Moronacity Cycling Journal » Mountain Biking
My Old Standby
My Jamis is in need of love. I dropped it off at The Bike Shop the other day for a tune-up and some brake attention. Fortunately for me, I kept my old bike—you know, that really old bike. My 2005 Trek Fuel EX7 WSD. Earlier this year, Bike Shop Caleb tuned-up my Trek Fuel EX7 and replaced a sticky piston in the rear brake. Tuesday was the first day I rode the bike since … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
A Di Day – Mountain Style
I did a bit of a Di day, today. My morning centered around a nice, carb-rich breakfast and preparation for a bike ride. It was beautiful and sunny, I really had no obligations, so I was going to spend a few hours with the bike. The plan was to ride to the Tech Trails from my house, do a couple of loops, and head back home. I had to detour to The Bike Shop to get something done, so that was destination one. It took me about 35 minutes to make the journey from home to The Bike Shop. I brought the bike in and had a seat on another bike and chatted with Caleb while he put together a $4,000 tri bike. Wow. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
Timing
Timing is an interesting concept. Let’s talk about that. I woke up to a phone call at 1:45 in the morning asking me to come into work to do an ultrasound. Yay. I knew this was going to affect my mountain bike ride I sort of had scheduled the next day. I returned to bed at 3:00 a.m. My riding partner and teammate, Pat, called at 7:45 in the morning. He told me that our ride would have to happen much earlier than he planned. I thought about it for a minute and told him I couldn’t. I had to go to The Bike Shop to drop off my Jamis for its newer bike tune-up, and I needed to put some clipless pedals on my … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
Monday Night Group Ride
Tonight was the first Monday night group ride of 2009. I was pretty excited to go. I went. I had a lot of fun. We started by riding down the road for awhile. A good deal of this “while” was spent climbing. It’s the Keweenaw Peninsula – we have long, long hills. We continued down a couple of roads until we reached a two-track. This two-track led to areas we weren’t familiar with, so we took it. We even had the great pleasure of riding through a water pit. The mud was a bit much for my over-inflated tires. We got back on the road and took it to the edge of McLain State Park. The park is fenced in, so we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
Alaskan Inspiration
I discovered a wonderful blog while reading the post of the day at The Fat Cyclist, yesterday. Elden is currently enlisting the help of guest posters while he tends to his personal life. At first, I wasn’t too excited about that idea, and then Jill Homer wrote a post. She hooked me when she mentioned the excellent idea of using platform pedals in the winter so snow boots can be worn to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
Once Upon a Sunday Afternoon
I had a brilliant idea a couple days ago! I decided to act on it an send the following email out to our community cycling list: It’s going to snow, Sunday. That means one thing: it’s time to ride. I have some great dirt roads around my house that I’d like to explore. I plan to ride my mountain bike because, well, you never know where you’ll end up. Group ride – Sunday afternoon – 3:00 – my house. [Directions to my house inserted here.] This is just a fun, social thing, so don’t be afraid to join in. I’m not looking to set any speed records. Simple appetizer/dessert potluck to follow with coffee and hot cocoa. Nothing big – just … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
The Girl Mountain Bikes!
I haven’t been very conscientious about posting my food intake. I know that. I also know my agreement with Ali, Andrea, and Sean. I haven’t been whimping out, however. With the onset of Halloween month (yes, I just called it a month), I bought a bag of candy and have been eating it quite religiously. I also picked the few apples that grew on only one of my apple trees … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
I Had Fun
Saturday was a most excellent day. I woke quite early so I could prepare for an 11 a.m. ride at the Tech Trails. Driving was not an option. I was to prepare for a four to five hour ride and go by bike. I rode down and met up with the Copper Country Cycling Club folks for what turned out to be a somewhat easy and fun ride. We rolled around the Tech Trails like a bunch of kids playing in the woods. We then headed back to the C4 house for burgers. I couldn’t pass up food since I had to ride home. I’ve made that ride quite a few times with a growling stomach and little energy left. It’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
Therapy
Most students are relieved when Friday rolls around. Their busy, weekly schedules come to an end. Saturday brings free time – time to play, time to catch up on homework, time to just do nothing. Things are a little different for me. With Saturday and Sunday comes more time already spent. I have a lot of reading to do over the weekend, but my obligations and commitments are presenting a bit of an obstacle. Throw in finding time to ride, and time management turns into a jigsaw puzzle. I’m not very good at those. Today, I woke up to a bright, beautiful morning. I was quite pleased to see the sun shining and the temperature quite near to 70 degrees F. One … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
Fat Tire Festival Begins!
Fat Tire tomorrow! Today, I stuffed and numbered more water bottles for the water bottle toss. The next thing I helped out with was registration. I sat at the registration table from 3:00 until 5:00 taking care of pre-registrations. This was a new experience for me. I actually enjoyed it and decided that I’d be more than happy to do it again next year. Sam decided to begin the Fat Tire Festival tonight! He called up the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge and set up a reservation for a pre-race party. Quite a few people showed up for three hours of beer and a one-man acoustical jam that got quite interesting as he got quite drunk. Fun times! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mountain Biking
