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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