Table Rock to Somewhere

Since Last Post: 2,058 ft

Total Elevation: 33,811 ft.

Follow my ride:
7/27/2011: Table Rock Loop
7/28/2011: Ridge Crest - Central

What do you call a cyclist who doesn't wear a helmet?  An organ donor.  ~David Perry

Yahoo! I'm a third of the way to my goal of 100,000 feet. I had hoped to get more July rides in but all the summer travel made it difficult. I'll do better in August, I promise.

Some of you reading this may be curious about the title of this post, "Table Rock to Somewhere." Well, it's like this. I took an innocent little ride up Table Rock after an incredible week off in Washington. I decided it would be a good ride to get my legs moving again and I've been wanting to try and hit the cross at the top in 30 minutes flat.

I've been on these routes enough now that I have certain "checkpoints" along the way that I use to help determine how well I'm doing. On this route I have a 90 degree corner on Shaw Mountain road as my first checkpoint. If I'm not there in 10 minutes or less I know I need to pick up the pace. Today I hit it in 8 minutes, 30 seconds. I was off to a good start.

My Table Rock Checkpoint Map

The next checkpoint is the last house before the real climb. At that point you've gone 3.6 miles and have climbed 500 feet. I need to be there in 20 minutes. I was at 17 minutes, 41 seconds. The fun part starts at that point as you climb 330 feet in 0.85 miles. That gets you to to the end of the pavement which is the final checkpoint before the cross. I was there at 25 minutes, 25 seconds. I had lost a little ground but still had about 4 and a half minutes to go the remaining 0.66 miles and some 150 feet elevation.The second checkpoint is Shenandoah Drive. I need to be there in 13 minutes or less. I was at 11 minutes, 11 seconds so I'm still doing fine. I knew if I was going to beat my fastest time of 31:09 that I'd need to keep up the pace. If I didn't slow at all I'd surely make it.

I rounded the first bend; 26 minutes. I rounded the second bend; 28 minutes. I hit the parking lot at the top; 29 minutes flat. Now for the quarter mile dash to the cross. In order to make it I'd have to get up to 15 mph and maintain it to the cross. 

I really wish I could tell you I made it in time, but I'm sad to report that I came up a few seconds short. The official time, 30:30. Oh well, that gives me something to shoot for next time.

Anyway, back to the topic of the title. If you follow my ride above by clicking on the link, you'll see that things got a little confusing after that. I tried to follow a trail back behind Table Rock but missed a slightly hidden left-hand turn and had to turn around. I then went down a trail on the South-West side, came out by the Old Penitentiary, then stayed on the trail until I came out, well, somewhere.

For some reason I ended up doing this odd u-turn thing and heading back uphill towards a dead end. I soon realized I better check my iPhone to see where I was. I then headed back down, then back up the aforementioned Shenandoah Drive before meeting back up with Shaw Mountain Road. It's all downhill from there.

I ended up with 1315 ft elevation gain over a 12 mile distance. Not bad, but not good either. Next  time, I think I'll stick with what I know.

To view a 360° view of Table Rock from a previous ride, click here.

Picking Up Speed

Max at Shane's Loop
just below Rick's Leap

Since Last Post: 2,903 ft

Total Elevation: 31,753 ft.

Follow My Ride:
7/18/2011: Sidewinder
7/19/2011: Red Cliffs Loop
7/20/2011: Rocky - Shane's

The secret to mountain biking is pretty simple.  The slower you go the more likely it is you'll crash.  ~Julie Furtado

I've been away from my blog for a while so I thought I'd hop on and give an update. My last 3 rides have taken me up to nearly 32,000 feet. I had a great ride up Sidewinder on Monday that almost matched my top time of 38 minutes from last year. It's always hard to compare because I have a couple of miles to and from the trail where traffic can really skew your time.

The Red Cliffs Loop ride on Tuesday was a fun ride with Max and Jeremy. This was the first time Max had been out this year and he did really well! He made it up Kestrel without stopping which is impressive for a first ride. I saw a lot of improvement in Jeremy as well. He's getting more comfortable on the trail, which should help his speed and ultimately make things safer.

On Wednesday, Max, Jeremy and I went on another ride together. This time we went up Rocky Canyon before branching off to Shane's. We had a great ride and the weather was great! I think I'm finally getting back to where I was last year. I'm eating better which I really helps. I'm looking forward to some longer rides with more elevation in the coming weeks.

Meet Unicycle Guy!

Since Last Post: 1,165 ft

Total Elevation: 28,850 ft.

Follow My Ride:
7/13/2011: 8th Street

Learning to ride a unicycle is 60% determination, 35% persistence and 5% sense of balance. -- John Foss

Meet Kevin Troutt, otherwise known as Unicycle Guy. I ran into Kevin on the trail just behind Camelsback park at the start of my ride. At first I thought it was just a guy riding without using his hands. As I got close I realized it was a guy on a unicycle. You don't see that everyday, especially while mountain biking!

From what I gathered in our brief conversation, Kevin has been riding that unicycle for more than 4 years. I can't imagine the time and energy he's put in, not only learning to ride it, but to ride it on the dirt trails with some fairly challenging climbs. I think because he has half the number of wheels, each foot of elevation gain should count as at least two feet. My hat goes off to you, Kevin. You're amazing!

After chatting for a bit I made my way to 8th Street where I began my ascent. I made it up the initial curve to the lower parking lot before taking a break to try and figure out what was going on. For some reason, I was totally wiped already! That stretch has never been that difficult for me, and here I am wanting to turn back after just a few hundred feet of gain. After a quick drink I continued but for some reason I just didn't have any energy. Maybe it was the 4 hours sleep the night before that was to blame. Another 100 feet or so elevation and I was back to telling myself to turn back. I quickly recalled the question my mother-in-law asked me when she said, "Why do you do it?"  I told here how I love the challenge of the climb, and the satisfaction I get when I've pushed myself to go further when all I wanted to do was turn back.

The internal dialog continued as I slowly made my way up the winding dirt road. I put my head down and focused on my legs pushing the pedals one at a time. My mind then turned to Jeff Good, the man I'm riding for. I thought of how fortunate I am to be on the bike that probably took him up 8th Street a time or two, but with much more ease than I was displaying at that moment. I stopped one more time to take a drink and decide if I was going to continue upward and reach my goal of the upper parking lot. I really didn't want to. I just wanted to coast back down the hill and be done with it. Naturally, I did what seemed like the only thing to do. I got on the saddle, shifted down a gear or two, told myself to stop whining, and got my butt up the mountain! The downhill ride from the upper parking by way of Crestline is always a great reward!

To learn more about Unicycle Guy and some of the supplements he uses to keep him going, visit www.unicycleguy.com.

Silver Creek Weekend

Dirt Road at Silver Creek

Since Last Post: 2,660 ft

Total Elevation: 27,685 ft.

Follow My Ride:
7/09/2011: Silver Creek
7/10/2011: SC to Crouch
7/12/2011: CR - Shane's

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.  ~John F. Kennedy

I had a great couple of days at Silver Creek Plunge this past weekend with the fam. I threw Ol' Betsy on the back of the Suburban so I could get a few rides in and see some new territory. As an aside, the name Ol' Betsy was made up on Friday while packing for camping. I found it a fitting name for a 16 year old bike. The kids got a good laugh out of it and it just sorta stuck.

It had been 13+ years since I'd been to Silver Creek Plunge. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the roads and campground had been much improved. We stayed for $15 a night. That didn't include access to the pool, which cost an additional $54 for all of us for the day. All in all, a pretty reasonable price for a weekend of fun in the sun.

I was able to get my first ride in on Saturday afternoon. I hadn't looked on Google Earth/Maps ahead of time so I wasn't sure where to go from our campground. I picked a small dirt road just South of our camp site and started my climb. The trees were a nice change of scenery from the foothills of Boise. I prefer the singletrack trails, but as you can see from the photo above, the road had some variety to it making it pretty fun.

The next day, I decided to ride Ol' Betsy from our campsite to Crouch. I appreciated the improved road even more than I had during the drive in. I was given a head-start while Darci and the kids paid the bill and hooked up the trailer. They caught up with me after 19 miles. It was fun having them honk and cheer me on as they passed. It worked out to be a 22 mile ride when all was said and done.

I got one more ride in today back in Boise after taking Monday off. I did a pretty normal ride up Ridge Crest, across Central, and up Shane's. I didn't have my Garmin so I'm using my Cyclemeter application data to build the stats for this blog.  

25,000 Feet Milestone!

Morning on Aldape Summit

Since Last Post: 2,537 ft

Total Elevation: 25,025 ft.

Follow My Ride:
07/07/2011: Aldape Summit
07/07/2011: Rocky -Shane's

Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.  ~Albert Einstein

I was able to get a couple of rides in today to finally reach my first milestone of 25,000 feet! My first ride was early this morning before the sun came up. I wanted to get an early start so I could see the sunrise on my way up Rocky Canyon. I would have really liked to have been on top of Aldape Summit when the sun came up over the mountains, but I'm not about to get up that early. On the way down I saw some cool pack horses just off the main road. I'll add a picture below.

Me on Shane's Loop

The second ride today was a lunch hour ride up Rocky Canyon to Lower Shane's Loop and down Central Ridge. That route provides 800 feet elevation gain which I knew would put me over the 25,000 mark. I actually felt really good. Jeremy went along for the ride again and snapped a photo just before Shane's when I hit the milestone. I'll probably take tomorrow off and then hit it again on Friday.

Rocky Canyon Sunrise

Pack Horses on Rocky Canyon

A Much Needed Break

Since Last Post: 2,786 ft
Total Elevation: 22,488 ft.

Follow My Ride:
06/24/2011: Kestrel - Reserve
06/27/2011: Sidewinder - Fat Tire

06/28/2011: Shane's - Central

Get a bicycle.  You will not regret it if you live.  ~Mark Twain

Hey there sports fans! It's been a while since my last blog entry so let's get caught up. I finished the week of June 20th with a quick ride on a borrowed bike. I decided to go on a test ride using my buddy Neil's Kona just to change things up a bit. It's a 19-inch full-suspension bike compared to my 22-inch hardtail (front shock only). The main reason I wanted to ride it was to see how it feels going downhill on a bike with a much better suspension than my own. His front fork has so much travel in it! I really struggled with the climb due to a low saddle and the "pogo" effect caused by the rear shock. If you look at the ride stats for 6/24 linked above, you'll see my average speed was a few mph slower. The downhill was fun but I took a really sandy route and nearly lost control a few times.

Sand on Trail #23

I started the week of June 27th with a ride up Sidewinder and across Fat Tire Traverse. I really like that ride and the 1300 ft. elevation gain it provides. The downhill from there is fast and keeps you on your toes. I try to keep the speed down to reduce the risk of wrecking.

My most recent ride was a stroll up Rocky Canyon to Shane's Loop. I took the upper side of Shane's to try and get 1000 ft. gain in and then went down Central Ridge. That was such a fun ride!

I spent the last 4 days of the week in San Diego at Legoland California with my son, Jake. We had a blast! I plan on getting back on the saddle tomorrow morning so I don't have to fight the heat.