Ride Writeup

Saturday the weather wasn't supposed to be that great, but I wanted to get out on my bike any way. Thankfully the weather cooperated and I didn't get rained on.

My plan was to get out for 2 hours, and I had hoped to get to Cadboro Bay Village. I hit the time mark, but ended up going past where I thought I was going to get to. Bonus!

My kneed felt pretty good for most of the ride, though for a small section on the return trip I started to feel something that had me worried. I stretched a bit, and it seemed to go away.

It is lovely to be out on my bike these days, and I hope that I can keep it up. I am looking forward to getting on the the hills and doing some hard workouts!

The only downside was that I saw a car turn in front of a cyclist, and the cyclist struck the passenger side of the car. Down the rider went. Yikes. Thankfully she was ok.

View TDV 2013 Training May 11, 2013 in a larger map
Total distance: 52.22 km (32.4 mi)
Total time: 2:04:59
Moving time: 2:03:11
Average speed: 25.07 km/h (15.6 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.44 km/h (15.8 mi/h)
Max speed: 61.70 km/h (38.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.39 min/km (3.9 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.36 min/km (3.8 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0.97 min/km (1.6 min/mile)
Max elevation: 328 m (1075 ft)
Min elevation: -46 m (-150 ft)
Elevation gain: 1745 m (5727 ft)
Max grade: 102 %
Min grade: -31 %

Last weekend I hooked up with a couple internet friend to riding in Duncan up at Tzouhalem. That mountain is pretty fun. Long climbs, rewarded by super fun descents. Lots of work has been done up there in recent years and it shows.

Though the ride was a little shorter than I would have liked, I still had a great time. I got a little beat up on the descents though. Hardtails are great for riding, but you sure feel every little bump, rock, root, and rut when you are chasing a couple duallies down a hill.

View Tzouhalem 10/03/2013 11:04am in a larger map

Total distance: 6.69 km (4.2 mi)
Total time: 1:18:44
Moving time: 56:11
Average speed: 5.10 km/h (3.2 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 7.15 km/h (4.4 mi/h)
Max speed: 35.35 km/h (22.0 mi/h)
Average pace: 11.77 min/km (18.9 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 8.40 min/km (13.5 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.70 min/km (2.7 min/mile)
Max elevation: 458 m (1503 ft)
Min elevation: 203 m (665 ft)
Elevation gain: 384 m (1261 ft)
Max grade: 18 %
Min grade: -56 %

This past weekend I took Heart out for a ride at the dump. I wanted to climb, so I figured I should head to the far side, climb up the back side of the park, hit Trillium, then Who's Yer Daddy. It was a great loop, with lots of climbing in it. The hardtail was a good choice for this loop, until I got to Who's Yer Daddy. This trail is in flux right now, and is getting smoother, so pretty soon this will be the perfect loop.

View Dump Ride 16/03/2013 in a larger map

Total distance: 10.83 km (6.7 mi)
Total time: 1:54:11
Moving time: 1:34:37
Average speed: 5.69 km/h (3.5 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 6.87 km/h (4.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 29.72 km/h (18.5 mi/h)
Average pace: 10.54 min/km (17.0 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 8.73 min/km (14.1 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 2.02 min/km (3.2 min/mile)
Max elevation: 313 m (1028 ft)
Min elevation: 111 m (365 ft)
Elevation gain: 497 m (1631 ft)
Max grade: 11 %
Min grade: -19 %

I had a interesting ride today. My goal was to ride Trillium, but do it the "correct" direction. Each time I have ridden it, I went up the trail instead of down.

I started off from the parking lot, and went up Skull. It was a little chilly and a little foggy out. My tires were sliding around on everything. I think I had pumped them up too much, so I let a little air out of both of them. That seemed to solve the problem, so I kept going.

At the top of skull I headed up the fire road all the way to Trillium. At one point Heart stopped following me, and deked off into the bush. I couldn't see her for a minute, and she didn't come when I called her. Odd when I have cookies in my pocket. I figured she found a bone that a crow had carried off from the dump, so I went back to get her. Sure enough she had something in her mouth. I grabbed it, and as I was tossing it further into the bush I saw that it was a plastic food covering that had some pastey, liquidy, white goo in it, and good god did it ever smell awful. And I got it all over my right glove. And my glove has holes in the fingers, so I got some on me! I wiped it off as best I could, but I could still smell it. I ended up having to take off my gloves and ride bare handed. Not ideal.

The ascent up the fire road to Trillium took me a lot less time than I thought it was going to, so I didn't even take a break at the top. The descent down Trillium was fun, but a couple times I felt my tire bottom out. I would have to be careful I didn't pinch flat.

After Trillium I headed up Sidewinder, then along North Ridge. While heading up North Ridge I could see a few sun rays beaming through the mist. Very, very cool. After North Ridge I wanted to hit Snakes and Ladders. I also wanted to do Who's Yer Daddy, since I saw some new trail work there that I wanted to try. What to do?

I chose to do both. I rode to the top of Snakes and Ladders. At the rest break at the top, the sun was out and it was beautiful. The clouds were still hanging out down below, which meant I couldn't see the parking lot. I love when that happens. I did a quick descent of Snakes and Ladders, then went back up the fire road a second time to catch Who's Yer Daddy. Good call. The climbing was doing me some good.

The new sections were pretty good, and I even caught a bit of air. Sure enough though, two thirds of the way down my back tire felt a little squishy, and when I stopped I could hear the air hissing out. Damn. I unpacked my tools and set about changing the tube. It didn't take me that long, but I did discover that one of my tire levers was broken.

After WYD, I ended with the trail that drops in to the TTA. All in all a gorgeous ride. Back at the truck the dog was pooped, and I was feeling the post ride afterglow.

View Dump Ride 02/02/2013 in a larger map

I got out for a wonderful ride yesterday. The conditions were spectacular. It was a little chilly out, but not very cold. Basically if I stopped for too long I got a chill. I just tried to keep moving. There was very little mud, no running water on the trails, and traction galore. Just lovely.

Heart and I took Shock Treatment to the far side of the park, then started climbing up the back all the way to the top. From the top we came down Snakes and Ladders, then hit a couple more short trails to take us back to the parking lot.

The only bummer on the ride happened at the top of Snakes and Ladders. I was taking a breather when another guy and his dog came up Snake and Ladders. I noticed his dog had a muzzle on, and that got me to wondering. Sure enough, the dog saw Heart and started advancing. Once the guy saw this he called his dog who then rocketed off at Heart and jumped on her snarling. Thank goodness for the muzzle, but I just can't help but wonder why he was bringing this dog out in public if this is how it behaves.

View Dump Ride 20/01/2013 in a larger map

The ride I went on yesterday was pretty good. A friend and I headed out and took Heart for a spin. We stuck to the North end of the park with the ultimate destination being Trillium trail. We started off going up Skull, then heading over to the Switchbacks, then along Twister. North Ridge was Next, then Mind Bender. It was at this point that it started to rain a bit. No problem though. I don’t mind when it starts raining while I am riding, but I dislike starting a ride while it is raining.

Trillium was next. It was a good challenging climb, and I look forward to the day I ride it the opposite direction. At the top of Trillium we decided to cut the ride a little short and skip Who’s Your Daddy and headed down to Night Shift. After Night Shift it was back down Skull and out to the truck. So much fun. The new bike is handling very well, and is truly fun to ride. Maybe this is my imagination, but I don’t care. I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I am still thinking about my next dually though. Somehow I have to figure out what I want.

View 03/11/2012 10:24am in a larger map

Name: 03/11/2012 10:24am
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 10.75 km (6.7 mi)
Total time: 2:10:35
Moving time: 1:39:58
Average speed: 4.94 km/h (3.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 6.45 km/h (4.0 mi/h)
Max speed: 55.84 km/h (34.7 mi/h)
Average pace: 12.15 min/km (19.6 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 9.30 min/km (15.0 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.07 min/km (1.7 min/mile)
Max elevation: 295 m (967 ft)
Min elevation: 114 m (376 ft)
Elevation gain: 539 m (1769 ft)
Max grade: 15 %
Min grade: -32 %

The stats are a little off unfortunately. I forgot to stop recording before I started driving away.