Saturday, July 21, 2012

Longest ride, fun ride

 This is my ride. A 18" Airborne Guardian. I bought this bike to get back into doing something outdoors and active so I can have more energy with my wonderful two kids. I have been trying to get in at least 10 miles a week and have been enjoying my new bike and my rekindled love of mountain biking.

I have been riding around 9 miles on a nice little loop plus another ride of a couple miles each week. This week I wanted to go further. I didnt get too much further then a thought, but it is progress. I pushed it to 10.4 miles. It was 90 degrees and baking with little shade to ride in.

Luckily I had my new hydration pack with me. I just bought a High Sierra pack for $25.00 from Costco.
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This worked great as it kept the water cool and helped keep me hydrated. I would recommend a hydration pack as it allowed me to more easily drink on the go yet kept the water nice and cool. Very happy to have found one for so cheap.



Everything around is now shades of brown. I really wish I lived in an area that still had some lush greens. But luckily I have many places to ride and enjoy. Glad I did 10 miles. See if I can improve on that next week.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

What goes up must come down.

Took a quick ride up at Briones. I really like the ride except you just climb, climb and then climb. So there are really no good breaks between getting up to the top and then heading back down. I will be coming here again though and working out some of their larger loops. But I needed more water then the bottle I had with me.
The view from up here was gorgeous though, looking out over the bay that is the Sacramento River Delta was great and I can't wait for the weekend to get back up here and do it all over again.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Riding is good

I have a nice little 8.83 mile loop I do from my house that has a few climbs and just a little bit of fun stuff. I have been doing this as a measurement to how well I am doing getting back into mountain biking and getting the legs and lungs working. I have been using Endomondo but am looking for other options that might be better. Looking at Strava and a couple others.

I rode to work last week because of some crazy work I had to get done over the weekend and then this week I did my loop again. I feel like I am back on track after the vacation being away from my Guardian.

So now my plan is to start doing some more exploring. I am going to go ride Briones, it is an area we have gone hiking numerous times, and have been looking forward to riding there. Part of this whole journey is making sure I am still having fun and improving my riding. And soon I will be heading up to Rockville. I have wanted my legs and lungs to be in better working shape when I head up there because of it being a ways to drive. I want to really enjoy the singletrack and more technical riding. I have always enjoyed the twisties and technical aspects of riding, where to weight the pedals. How to balance weight between the two contact points for the best traction to get over the obstacle or around the corner.

So I am getting into a groove and getting in 10 miles a week, but feel like I need to step that up and try and make sure I get 15 miles in each week. I continually want to progress as a rider but also really improve my fitness as I want to be a good example to my kids.

My son is really killing it on his 12" I need to keep raising the training wheels so he has to balance more and more. Going riding with him at least once a week now around the neighborhood or to the park. Now that is a great time on the bike!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

2 Weeks of Vacation, bad for riding

I really, REALLY need to get a tow hitch and bike rack.

Taking my bike, my wife's bike, and my sons bike will need a rack. I am looking into getting a hitch with a Yakima or Thule bike rack as I have really liked their strap and mount systems.

I was on the bike last week for a 3.8 mile ride and an 8.8 mile ride. They really wore me out though after being away from riding after just 2 weeks. I was very surprised at the difference and am even more convinced I need to keep up with riding at the least 10 miles a week. After this riding season I want to really think about a goal for next year. Thinking around the 600 to 800 miles of off road riding. Will have to evaluate after I see how many miles I get in this year.

I hope to get up into the 400-500 mile range this year but that will include some on road rides. What I have also noticed is it is harder to get out and ride when you have wonderful children. I want to get home and spend time with them, but I also need to get out and ride. And so that is why the consistency needs to be there. Balance between riding for health and psychological well being and having enough time to work, and need some really good family time.

So Vacation was good, and now back to getting on the trails.