After spending the weekend at home I had put of riding yesterday to spend some time working on projects. So today while going home from class I ran into Tyler, who lives across the hall from Brittany in her apartment complex, who rides mountain bikes. We had talked earlier this year about getting together to ride so I figured what time better than the present. After sorting out a starting time I told him I would be back at 4PM to get thing going.
Since Tyler rides a full-suspension bike I decided I would be better off riding The Cove today than messing with the single speed. I knew I needed to take care of my chain from this weekends ride, and removing the big chainring, but they were both easy parking-lot fixes.
Eventually we got on the trail and suffered through the first climb but the trail is moderately flat for the first half until the climb to Athens Trail. We were rolling smooth Tyler's bike really let him climb great being able to just power up hills I am used to waiting at the top of. We rode a moderate pace which kept me under control and both of us comfortable. The both of us made it all the way to the Athens Trail climb without stepping off the bike (except for a water break). So I had a good feeling about today and not to mention I had a set of gears today.
The hardest part of this climb for me initially is to make the turn into the climb, at an almost full 180 degrees I usually end up riding off the trail or needing to stop and re-adjust. Today however I made the turn successfully except I had slow so much that Tyler ended up having to bail out behind me but quickly got going again. The next major milestone for the climb is a small kick up next to the second tree with a few roots, but the gears were there to keep the tires moving. With a huge smile on my face I had made it up the first section now for the technical part. The next two sections are not steep, but very technical. The first is a tree's roots that without proper planning can have you spinning a tire and blowing your climb but I have been planning my line for the last three rides so this one was cake. The final technical section of the climb is another set of tree roots that have a deep dip and some very loose dirt that ended up claiming my victory today. I picked the low line thinking I would sit down to put the weight down but it didn't help I was forced to step off. Had I been alone I would have ridden down to the bottom and do it again. Like Crilli said sometimes it takes more than one ride to really understand a hill/mountain so this leaves me a new goal for the solo ride. 100% completion forwards then time to work on the backwards route.
On another note, I have some secret weaponry coming Friday (mountain bike related)...
Willis out!
Since Tyler rides a full-suspension bike I decided I would be better off riding The Cove today than messing with the single speed. I knew I needed to take care of my chain from this weekends ride, and removing the big chainring, but they were both easy parking-lot fixes.
Eventually we got on the trail and suffered through the first climb but the trail is moderately flat for the first half until the climb to Athens Trail. We were rolling smooth Tyler's bike really let him climb great being able to just power up hills I am used to waiting at the top of. We rode a moderate pace which kept me under control and both of us comfortable. The both of us made it all the way to the Athens Trail climb without stepping off the bike (except for a water break). So I had a good feeling about today and not to mention I had a set of gears today.
The hardest part of this climb for me initially is to make the turn into the climb, at an almost full 180 degrees I usually end up riding off the trail or needing to stop and re-adjust. Today however I made the turn successfully except I had slow so much that Tyler ended up having to bail out behind me but quickly got going again. The next major milestone for the climb is a small kick up next to the second tree with a few roots, but the gears were there to keep the tires moving. With a huge smile on my face I had made it up the first section now for the technical part. The next two sections are not steep, but very technical. The first is a tree's roots that without proper planning can have you spinning a tire and blowing your climb but I have been planning my line for the last three rides so this one was cake. The final technical section of the climb is another set of tree roots that have a deep dip and some very loose dirt that ended up claiming my victory today. I picked the low line thinking I would sit down to put the weight down but it didn't help I was forced to step off. Had I been alone I would have ridden down to the bottom and do it again. Like Crilli said sometimes it takes more than one ride to really understand a hill/mountain so this leaves me a new goal for the solo ride. 100% completion forwards then time to work on the backwards route.
On another note, I have some secret weaponry coming Friday (mountain bike related)...
Willis out!
