Memorial Day - Epic Riding

Today Alex, Patrick, Shawn and Jason made the trek out to Alafia River State park. In the end we figured we did about 13 miles and had a great time doing it.

River Loop
Alex, Patrick, and I headed out and did the River loop, which is an approximately 3.1mile loop. It is interesting to note that the GPS does get lost as most all the trails in this park are completely covered, so the distances reported often appear shorter than they really are. The River Loop is considered an "advanced beginner" trail, although I don't really feel it is too much more difficult than Sand Pine (true beginner's course).

Google Maps:River Loop

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Last night it apparantly dropped a ton of rain out there, because it was absolutely soaked. I can't remember slipping and sliding my way through a trail any more than I did this morning. At times it was a blessing, at times it was a royal pain.

About the time we finished up the River Loop, Shawn and Jason had arrived at the park. We finished up the River Loop and headed back to the trail head.

Rock Garden
We decided that our next run would be the Rock Garden, labeled blue on the map, meaning "intermediate". Quite honestly this trail doesn't feel that much more difficult than the river loop, although there are a few extra drops and some much more difficult root options. This trail is quickly becoming my favorite. Lots of tight turns, a bridge or two to roll over and a nice long trail to get your heart rate moving on.

Google Maps: Rock Garden X2 as we rode the trail twice :)

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The trail to get out of Rock Garden and back to the multi purpose trail is a royal pain in the butt. Carry lots of speed and be in the right gear, or cry when you make it to the top.

At this point we decided to ride the trail again, although Patrick decided to head back to the cars to relax a bit. I don't get tired of riding Rock Garden!

Time for a break
We all agreed that our next trail to hit would be North Creek and as such headed back to the trail to relax, refuel, and rehydrate. Did I mention that it was 90+ and that the humidity was absolutely unbearable? Yeah, the riding the trails is sooo worth it, I just wish I had this bike back in the winter months.

The break complete, we headed onto our next challenge - North Creek.

North Creek
North Creek is just a tick harder than "advanced intermediate" with lots of crazy roots, options to end up in the water, off the side of a hill, HUGE roots, and an insane staircase at the beginning of the trail. If you are a novice rider, you can probably do the trail, just be prepared to dismount often! Additionally, proper gear selection is a must. While Sand Pine, River Loop, and Rock Garden I ride 2x6, North Creek demands 2x1 or 2x2 for most of the entire length, as you must have the gear available to tackle some of the climbs. You must know when going uphill you must lean forward and pedal hard, with steep drops, you must put your arse behind the seat and know your brakes.

Google Maps: North Creek

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Alex faired pretty well for his first time on this trail, getting caught up at all the normal novice spots. Jason did well except for the goose egg he got from catching the pedals at a bad point. I feel I did pretty well (especially well since the last time I rode this trail). I can see this becoming a favorite as I increase my skill level.

Sunday Morning Bayshore Blast

Today I woke up early so I could get a good solo speed ride in. I ended up doing 15 miles in 1:06. The air was still "cool" albeit humid. For the most part the ride was great aside from a few obnoxious old farts and some pet owners who thought they shouldn't have to real in their pets at all. On the first run out and back I actually stopped and did the pullups and monkey bars...

Ride Stats:
Ride Time: 1:06:23
Stopped Time: 4:41
Distance: 15.41 miles
Average: 13.93 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 19.08 miles/hr
Climb: 236 feet
Calories: 881


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Saturday's Pinellas Trail Ride

Today Ana and I dropped off the little one with Ana's parents and headed out to the Pinellas Trail. We jumped on in Downtown Dunedin, headed up to Curlew, turned left and headed out to Caladesi Island State Park. We turned around at the entrance to the park and headed back to the intersection of the trails and curlew. We headed north about another 1.5 miles and went over the flyover bridge at Bayshore. It is a good thing I have learned how to get behind the bike on really fast downhills like this...We turned around and headed back toward Dunedin, and decided to eat at Cafe Alfresco which faces the trail.

Ride Time: 1:34:59
Stopped Time: 7:30
Distance: 12.62 miles
Average: 7.97 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 20.12 miles/hr
Climb: 528 feet
Calories: 633

Google Map of our ride

Monday and Wednesday Workouts

I realize I need to get back to crosstraining a little more since I am sticking with the 5K and adventure runs over the summer, and doing a lot more mountain biking. If I am ever going to be able to bunny hop or get up some of these steeper hills, I am going to have to add some core and leg strenght.

So...

Monday's workout:

Leg lifts: 10, 15, 10, 10
Medicine ball crunches 10, 10, 15
Side Crunches 10,10,15 (each side)
Pushups 8,10,12
Pullups 2
Bench Press 100x10,140x10,170x10, 190x8
Leg Extension 100x15,140x12,160x10,180x6
Leg Press 180x10,200x10,220x6

Wednesday's workout:
15 minutes on bike
Leg lifts: 10, 15, 10, 10
Medicine ball crunches 10, 10, 15
Side Crunches 10,10,15 (each side)
Pushups 8,10,12
Pullups 3
Bench Press 100x10,140x10,170x10, 190x8
Leg Extension 120x15,160x12,180x10,180x6
Leg Press 180x10,200x10,220x6

Mountain Biking Madness

Today I met up with Alex, Jason, Ryan, and Shawn at Alafia River State park. I ended up riding about 15 miles of trails. (Sandpine 2.5mi, Rock Garden 3.5mi, River Loop 7.6mi and probably at least another 2 miles of Multiuse trails)

The map if you choose to follow along is here:Maps of Alafia


I led Alex and Ryan down Sandpine until the cutoff near bridges. About that time Shawn and Jason finally made it to the park and we met up at the parking lot.

From the parking lot we headed back out the multi use trails and onto the Rock Garden. We road Rock Garden all the way to the harder options (the blue loop at the end of the rock garden section. While Shawn and Jason (the feerless wonders) handled these crazy climbs and drops easily, the rest of us ended up walking them...At one point I do believe Alex watched his borrowed bike fly off the trail into the bush. When we finally found the exit. From here we rode back to the lot and chowed down a few powerbars and then headback out, this time we took the first two options on the River loop and then headed back again to refuel and relax.

At this point Alex decided to hang back and relax (this was his first time out MTB and he was on an old Mongoose that really wasnt up to the task.

The dynamic duo headed out to do North Creek while Ryan and I headed out to do all the sections of the river loop. After this we returned to the parking lot so Ryan could head out, and so I could get Alex to go back on the trails again. After fueling and making a pit stop, Alex and I headed back to the river loop. Unfortunately Alex got a bad cramp about 1/10th of a mile in that had him in agony for a few minutes. After resting up a bit, we continued on.

Nearing the end of the second leg of the river loop, Alex got his first OTB experience, courtesy of a pair of roots that at his 26er's and spit him out over the handlebars. He dusted himself off and on we went. At the end of the trail we took the cutoff and headed back to the trail.


In conclusion:
This had to have been one of the most fun days out on the trails. This was the first time out with the Kenda Nevegal on the front, and it is leagues better than the specialized Fastrak LK that I have on the factory front wheel. I also got a pair of biking shorts this week (with the awesome padding in the right places) and between it and the Chamois Butt'r I had and have no bottom pain from the ride. I also picked up a riding jersey as well, the pockets on the back are terrific. Also, nothing beats hanging out with all the guys doing something we all love.

Secret Service 5K

Picture of me and a coworker of mine Noelle.

Official Time was 29:21, still happily under 30 minutes but not one of my best performances...

The google map:


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Today's Run

Today I ran 2.3 miles, tapering down since I am running the secret service 5K on Saturday here in Tampa. I'm also going mountain biking over at Alafia River State Park on Sunday.

My first blog post...

Well, I am planning on using this blog to help me keep track of my running and biking activities.

For 2010, I have run 2 5K races, a 3.3m adventure race, rode many miles on trails, and would like to get to the point where I could sucessfully do a triathlon.