride. He did pretty good considering he hasn't be on his bike in almost a month. At any rate, the temperature was great and the rain stayed away (for the most part).

Ride details:
Started: Jul 13, 2010 7:48:43 PM
Ride Time: 53:46
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 10.19 miles
Average: 11.38 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 18.55 miles/hr
Climb: 292 feet
Calories: 659

Balm Boyette over the edge ride

Alex, Ryan, and I ended up at Balm Boyette this morning. It was actually suprisingly cool, which was a nice. At any rate, we pedaled the 2 miles in and rode Loch Ness into the park. From Loch Ness we headed down to Spider Berm. Naturally every now and then we all end up riding over our level. Today I was cranking along pretty quickly when I crested a climb that had a quick left downhill turn on the other side.

The problem was that I could not defy gravity. I hit the brakes hard enough to get stopped but I had already breached the edge of the trail. Combine the momentum that my body still had and the fact that my right foot could not touch the ground and I lost my balance. The next bit of terror going through my mind was that there was very little room on the right side of the trail before the trail just completly dropped off and you end up falling into the gator infested and stagnate water below. At this point I grabbed for branches and vines that were overhead or within reach. I was starting to slide down and grabbed a handful of thorny vines which kept me from going down. I managed to get back onto the trail, and I pulled the bike up. Coincidentally, this is where I lost the bike the very first time I rode the trail back in May.

At any rate, I ended up with skinning my right knee and scraping up another section of my knee and shin.

At this point we continued on to ride upper spider berm, then headed to Golf Cart. We rode Golf Cart over to Panedmonium. None of us felt like riding the drops so we headed over to Sidewinder and then onto Swamp Thing. From here we rode the West Forest trail, on to west meadow and onto east meadow. While we were riding the west forest trail we stopped to see what the scenic overlook looked like. It wasn't too scenic...At this point Alex said he was done, and wanted to head back. I insisted that we do the spur jump which was right next to where we were standing. It wasnt much of a jump, but man it was a fast fun downhill. Since we were heading out I figured we may as well do upper spider berm again (it is a very easy section)and it is shaded. We exited the trail and made our way back out again.

As usual, a great ride!

Ride Details:
Started: Jul 11, 2010 8:14:06 AM
Ride Time: 2:20:45
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 11.35 miles
Average: 4.84 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 13.10 miles/hr
Climb: 125 feet
Calories: 645


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Ana's first time on the off road trails!

I picked up a new bike for Ana last night, a Giant Rincon W (woman's design frame) which came with decent components, disk brakes, woman's style seat, and weighs at least 15lbs lighter than her old bike.

We headed to "Hole in the Fence" Aka Wilderness Trails at Morris Bridge Park. We rode the main trail to Grandpa, back to the main trail, down Palmetto, back to the main trail, over Hog Wild and back to the main trail. From here we headed down Washboard. At the end of washboard we caught the main trail, and then headed down to the scenic overlook.

The yellow sign out there says "No Bicycles"...

Shawn and his Yukon FX

My Hardrock Sport Disk 29er

Ana's Rincon W


After we checked out the overlook and rested for a few minutes we continued on down the main trail, out onto Morris Bridge Road, and over to Trout Creek park. We continued down to the paved loop and then hit the facilities and rested for a few minutes. After the rest we headed back the way we came, with the exception that we just rode the main trail back to the parking lot instead of taking any of the other trails back.

All told we probably ended up pedaling about 18-20 miles. Not bad for any of us, less lone someone who is completely new at riding trails. Ana had a great time but we realized quickly that she needs a camelbak, which we'll pick up before her next trail outing.