Well after training for Hotter'n Hell, I did not want to get out of form. I had a weekend by myself, so I decided to make a biking weekend out of it. It started off with a mountain bike ride on Friday evening. After work I stopped by Cypresswood and hit the trails for a few hours. I got in about 10 miles.
Saturday I rode 75 miles on the road. Fifty miles were with a friend. We met at the back of The Woodlands and rode up to Montgomery and came back through Magnolia. After we got back, I decided that I wanted to get a few more miles. I did a 20 mile loop through The Woodlands and got lunch on the way.
Sunday was on the Mountain bike to pre-ride for the race on Sept 13th. After one lap at Huntsville State Park, I started a second lap and helped trim growth covering the trail. Between the two laps, I finished with 17 miles on the bike.
Monday, Northwest cycling club decided to ride a century. I decided it could be fun, but I needed to be at the airport by 4:00. My neighbor and I decided to start early and ride to the start. We left the house at 6:30am to be at the start on time. The route had us going through Magnolia then down to Zube Park, and back to the start again through Magnolia. I ended up getting home just after 3:00pm, and finished with 106 miles.
Across the 4 days, I ended up with 209 miles. Not a bad way to start off September.
Showing posts with label NWCC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NWCC. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Bike Education
Well after taking last week off to do some cross training (yard work),
this week I helped teach a bike safety class. We had six attendees at
the class, four of which were from NWCC. The class consisted of
classroom discussion on Saturday, then all the on bike work on Sunday.
We decided to ride to the class Sunday morning. We finished with a
little over 20 miles of riding. Not bad, and I got to share my
knowledge of cycling with others.
this week I helped teach a bike safety class. We had six attendees at
the class, four of which were from NWCC. The class consisted of
classroom discussion on Saturday, then all the on bike work on Sunday.
We decided to ride to the class Sunday morning. We finished with a
little over 20 miles of riding. Not bad, and I got to share my
knowledge of cycling with others.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Mountain Bike race
Double Lake is next weekend. This will be my first mountain bike race since I raced at Double Lake last year. This week I hit the Cypress wood trail on Wednesday night. The trail was a little damp in a few places, but in pretty good shape otherwise.
Saturday, NWCC had their club camp out at Huntsville State Park. Vanessa and I headed up for the day. I only took the Mountain bike, and got in a good easy ride with Vanessa, then headed out for a lap on the race course solo. I finished the lap in about 1 hour. I hung around the camp site for a while, then a group of us went out for a lap. I finished the day with 27 miles in on the bike. Pretty good training for next weekends race. Huntsville is in bad need of rain. The entire course was littered with loose sand. Several palces were almost impossible to ride. All in all I was glad to only ride 2 laps.
Saturday, NWCC had their club camp out at Huntsville State Park. Vanessa and I headed up for the day. I only took the Mountain bike, and got in a good easy ride with Vanessa, then headed out for a lap on the race course solo. I finished the lap in about 1 hour. I hung around the camp site for a while, then a group of us went out for a lap. I finished the day with 27 miles in on the bike. Pretty good training for next weekends race. Huntsville is in bad need of rain. The entire course was littered with loose sand. Several palces were almost impossible to ride. All in all I was glad to only ride 2 laps.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Mountain Bike and Good Friday
Well this week, I did a mountain bike ride at Collins park on Wednesday night. I met up with a group from NWCC. We rode a little over 10 miles. It was a good ride. There were several people on the trail. I doubt that I will ride off road next week, since the MS150 is now a week away.
Today was a holiday for work, so a few of us decided to make a training day of it. We met up in Montgomery, TX. I had planned to ride 65 miles, but changed that when on of the riders, and my wife were only up for riding 45. It all worked out nicely. We had a small headwind going to Richards. Which made for a tail wind back to Montgomery. I ended up riding ahead, and waited at the turns. Kind of a ride your own pace, no drop ride. Tomorrow will be my real test of preparedness for the MS150.
Today was a holiday for work, so a few of us decided to make a training day of it. We met up in Montgomery, TX. I had planned to ride 65 miles, but changed that when on of the riders, and my wife were only up for riding 45. It all worked out nicely. We had a small headwind going to Richards. Which made for a tail wind back to Montgomery. I ended up riding ahead, and waited at the turns. Kind of a ride your own pace, no drop ride. Tomorrow will be my real test of preparedness for the MS150.
Monday, March 30, 2009
BlueBonnet Express
This weekend was the BlueBonnet Express bike ride. This is the spring ride hosted by Northwest Cycling Club. Vanessa was the registration coordinator this year, so that meant that I also had to help. Funny how that works. Our plan was to go for a short ride on Saturday then work packet pickup, but based on how packet pickup went on Friday, we changed our minds. So no Saturday ride.
Sunday came, I was driving the Uhaul truck with all the packets and equipment for the ride. We got up at 4:00 am to get to the start by 5:45. We had to set up for registration which was to open by 6:00. registration went pretty smoothly. We got everything done and put away by 9:00. Ride started at 8:00. Shortly after 9:00, Vanessa and I headed out for our ride. One of the ride marshals who was planning to ride the short route, asked if Vanessa wanted to ride with him. Once she said yes, I was able to ride the 62 mile route.
Off I go trying to make up for the late start since I knew that I would not have anyone to draft off of. All the way to the first rest stop, I had nobody in sight. As I was approaching the first rest stop, I saw two riders leaving. I did a quick pit to fill water bottles and eat a few pretzles, then out again. I caught those two riders within 2 miles. I ended up passing 15 people before stopping to help three different groups on the side of the road. I resumed with the same pace I had before. I got to rest stop 2, talked to some of the volunteers, and resumed. When I got into Waller, there was a train across the road, no problem, I headed up old 290 until I could get around the train. Once I crossed the tracks, I did not check to see where I was, so I turned right. Picked up 5 extra miles by the time I got back to my correct turn. It all worked out. I was making good time so it was ok. By rest stop 3 was was catching many more people, and was alway catching and passing someone. The last rest stop was still pretty full when I got there. All in all it was a very good ride. I finished 67 miles with an 18.5 mph average. Not bad for a 100% solo effort. I had no one to draft off of, and no one latched onto my wheel.
Tubeless tire update
I love these things. I swear that they roll faster with less effort than my previous tires. They are still holding air well. every time I put air in them, they are around 80 PSI. I wonder if that is how much air is lost when the valve stem gets depressed putting the pump on the tire? So far they have been worth the money. I think it is a technology that will make mainstream. I felt really good after 67 miles. Next weekend, 100 miles on these tires at Space Race.
Sunday came, I was driving the Uhaul truck with all the packets and equipment for the ride. We got up at 4:00 am to get to the start by 5:45. We had to set up for registration which was to open by 6:00. registration went pretty smoothly. We got everything done and put away by 9:00. Ride started at 8:00. Shortly after 9:00, Vanessa and I headed out for our ride. One of the ride marshals who was planning to ride the short route, asked if Vanessa wanted to ride with him. Once she said yes, I was able to ride the 62 mile route.
Off I go trying to make up for the late start since I knew that I would not have anyone to draft off of. All the way to the first rest stop, I had nobody in sight. As I was approaching the first rest stop, I saw two riders leaving. I did a quick pit to fill water bottles and eat a few pretzles, then out again. I caught those two riders within 2 miles. I ended up passing 15 people before stopping to help three different groups on the side of the road. I resumed with the same pace I had before. I got to rest stop 2, talked to some of the volunteers, and resumed. When I got into Waller, there was a train across the road, no problem, I headed up old 290 until I could get around the train. Once I crossed the tracks, I did not check to see where I was, so I turned right. Picked up 5 extra miles by the time I got back to my correct turn. It all worked out. I was making good time so it was ok. By rest stop 3 was was catching many more people, and was alway catching and passing someone. The last rest stop was still pretty full when I got there. All in all it was a very good ride. I finished 67 miles with an 18.5 mph average. Not bad for a 100% solo effort. I had no one to draft off of, and no one latched onto my wheel.
Tubeless tire update
I love these things. I swear that they roll faster with less effort than my previous tires. They are still holding air well. every time I put air in them, they are around 80 PSI. I wonder if that is how much air is lost when the valve stem gets depressed putting the pump on the tire? So far they have been worth the money. I think it is a technology that will make mainstream. I felt really good after 67 miles. Next weekend, 100 miles on these tires at Space Race.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Mid Week Riding & New Tires
Well the rain went away and we had beautiful weather this week. What better time to get back on the bike and continue the training for the MS150. We are now 1 month away from the MS150.
Since the rain cleared up on Sunday, the hope was that the trails would be dry enough to ride on Wednesday at Cypresswood. NWCC was having their weekly mountain bike ride after work. So I took my bike with me and rode with the group. I got in a good 11 miles and got in just at dusk. The last few miles I pushed it to get in before dark. Since part of the group took the road back to the car, I did not push it to hard.
On Thursday I talked to Mike and Juan and we decided to take a quick 28 mile loop that Juan rides from the neighborhood. Overall the route is on some decent, but busy roads. Luckily people were nice and passed with space. The most interesting part was the initial sprint up 249 between our neihborhood and Boudreaux Rd during rush hour. We left the house about 6:15. I was glad I took my lights since it was just turning dark when we got home. I finished a 32 mile ride with a 18.4 average. 20 mile of the route I registered a 19.9 average. Overall not bad. After the ride we went to get something to eat.
The last thing before riding this weekend, I installed my new tires. I was doing some research online about my tubeless wheels. After having problems with my valve stems on my mountain bike last weekend, I went to www.notubes.com. I saw that they had a road tubeless kit to turn any 700c wheel into a tubeless setup. after doing some more research, I decided that this may be something to try. Since I was due for new tires before the MS150 anyway, it seemed like a good time to try it out. They arrived Friday, so who was I to wait. I came home from dinner and proceed to convert my current wheels to tubeless. Overall I was quite impressed, the whole process was not to bad. After taking off my old tires, tubes and rim tape, I noticed some dirt in the rims. After a quick cleaning, I proceeded to install the rim tape provided with the kit. Next I instaled the old tires and tubes and inflated them to set the rim tape. Once that was done I proceeded to remove the tires and tubes. Install the new valve stem, and mount the tires, soap the bead and pump it up. At this point I noticed that my rims were not welded but seated rims. even with the new rim tape, I could hear the small hiss of excaping air. Even with the his, I could hear the bead was holding. That was good. So I removed the valve core and installed the Stan's sealant, and proceed to inflate the tires again. This time I put the small leak at the bottom and rocked the tire side to side. In no time the his got less and less. I slowely rolled the tire around rocking it as I went. All hissing stopped and the tires held air. I followed the same process with the other wheel and all is good. I am looking forward to riding them tomorrow to see how it goes. The big test will be on Sunday when I do a long ride on them. With any luck I will get a smooth ride and a really good tire life. I will keep you posted on my thoughts.
Since the rain cleared up on Sunday, the hope was that the trails would be dry enough to ride on Wednesday at Cypresswood. NWCC was having their weekly mountain bike ride after work. So I took my bike with me and rode with the group. I got in a good 11 miles and got in just at dusk. The last few miles I pushed it to get in before dark. Since part of the group took the road back to the car, I did not push it to hard.
On Thursday I talked to Mike and Juan and we decided to take a quick 28 mile loop that Juan rides from the neighborhood. Overall the route is on some decent, but busy roads. Luckily people were nice and passed with space. The most interesting part was the initial sprint up 249 between our neihborhood and Boudreaux Rd during rush hour. We left the house about 6:15. I was glad I took my lights since it was just turning dark when we got home. I finished a 32 mile ride with a 18.4 average. 20 mile of the route I registered a 19.9 average. Overall not bad. After the ride we went to get something to eat.
The last thing before riding this weekend, I installed my new tires. I was doing some research online about my tubeless wheels. After having problems with my valve stems on my mountain bike last weekend, I went to www.notubes.com. I saw that they had a road tubeless kit to turn any 700c wheel into a tubeless setup. after doing some more research, I decided that this may be something to try. Since I was due for new tires before the MS150 anyway, it seemed like a good time to try it out. They arrived Friday, so who was I to wait. I came home from dinner and proceed to convert my current wheels to tubeless. Overall I was quite impressed, the whole process was not to bad. After taking off my old tires, tubes and rim tape, I noticed some dirt in the rims. After a quick cleaning, I proceeded to install the rim tape provided with the kit. Next I instaled the old tires and tubes and inflated them to set the rim tape. Once that was done I proceeded to remove the tires and tubes. Install the new valve stem, and mount the tires, soap the bead and pump it up. At this point I noticed that my rims were not welded but seated rims. even with the new rim tape, I could hear the small hiss of excaping air. Even with the his, I could hear the bead was holding. That was good. So I removed the valve core and installed the Stan's sealant, and proceed to inflate the tires again. This time I put the small leak at the bottom and rocked the tire side to side. In no time the his got less and less. I slowely rolled the tire around rocking it as I went. All hissing stopped and the tires held air. I followed the same process with the other wheel and all is good. I am looking forward to riding them tomorrow to see how it goes. The big test will be on Sunday when I do a long ride on them. With any luck I will get a smooth ride and a really good tire life. I will keep you posted on my thoughts.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Bicycle Education Class
Well I am working with both the Woodlands Cycling Club, and the Northwest Cycling Club to teach a LAB Road 1 Bicycle education class. For more details on the class check out www.trafficcycling.com/road1.
The class is perfect for any rider who wishes to learn how to effectively share the road with other cars by communicating with and behaving in a way to improve your visibility on the road. This 2 day class will improve your comfort level with riding on roads with other traffic.
The class is perfect for any rider who wishes to learn how to effectively share the road with other cars by communicating with and behaving in a way to improve your visibility on the road. This 2 day class will improve your comfort level with riding on roads with other traffic.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Pineywoods Purgatory
Yesterday Vanessa and I went to Lufkin, TX to ride in the Pineywoods Purgatory. It is a nice challenging ride through the hills of East Texas. They have a 102, 72, 52, and 25 mile routes. We headed up to Lufkin Friday night and stayed in a hotel.
Saturday morning, we woke up at 5:45, and got ready. Took the bike out to the truck and got breakfast at the hotel. We arrived at the start just before 7:00am. The ride started at 8:00.
There were probably about 200 riders. We met Gary, JC, and Jordan at the start. They were all riding the 25 mile route. Vanessa started with them, and rode the whole way with JC. I did the 52 mile route. We got about 20 miles into the ride and it started raining on us. Not hard, more like a small sprinkle. At the 25 mile mark I met up with Zeke and Diana from NWCC. I rode with them the rest of the way back. After the Rest stop It started raining pretty hard, and kept raining until our route met back up with the 25 mile route.
After the ride the lions club has fajitas and massages available to all ride participants.
This ride is fun and we keep going back. Looking forward to next year. Maybe I will do the Century.
Saturday morning, we woke up at 5:45, and got ready. Took the bike out to the truck and got breakfast at the hotel. We arrived at the start just before 7:00am. The ride started at 8:00.
There were probably about 200 riders. We met Gary, JC, and Jordan at the start. They were all riding the 25 mile route. Vanessa started with them, and rode the whole way with JC. I did the 52 mile route. We got about 20 miles into the ride and it started raining on us. Not hard, more like a small sprinkle. At the 25 mile mark I met up with Zeke and Diana from NWCC. I rode with them the rest of the way back. After the Rest stop It started raining pretty hard, and kept raining until our route met back up with the 25 mile route.
After the ride the lions club has fajitas and massages available to all ride participants.
This ride is fun and we keep going back. Looking forward to next year. Maybe I will do the Century.
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