tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77628334797918392942024-03-14T04:04:04.452-07:00Daily BikerMadison Bike Path Almanac...hee heekneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-71917850920021079102011-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:002011-10-01T20:44:21.116-07:00Kurt Gowdy State Park, WyomingThis<a href="http://www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Curt-Gowdy-State-Park/2843"> state park</a> is between Cheyenne and Laramie. This was my first mountain bike ride of the trip, and a most excellent one. I wanted so bad to repeat the ride and expand it but it poured right after I got back so I had to stop. I love this park. It's designed by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. The hikers love it too and are grateful to have the new trails. There are other nice mountain biking spots in the area (see <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2009/10/oct-3.html">this</a> and <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2009/10/oct-4.html">this</a> post), but this is my favorite. However, I could spend a week here and do them all!<br />
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According to my GPS watch, the ride was a mere 3.89 miles, starting altitude was 7307 feet, highest was 7708 feet, so 400 ft climb. Total ascent was 762 feet (not sure how much I trust this since I'm not sure how the GPS accounts for errors in altitude).<br />
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Here I am starting up the trail<br />
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nice single-track:<br />
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lots of rocks to climb over. some I had to walk.<br />
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a couple of "play areas" to practice climbing over rocks:<br />
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nice scenery<br />
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just the right amount of challenge:<br />
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pretty trees<br />
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more pretty scenery<br />
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I wanted to do it again, but then came the rain and thunder. oh well, I was lucky, because I started just after a rain storm and got back before the next. The first rain was not that heavy so the trail was not muddy.<br />
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This was an awesome ride.</div>
kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-45372370875873586792011-09-21T23:02:00.000-07:002011-09-21T23:02:20.421-07:00Mountain biking out westI took my bike on my vacation trip and have had some outstanding rides in Wyoming and Utah, with California and Moab still to go. I will post about the individual rides as soon as I have some time. I am having so much fun mountain biking! We started taking pictures of the bike in various places. Here it is in Yosemite--no mountain biking here as national parks don't like us so much, so the bike stays on the car. poor bike. <br />
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kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-34304258256736180542011-09-10T11:26:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:28:36.081-07:00Dorked OutI've broken an elbow and kneecap in the last 5 years and I don't want to break anything ever again. I don't want to hurt anything either. So obviously I shouldn't be mountain biking but I can't help myself. So I finally bought some fancy elbow pads and kneepads. I am the only one who wears them! I feel like a dork! But...I want to keep riding. Here I am, dorked out and ready to ride at my two favorite (local) places: <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/camrock-area-3.html">Camrock</a>,<br />
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and<a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/kettle-moraine-john-muir-trails.html"> John Muir:</a></div>
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<br />kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-52888089704222352702011-09-10T11:17:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:27:38.420-07:00Badger Trail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHsXmMVWXPtpr9LtB9Bad75AgI5erb9LA9JR-37GW0PSDhIqAtRODbu2vubDcs-H0AltZ4WW7sfb77wVIMl_WN7PN2YcBCg0pi4n_DX2RIttRYa-JesPhvvB-mTAHomxYC5F9nxzYoRRD/s1600/IMG_1379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHsXmMVWXPtpr9LtB9Bad75AgI5erb9LA9JR-37GW0PSDhIqAtRODbu2vubDcs-H0AltZ4WW7sfb77wVIMl_WN7PN2YcBCg0pi4n_DX2RIttRYa-JesPhvvB-mTAHomxYC5F9nxzYoRRD/s320/IMG_1379.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here's Marilyn on the Badger Trail, which we rode for the first time a few weeks ago. This hooks up to the Capital City trail, or you can catch it at MarketPlace just off Seminole highway. The trail is asphalt for about 5 miles and then turns into gravel. The gravel was pretty coarse and Marilyn didn't like it so we just stayed on the asphalt. It was a beautiful day. This trail is great, much needed because riding on Seminole highway and roads south is not fun to me. There is no shoulder and lots of traffic. kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-6571547864745367382011-08-28T19:26:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:28:00.280-07:00Mountain Biking Kansas City area<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4FLNqhSDDsk4yAn7idfC7Pcj97k3IN1QD-mLyQtYk6rDFQ_m8ndzPzyL9HxfTSUl3TV7xNWJUqmikGlaARD6H_XEuURYbI-bg7GZ63BTSpO-RGP8MWbNWbmVVDiGxas_6Pjf0iUiktbk/s1600/IMG_0169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4FLNqhSDDsk4yAn7idfC7Pcj97k3IN1QD-mLyQtYk6rDFQ_m8ndzPzyL9HxfTSUl3TV7xNWJUqmikGlaARD6H_XEuURYbI-bg7GZ63BTSpO-RGP8MWbNWbmVVDiGxas_6Pjf0iUiktbk/s320/IMG_0169.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
I visited my family last weekend and rode a pretty good mountain biking trail. I would definitely do it again. This was the <a href="http://earthriders.com/trails/trail.php?s=mo&file=smithville.xml">Smithville Lake trail</a>. One reason to do it is that my sister and brother-in-law like to take their fishing boat there so I can ride while they fish, which is what we did. Actually it was kind of humorous: we went for a ride in the boat, then realized the mountain biking trails were in another place, so we put the bike in the boat and went to a dock close to the trails (sailboat cove). Here's a link to the biking map:<br />
<a href="http://www.northlandtrails.org/maps/smvmtb.htm">http://www.northlandtrails.org/maps/smvmtb.htm</a><br />
I rode most of it except for lakeside speedway which was closed because it was too wet. One irritating thing that I suppose you could say was amusing in retrospect was that I was the first one on some of the trails in a 2 days probably because of the big rains they had (2 days previous), and I got "attacked" by spider webs. oh my god, it was awful. giant spider webs. Obviously I ran into them but it felt like an attack. Then this guy passed me and I said, "oh good, you get to eat the spider webs now!" and sure enough, my attacks ceased, for a little while anyway, then he must have veared onto another path.<br />
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We also drove to <a href="http://earthriders.com/trails/trail.php?s=mo&file=stocksdale-ww.xml">Stocksdale park</a> in Liberty, which I would like to try next time. It is not too far from my parents or my sister's house. <br />
Here is a link to the trails in the area:<br />
<a href="http://earthriders.com/trails/trails.php?mo">http://earthriders.com/trails/trails.php?mo</a><br />
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kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-9650180488302775412011-08-28T19:10:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:27:38.424-07:00Levis/Trow Mound Recreation Area<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCv-Y70emnQ0ieiWP7jaRsiqSCR_sZHYBHMdmGHJNYxMuvurcHyA4SKpmJIj2xOXCGWHmL9DO_Ub81HEUWctC9u4mSQ1L3496_4l52T1zJQvk8t8wqGHsx_3CWnMAX5aYuxDduOXZDy8JQ/s1600/IMG_0166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCv-Y70emnQ0ieiWP7jaRsiqSCR_sZHYBHMdmGHJNYxMuvurcHyA4SKpmJIj2xOXCGWHmL9DO_Ub81HEUWctC9u4mSQ1L3496_4l52T1zJQvk8t8wqGHsx_3CWnMAX5aYuxDduOXZDy8JQ/s320/IMG_0166.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJrwCbFF27y7TesmhfKZsa3rXiurnPKSAJo9DUGQgYtsWscfSLU6o9QAayNav8_LThBwydYGpucgCoD22wyNyBQAGTPTL9KF9ysURZvQrC_xm_kTuiDT_1yT63v-CfmKOaVqZMUAo8UFA/s1600/IMG_0167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJrwCbFF27y7TesmhfKZsa3rXiurnPKSAJo9DUGQgYtsWscfSLU6o9QAayNav8_LThBwydYGpucgCoD22wyNyBQAGTPTL9KF9ysURZvQrC_xm_kTuiDT_1yT63v-CfmKOaVqZMUAo8UFA/s320/IMG_0167.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This is a great mountain biking area, but it's a 2.5 hour drive from home, so I think I'd just go here once a year. Here's a description of the area: <a href="http://www.co.clark.wi.us/ClarkCounty/Departments/forestryparks/LevisMound/Bike.asp">http://www.co.clark.wi.us/ClarkCounty/Departments/forestryparks/LevisMound/Bike.asp</a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">with a link to the map.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I took snodgrass, lower glen, yellow jacket, out to trow mound, then the sidewinder and upper hermosa which were the most fun and technical. Followed lower hermosa back, got on to lower glen, intended to take upper glen to do part of levis mound but missed the turn and ended up back on snodgrass to return. Next time I think I'll start out the same, but come back on dead turkey after lower hermosa, and get on some of the technical trails on levis mound.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This is supposed to be some of the finest mountain biking in the midwest. I thought it was great but not a heck of a lot better than my favorites close to home: <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/camrock-area-3.html">camrock</a>, and <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/kettle-moraine-john-muir-trails.html">john muir</a>.</div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-40025292080630205142011-07-17T11:47:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:27:38.416-07:00camrock and john muirI've been riding my favorite trails every weekend: That is <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/camrock-area-3.html">camrock area #3</a> and the <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/kettle-moraine-john-muir-trails.html">John Muir</a> trails at Kettle Moraine. Last weekend I took the 12-mile blue route at John Muir, which is the hardest one. What fun. I even passed two gals. I was catching up to them on the technical downhill and then passed them on a long steep climb. This shows my three strengths in mountain biking. I'm better than average technically compared to other women, and I have endurance and can handle the heat, thanks to my <a href="http://veganbarbie.blogspot.com/">healthy diet.</a> Of course, I have many weaknesses, the main one being that I have much less strength than EVERYONE ELSE and I always get beat on the easy level and easy uphill stuff. <br />
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Today I experienced more challenges at camrock. I tried to go over a steeper set of logs than I had done before. It was a good time to try it but I did just what the mountain bike book said you will do if you do it wrong: I didn't counter the back wheel bouncing up which caused it to flip over. I didn't flip all the way over and handled the fall pretty well but I landed on my left arm and leg, like I usually do because I'm left-handed. The problem with that is that I broke my left elbow in January and I'm trying to be cautious and avoid hurting it anymore. um, you might say I shouldn't be mountain biking but I'll ignore that comment. I just ordered some elbow pads and kneepads. I also fell at a spot that I've fallen at twice already. This is just dumb maneuvering. I'm doing something that's natural on a roadbike and all wrong on a mountain bike, which is taking turns on the inside. If anything, you need to take turns on the outside so the rear wheel will follow in the tracks better. At this particular spot I am in a rut, my front wheel catches in the left bank and I fly off, fortunately in a cozy soft bed of tall grass. It's almost fun, but irritating because it's dumb. So next time I ride I will concentrate on going over logs properly--today I concentrated on the first step, but next time I'll concentrate on the more important last step--and following the "line" of the trail better.<br />
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I'm still commuting on weekdays, typically 14 miles with a stop at the grocery store. My partner and I share 3 good things about our day as a nightly ritual and my bike ride often makes the list. We aren't strict about it sometimes going on to 5 or 6 things which usually guarantees that the bike ride makes the list. Last week I discovered <a href="http://veganbarbie.blogspot.com/2011/07/lunch-on-bike-path.html">mulberries</a> along the bike path. All these years I've ridden that path and never realized what a treasure they were. Now I know.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-26009656517394028592011-06-05T19:40:00.000-07:002011-06-05T19:41:13.607-07:00Capital City trail and "Ride the Drive"Today was a very fun road bike ride. I did my favorite ride--halfway around Lake Monona, then hook up to the Capital City Trail and take that until it meets up with the Southwest bike path back into town---a fun downhill ride for about 5 miles, then my usual bike path home to the east side. The ride is mostly on bike paths both in the countryside and city. I really enjoy it. That ride is usually is about 25 miles, but I did a 3-mile detour today because it was "Ride the Drive"! John Nolen Dr and East Wash were closed to cars and full of bikes instead. It was so fun! I wish rush hour looked like this every day!<br />
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Here were some beautiful trees on the Capital City trail. Were they dogwoods in bloom? I don't know.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg62sH6amzUyWpeymE-c-2U82UZLZ1HT8T9fyEfEDRpoRFTBgaw5ihOk4lUDuGMI74oxTEBIaJgKhKcOM-M7TZpcK5cP2-nIUmJVTri3lBMORQPEUzqMAutCnJ6imQvpIQQ8Lx6AvYp1zl4/s1600/IMG_0137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg62sH6amzUyWpeymE-c-2U82UZLZ1HT8T9fyEfEDRpoRFTBgaw5ihOk4lUDuGMI74oxTEBIaJgKhKcOM-M7TZpcK5cP2-nIUmJVTri3lBMORQPEUzqMAutCnJ6imQvpIQQ8Lx6AvYp1zl4/s320/IMG_0137.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Here's John Nolan drive,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwywxlb6jSme2o7LfvDRfoa7rH1OdcleYckJz-PWmYnbq-hql26LBqAvaBIeElB8Je8XwIwIYgX4sA9RgUbM-4Fpu0UjjUCZFfSTzWsnisUoohMO9mDF7eA3UA3tQ8HLoPts8FEsjWuET/s1600/IMG_0140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwywxlb6jSme2o7LfvDRfoa7rH1OdcleYckJz-PWmYnbq-hql26LBqAvaBIeElB8Je8XwIwIYgX4sA9RgUbM-4Fpu0UjjUCZFfSTzWsnisUoohMO9mDF7eA3UA3tQ8HLoPts8FEsjWuET/s320/IMG_0140.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> and East Wash.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvw-04oC3IP8CWrky0hL40jqXT2ag7HqiMVozESPOzIPC0nr9kkURwR0ZJg9EPxih9KxMoD30SnFuudoEQ2AiFA39UOwtWc7ho2kRhyphenhyphentd_Fm7MPGS25P_zcIgX0iwpkM2EMLSUGEt4wQB4/s1600/IMG_0141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvw-04oC3IP8CWrky0hL40jqXT2ag7HqiMVozESPOzIPC0nr9kkURwR0ZJg9EPxih9KxMoD30SnFuudoEQ2AiFA39UOwtWc7ho2kRhyphenhyphentd_Fm7MPGS25P_zcIgX0iwpkM2EMLSUGEt4wQB4/s320/IMG_0141.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a perfect day, about 80 degrees, sunny, low wind and humidity.</div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-26101771208228691242011-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:002011-06-05T19:30:33.396-07:00Blue Mounds State Park trails<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56P6sSOZAT4IvtiAm5TW-aqI0VuPiZMrsaCpuFjJN-dpwjK_bPECA_b7-qIgMQd3Lz5lPaETshvo7YZmZKWTgqQEv46a9ZCWJok_37qfQpf2txGQ_u_zjjG1oCj2ZKGnrRtp8o2BD4-tC/s1600/IMG_0725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56P6sSOZAT4IvtiAm5TW-aqI0VuPiZMrsaCpuFjJN-dpwjK_bPECA_b7-qIgMQd3Lz5lPaETshvo7YZmZKWTgqQEv46a9ZCWJok_37qfQpf2txGQ_u_zjjG1oCj2ZKGnrRtp8o2BD4-tC/s320/IMG_0725.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I think this was the hardest trail I've ever ridden on. It was close to being no fun, but in the end I felt I want to go back and do better, so it must have been a little fun. Also, I should have paid more attention to the names of the trails. Next time I'll start with the "Gneiss & Smooth Trail" instead of the "Overlode Trail". The rest all sound pretty ominous, "Chert Dip", and "Holy Shist Trail", but maybe the "Basalt and Pepper Trail" will be friendly enough. The trails are rocky and branchy and have the steepest ups and downs of anywhere I've been. Yikes. So I think in the local area I prefer <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/camrock-area-3.html">Camrock</a> and <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/kettle-moraine-john-muir-trails.html">John Muir</a>. But I will be attracted back here by the challenge to handle the rocks and steep parts better.<br />
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Note for future reference: The trail I rode when downhill and then climbed back up at the end. I suspect that's true of all of them. Also the map on the state parks <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/specific/bluemound/maps/bmmapbrochure.pdf">website</a> is out of date, but the map you get at the entrance gate looks complete as far as I know.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-21986384796447992312011-05-25T13:45:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:27:38.407-07:00Kettle Moraine -- John Muir Trails<a href="http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks/specific/kms/trails.html#biking">Here</a> is the link to these fantastic wonderful trails. Wow. and only about 45 miles from my house! Why are they fantastic? 2 reasons: 1) they are built for mountain biking so it's all singletrack with tons of curves and berms and obstacles and fun stuff for biking, and 2) it is absolutely beautiful Wisconsin scenery: woods, valleys, lakes, prairies, it's all there. just lovely. I rode the 9 mile green loop. That's intermediate. I could ride these every week and probably not get tired of it.<br />
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How do these compare to all the trails I did on my southwest trip? Sorry but that's like asking which of your kids you love more. As fabulous as these trails are, it was also very fun to ride in <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/palo-duro-canyon-state-park-tx.html">Palo Duro</a>, <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/bluff-creek-trail-oklahoma-city-ok.html">Oklahoma City</a>, and <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/sandia-cedro-area-albuquerque-nm.html">Albuqueque</a>. And also <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/last-ride-of-trip-castlewood-state-park.html">Castlewood</a> outside of St. Louis. and <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/flagstaff-az.html">Flagstaff, AZ</a>.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-23063785777580056662011-05-25T13:33:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:27:38.412-07:00Camrock area #3After returning from my trip out west I decided to compare the home turf. Here's my report on camrock. It is located about 20 miles from my house. I think it was built by the <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.com/">Capital Off Road Pathfinder</a>s. They are awesome. I joined and will try to start going to their work days because they do great stuff! <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.com/?page_id=21">Here</a> is their terse description of this trail. I rode most of it except for the "most difficult" section. I am still avoiding those as my left arm is not full strength yet after breaking my elbow this winter. Actually the main reason is that I reallly really don't want to get hurt again and spend 2 months healing; so I'm being extra cautious. And the "more difficult" routes are plenty fun and challenging. <br />
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This trail is really fun. There is a fair amount of easy stuff, but plenty of challenging stuff too. But what I like about it most is that it was built for mountain biking by mountain bikers. It's hard to rank all the trails I rode on my trip out west. This one is right up there because of the care in making these trails. They are just fun. Most of the trails I rode out west were just trails that they allow bikes on. They are really fun to go down on but don't have all the fun curves and wiggles and single-track and berms that we have right here in cam-rock. So this trail is right up there in fun! and it's only a 30 minute drive from my house.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-36001962518056131612011-05-15T18:56:00.000-07:002011-05-15T18:58:02.471-07:00Rides I didn't do on our trip to the Grand CanyonI mentioned in an earlier post that I didn't do the <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/kaintuck-trail-missouri.html">Kaintuck trail </a>in Missouri because it was flooded. I'd be interested to try that out sometime.<br />
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Another trail in Oklahoma that looks fun is the Arcadia Lake Trail in Edmond, with up to 14 miles of single-track, mostly easy but many tight and twisty sections according to trails.com. It also says there's a lot of deep sand. That is not a favorite terrain of mine. But overall it looks like it's worth trying out.<br />
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We bought a small book on mountain bike trails in Gallup, NM, and were planning to ride there, but a few things made us wary: 1) we lost the book, 2) On our way out, we stopped to get gas and drove through the town and it seemed depressed and desolate, and 3) I read a review on trails.com (or singletracks.com?) that also warned about getting your car broken into. So we kinda just didn't want to do it. Sorry Gallup. <br />
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Grants, NM is also advertised to have mountain biking. We stopped at the very nice Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center there and got maps for a couple of rides there. I could have done a ride, but I was too keen to get to Albuquerque and ride there.<br />
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In Las Vegas, NV, we stopped at the lovely <a href="http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/">Red Rock Canyon interpretive association</a>. Until we saw this, all we really wanted to do was leave Las Vegas. I don't really like places where I know I wouldn't survive very long if my car broke down--though I suppose the same thing applies to winter in Wisconsin and I like living here. But Red Rock Canyon is something of an oasis in that harsh desert. Unfortunately, we didn't discover until we were in the hotel that night, that just down the road from the canyon, literally 2 minutes away was the best <a href="http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-nevada/trail/PRD_168911_4562crx.aspx">single-track</a> in the area. So if I'm ever back, and I'm not sure what would get me back, I would definitely like to ride the singletrack, as well as visiting Red Rock Canyon again. I'd need to stop at a <a href="http://lasvegascyclery.com/">bicycle shop</a> to get maps, as there was nothing on trails.com.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-70604232424599034742011-05-15T18:28:00.000-07:002011-05-15T18:28:31.798-07:00Last ride of the trip--Castlewood State Park near St. Louis, MOWe got lucky finding this one. At Sac River, I was chatting with some guys, getting advice about the trails, and telling them about my trip. They said, if you go through St. Louis, I hear Castlewood has some great trails. So we got to our hotel that night, in Fenton, MO, west of St. Louis, and Marilyn, who has a good memory, googled "castlewood" and said, "Hey there's a Castlewood State Park just 7 miles from here." So the next morning, instead of sitting in rush-hour traffic, we went to Castlewood and I had a wonderful 1.5 hour ride on the Grotpeter trail. I added on to it by going up a connector trail, now what was that called (Park office connector? it was the one to the left), anyway, I went up that, then rode around the full loop, and came back down the connector trail. The connector trail is worth adding because it's very pretty and it's fun single-track, and the downhill at the end is a blast.<br />
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I had to dodge 3 turtles on the trail:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lTKTHH0hzr5ap1TU8V_ENPkYTX6bZagcsvG1Ijrs4FRRnhHCd4F97mbDxo6OYWGzBot9DlXWsBZu3V9Ox3mWjjymdK5e_NPbW3C3sX-KW683l5c5E0sAlboEAtgLU7RvIbzdH4ffvV_j/s1600/IMG_0606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lTKTHH0hzr5ap1TU8V_ENPkYTX6bZagcsvG1Ijrs4FRRnhHCd4F97mbDxo6OYWGzBot9DlXWsBZu3V9Ox3mWjjymdK5e_NPbW3C3sX-KW683l5c5E0sAlboEAtgLU7RvIbzdH4ffvV_j/s320/IMG_0606.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The woods were lovely:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWTIldRSJ9lJ36TC_Q6nI6LE6UQpEgVREmBg_GP6qcSJBI9Xi6NOPY4sEB0SyUMVcFxgcsBSCu07NnZ0x-mIkfXJ4DU_79MbGLp-B8AaXCsteymfSWKLDLqq95qsIAKDV-CG9rIkK7xI8/s1600/IMG_0607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWTIldRSJ9lJ36TC_Q6nI6LE6UQpEgVREmBg_GP6qcSJBI9Xi6NOPY4sEB0SyUMVcFxgcsBSCu07NnZ0x-mIkfXJ4DU_79MbGLp-B8AaXCsteymfSWKLDLqq95qsIAKDV-CG9rIkK7xI8/s320/IMG_0607.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Here's the fun connector trail:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76dMfAb5LHy7-jTcFetvD7GdVlquN9De7pPn7kH6RqTRu2jilTvlGPT09uLr9SIjP-R5AruDwwxTjvVz-8T92QXa2raW_jEO-QkvyT0ajn0yjKwPSXmv094R-I0z1iFEpWmy6e33cuV6T/s1600/IMG_0608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76dMfAb5LHy7-jTcFetvD7GdVlquN9De7pPn7kH6RqTRu2jilTvlGPT09uLr9SIjP-R5AruDwwxTjvVz-8T92QXa2raW_jEO-QkvyT0ajn0yjKwPSXmv094R-I0z1iFEpWmy6e33cuV6T/s320/IMG_0608.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We still got home before 5 pm, unpacked the car, and sat on the deck to relax, before then weather turned ugly again. Spring has been stubborn to arrive in Wisconsin this year. I'm hoping to ride <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.com/?page_id=21">Camrock</a> tomorrow as we have a Furlough day at work.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-22408657195421586932011-05-15T18:08:00.000-07:002011-05-15T18:09:33.947-07:00Sac River Trail, Springfield, MOThis is an example of reclaiming perhaps undesirable land and turning it into fun. It's located next to a wastewater treatment plant. I found this on trails.com. It was green! I think I must be a midwesterner because even though mountain biking out west is a blast, the green and even the humidity was ever so welcome to me. And there were pretty white flowers too:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyp1cALJxxM0FcJrV01HU1ds5tO5rHZyCg9zKhwflitAr320WboVRWmIUzAoseknhDy2zgTpbu8bPpn-F7q1R37MZCt8II66-4CRVDaTst_M-fmHFYEQKnyf10_tYLNRCplGVEHQ1Yt_3u/s1600/IMG_0600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyp1cALJxxM0FcJrV01HU1ds5tO5rHZyCg9zKhwflitAr320WboVRWmIUzAoseknhDy2zgTpbu8bPpn-F7q1R37MZCt8II66-4CRVDaTst_M-fmHFYEQKnyf10_tYLNRCplGVEHQ1Yt_3u/s320/IMG_0600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was near the beginning of the trail:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfxIVYPifGaMr5lHsKpY5LB_oXKReqVWQFrzI5zs8cTz9b9NzFFV_FrBOQriG0JKpMpzknZeKQEa9evUv9JQRJVq5B3v8d-9KCOfYOm9FbLqW8B3P2eO399z9L9RKjN8wXGSlJYUCxS19/s1600/IMG_0602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfxIVYPifGaMr5lHsKpY5LB_oXKReqVWQFrzI5zs8cTz9b9NzFFV_FrBOQriG0JKpMpzknZeKQEa9evUv9JQRJVq5B3v8d-9KCOfYOm9FbLqW8B3P2eO399z9L9RKjN8wXGSlJYUCxS19/s320/IMG_0602.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It looks deceivingly sweet. Then it got rocky and pebbly, and steep and very too bumpy. It was a bit too much because it was hard to go fast downhill. I think I will go the opposite direction next time and I might get more fun downhills. Also there were many many trails and loops and maybe I just got unlucky and rode some of the worst ones. Still it was fun and I would do it again. Here's the Sac River, towards the end of my ride (beginning if I do it the other way around):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMy1ZDrbMfAOnTHxw1Pg0cd_9zA7JxUpOQnQBLkk7MddsLcaUiae8qsIp3ZpKecwOQVs9S8Fr2Dl34cYDE3vUSbl-eK63nNwbCVGP8FBSSW3z9kt7GSGeJ_e0mOOM7BGbo8SoybJ7RW3F/s1600/IMG_0604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMy1ZDrbMfAOnTHxw1Pg0cd_9zA7JxUpOQnQBLkk7MddsLcaUiae8qsIp3ZpKecwOQVs9S8Fr2Dl34cYDE3vUSbl-eK63nNwbCVGP8FBSSW3z9kt7GSGeJ_e0mOOM7BGbo8SoybJ7RW3F/s320/IMG_0604.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-14770478640594171572011-05-15T17:58:00.000-07:002011-05-15T17:58:55.498-07:00Sandia -- Cedro Area, Albuquerque, NM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm also jealous of people who live in Albuquerque (see my post about <a href="http://barbiebiker.blogspot.com/2011/05/flagstaff-az.html">Flagstaff</a>). What a choice of both mountain biking and road biking they have; and not just here, all over the state. I love New Mexico. Though I have to admit, I do love the green of the midwest, perhaps a little bit more. There were so many rides on trails.com it was hard to know what to pick. I got lucky and picked a good region. On the way out, the weather was pretty bad, and we stopped at a ranger station to get more info. It was closed, but some bikers informed me that this is definitely the best place to bike, when the weather improves. Fortunately on the way home, the weather was just fine and the ranger station was open. </div><br />
I did two 45-minute rides here. The first was an out and back on Otera Canyon. Here's the start up the trail:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinXi3Yf35zxqQmQOdWjC_5W9CIPS2EQfpRjKwyA4Ju3Vcc7jtluEM-btUKdPvtCMNv-a_fcCxVyArc7iAMIufp9CP9PGk_JoCDiixJekTt0ToulNU9oHxoiIvf0QT-NsG_bB0HZswbWii/s1600/IMG_1991.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinXi3Yf35zxqQmQOdWjC_5W9CIPS2EQfpRjKwyA4Ju3Vcc7jtluEM-btUKdPvtCMNv-a_fcCxVyArc7iAMIufp9CP9PGk_JoCDiixJekTt0ToulNU9oHxoiIvf0QT-NsG_bB0HZswbWii/s320/IMG_1991.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
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Next time I will follow the ranger's advice and go out on trail 05236 (236) and return on 05056 (56). I was concerned I might miss some turns but I understand the trails and land better now. Trail 56 didn't have as much scenery as 236, but the return downhill was a blast.<br />
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My second ride was Tunnel canyon. I rode on trail 05145 (145) and Marilyn met me at the end. I rode backwards from the trails.com suggestion but it was slightly more downhill and I had someone to pick me up at the end. This was a blast! It had a steep uphill climb, a nice view,<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0PYArUWv9buKpAeKauTVsDav9V0jmmffNUv0Cd1-40bbtQAckse2kJcfIgBZj3lX2OFtz8OqsxbaRsoeD1gC0GLYgkB-kX22YGwpIpi2TP1urEZ8n3Z-XJwmUV3bcIQ8WlpfOhjTszdd/s1600/IMG_0577.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0PYArUWv9buKpAeKauTVsDav9V0jmmffNUv0Cd1-40bbtQAckse2kJcfIgBZj3lX2OFtz8OqsxbaRsoeD1gC0GLYgkB-kX22YGwpIpi2TP1urEZ8n3Z-XJwmUV3bcIQ8WlpfOhjTszdd/s320/IMG_0577.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
and then a blast of a downhill. What fun this was. <br />
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There are many other places to ride in at Albuquerque. Next time I will probably check out the foothills region just down the highway from here, and the Petroglyphs national monument down in the valley.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-4062270196858419672011-05-15T17:32:00.000-07:002011-05-15T18:31:23.218-07:00Grand Canyon, AZI did two mountain bike rides here. My take-away message (to myself) is: stick to hiking at the Grand Canyon. I mean, how do you top that? I used the book "Biking the Grand Canyon Area" for my guide.<br />
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The first ride I did was the Vishnu Overlook Loop. First I misread the instructions and ended up on a nature walk--nice for a nature walk but a boring mountain bike ride. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg97QSMBDVdnRND0HQpADDoXbILLQVMZHIXFpgXai_IpnLsrL9yzO_lZBb-IR2FV7W8JatK_8CLYlZhyTWUgQoAfCyEMZc2AaABygHqTqIP9JeQF10DDJN7h_2kzO-Dui-M0soMNlfqZv65/s1600/IMG_0231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg97QSMBDVdnRND0HQpADDoXbILLQVMZHIXFpgXai_IpnLsrL9yzO_lZBb-IR2FV7W8JatK_8CLYlZhyTWUgQoAfCyEMZc2AaABygHqTqIP9JeQF10DDJN7h_2kzO-Dui-M0soMNlfqZv65/s320/IMG_0231.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Then I decided to climb the tower:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIr0p2enU5eaMypvPmaal1rFJRhKiAiq-784-rn9BKC4C0d5B9aHXfKoGJcIYqnAKjtjorvIOrTEh6oVsXMsbB7kE4do3bwcB7c_qww9JPMyz57VZPS-WyIEWmLSkbSFhKqWwQQAdANSB9/s1600/IMG_0230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIr0p2enU5eaMypvPmaal1rFJRhKiAiq-784-rn9BKC4C0d5B9aHXfKoGJcIYqnAKjtjorvIOrTEh6oVsXMsbB7kE4do3bwcB7c_qww9JPMyz57VZPS-WyIEWmLSkbSFhKqWwQQAdANSB9/s320/IMG_0230.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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It had two good consequences: nice views, and I discovered the real mountain-bike trail started just underneath the tower. Here are some of the nice views:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEZ-cfQXAZ8pasIVdJIOJA4MA-NCkVip_iWtfD9QDxvQm15MnKNFB59KNik5st5S8_7PoLIFhcDRVZhj9Pns0InW_FbRRpcyl1bm38uZoWRjUflgAAyslfTQFl5oAMYc58FCF7Bx8AiSg/s1600/IMG_0233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEZ-cfQXAZ8pasIVdJIOJA4MA-NCkVip_iWtfD9QDxvQm15MnKNFB59KNik5st5S8_7PoLIFhcDRVZhj9Pns0InW_FbRRpcyl1bm38uZoWRjUflgAAyslfTQFl5oAMYc58FCF7Bx8AiSg/s320/IMG_0233.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoop-C2i7odencBP0HynFFwQzt_WQz6dNEtfdldN5-3W7ssJmDJ5r0aLSxlfjDSRb1VXExB4r6YVIzxFrhCRijVZjw0t13i8B24XoUwM3SZxxRNl1zJokM_DVon3-BHYJ7SdMdfIS3ayY/s1600/IMG_0234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoop-C2i7odencBP0HynFFwQzt_WQz6dNEtfdldN5-3W7ssJmDJ5r0aLSxlfjDSRb1VXExB4r6YVIzxFrhCRijVZjw0t13i8B24XoUwM3SZxxRNl1zJokM_DVon3-BHYJ7SdMdfIS3ayY/s320/IMG_0234.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolQm34hOveOi-qN1jRBafInyyn-Qx1XxkIeV0sruoPjze93fdWTLP2MZdRfCtVn5UbZLjl72TjyizBrBWEPxdzXBphkJ1vNEbg1YprA24FO9oNkW5SzyaiyeqFiYTz16PDdL3SX6CcKOu/s1600/IMG_0236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolQm34hOveOi-qN1jRBafInyyn-Qx1XxkIeV0sruoPjze93fdWTLP2MZdRfCtVn5UbZLjl72TjyizBrBWEPxdzXBphkJ1vNEbg1YprA24FO9oNkW5SzyaiyeqFiYTz16PDdL3SX6CcKOu/s320/IMG_0236.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I had a nice short 1.5 ride on single track, with a nice bench and views at the turn-around point.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIncdWCg5Oryr_J0GSoER2oyy5KDFiUabkODcGdnWpS6_v7cSu96dSu3_B35tUK9FAxX1GLwuEA24PT0V5HVcMDQULWsX0Of8Nnma0K6L0shzVGB4jv_0GOhcDu2_smjN7e7a7Smi7vua/s1600/IMG_0242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIncdWCg5Oryr_J0GSoER2oyy5KDFiUabkODcGdnWpS6_v7cSu96dSu3_B35tUK9FAxX1GLwuEA24PT0V5HVcMDQULWsX0Of8Nnma0K6L0shzVGB4jv_0GOhcDu2_smjN7e7a7Smi7vua/s320/IMG_0242.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDZu9hNV12_llC7cxHIdvvzQgov3GQKsP6f5h2KvKG30ArR75KrfC3m2kS5oAhbNMoPA4VOo8Vu7v-d7hVtdpHkiWRm2KoZFubKk54VBtnn2sm0jkuvYk7dhyphenhyphenSRsh5eWIM61jcRA0W2FT/s1600/IMG_0244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDZu9hNV12_llC7cxHIdvvzQgov3GQKsP6f5h2KvKG30ArR75KrfC3m2kS5oAhbNMoPA4VOo8Vu7v-d7hVtdpHkiWRm2KoZFubKk54VBtnn2sm0jkuvYk7dhyphenhyphenSRsh5eWIM61jcRA0W2FT/s320/IMG_0244.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few days later I rode the Tusayan loops. I should have stuck to loop 1 as it is shorter and I suspect had more single-track. I did loop 2 because I wanted something longer. It was about 10 miles long, but not terribly interesting and I was wishing I were at the Grand Canyon seeing the magnificent views. So scratch that from the plans next time. But one nice thing is I was all alone and it was peaceful. You don't get much alone-time at the Grand Canyon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's the start of this trail:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTWkSRpnRFqlarOYjNAzv-VnOcAgL3YWN5Vn6KrgaT8Q2QKlaqTWEFxxJC07C2V5eQ6xgt9xE1IEvIp2LuEn6TMzWfzkSvCoqbHpV9DDGFJDMb5dorKl1R-n0zHD3MpsK8oGGdH2UVJWr/s1600/IMG_1813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTWkSRpnRFqlarOYjNAzv-VnOcAgL3YWN5Vn6KrgaT8Q2QKlaqTWEFxxJC07C2V5eQ6xgt9xE1IEvIp2LuEn6TMzWfzkSvCoqbHpV9DDGFJDMb5dorKl1R-n0zHD3MpsK8oGGdH2UVJWr/s320/IMG_1813.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On it's own, it's actually pretty and nice and there are some fun spots. I think the shorter loop would be better so I can have some fun, but then get to the Grand Canyon to see the great scenes.</div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-90021012115605634232011-05-15T17:07:00.000-07:002011-05-15T17:13:08.473-07:00Flagstaff, AZI'm so jealous of people who live in Flagstaff. If Marc is still reading this blog, I hope he is pissed at me for not stopping to see him, because that means we are still friends. Unless he is so pissed that we aren't anymore. Anyway, I'll explain in an email, Marc. <br />
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We got lucky to ride here. We were driving through at 4:50 pm on the way to the Grand Canyon and saw a bike shop on the main road with a closing of 5 pm. We stopped in, got lots of great advice and a map, and I was able to do an hour-long ride on the Schultz Creek trail. For future reference, we also got a map of Sedona, AZ trails.<br />
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Here's the difference between mountain biking in the mountains vs the midwest. In the mountains you go up, up, up, up, up, up, etc, and then down, down down down down etc. In the midwest you go up, down up down up down up down etc. Both are fun. But it's hard to beat the thrill of down down down down down down etc. In the midwest though, the local clubs often put a lot of effort into making really nice trails with these things called burns or berns, I don't know how you spell it but it's curves that you make on hills so you can take them fast, and lots of up/down fast stuff. So the midwest can still be very fun. <br />
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Anyway, back to this ride. I stupidly didn't wear my elbow pads and then I was just sitting on my biking and fell over right on my left arm (where I broke my elbow 5 months previously). oh man. That was dumb. My arm was a bit sore for a few days. So I wore the elbow pads the rest of the trip.<br />
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The ride was fun! I don't mind going up up up up up. I just get in a groove. It helps that I'm a crazy <a href="http://veganbarbie.blogspot.com/">health food nut</a> so I have seemingly infinite aerobic capacity. The rocks were a challenge, especially as I was spooked after falling on my arm. But the down down down down etc made me forget everything but how much fun I was having.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-Yq0EL3LtP9ApPKGoqruxIpeoc4ZDko1GpVRcg1jarR3QeNF9k1EL7_gR9ecfV3oxI66RStrV6L4ByOCbibUJYfFjm52lRNZpNNuBClaKly2rnqJ_GoSfMGg9r1JRayJ7gGW6vYhapUe/s1600/IMG_1718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-Yq0EL3LtP9ApPKGoqruxIpeoc4ZDko1GpVRcg1jarR3QeNF9k1EL7_gR9ecfV3oxI66RStrV6L4ByOCbibUJYfFjm52lRNZpNNuBClaKly2rnqJ_GoSfMGg9r1JRayJ7gGW6vYhapUe/s320/IMG_1718.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-28763655032036859402011-05-15T16:50:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:50:15.764-07:00Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TXThis was totally awesome! This is an example of how mountain biking opens up a whole new world to travelers. Who knew that 15 miles south of Amarillo, TX, is the second largest canyon in the United States! Who knew! Not me. It's lovely. I found this on trails.com. You can ride all the trails in the park so it's a lot of miles. There are a few trails set aside for mountain bikes only. I rode those some and took wrong turns and ended up on hiking/biking trails which seemed just as good. It was a total blast. You could ride these trails every week and not get tired of them, and that's what people do. I asked these 3 guys for advice and they let me ride with them and they were very nice. It was great fun. We rode the Capitol Peak Mountain bike trail, then the Cottonwood flats, then Little Fox canyon, then back on the lighthouse trail. Here I am with my elbow pads just in case I fall:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jE7-7hR97H21UqZDx8-xyHguXw9zj9_U_qDki-bXx8iwSiJO8cIWu94VZK20H9UWDmvwFZwMLZhePkr-56A-1amlsvt-Vhn6i9AhyphenhyphenN277iQwrKERZAhnP5Dt-f95Ihh7_MoMI9P4LWrX/s1600/IMG_1692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jE7-7hR97H21UqZDx8-xyHguXw9zj9_U_qDki-bXx8iwSiJO8cIWu94VZK20H9UWDmvwFZwMLZhePkr-56A-1amlsvt-Vhn6i9AhyphenhyphenN277iQwrKERZAhnP5Dt-f95Ihh7_MoMI9P4LWrX/s320/IMG_1692.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Those black pants turned out to be too hot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's the main mountain bike path. Everyone gets lost and just rides around until they exit. On my second ride, I got lost pretty quickly and ended up on the Juniper Cliffside trail. Fortunately that was loads of fun and plenty challenging.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzEuLs2skYAldRSFPcu1CjHn7hkF4wDMA0B51_QSZGFZgcpcKOvSAGYMXUDVqBmmpIGxjv7AL_lwe5Gt7D3i0ya5-wVssQbpfoYnzjyUXBWlT5IsRuItLQ1Bww142h6fl2zqqo0nT1EpO/s1600/IMG_2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzEuLs2skYAldRSFPcu1CjHn7hkF4wDMA0B51_QSZGFZgcpcKOvSAGYMXUDVqBmmpIGxjv7AL_lwe5Gt7D3i0ya5-wVssQbpfoYnzjyUXBWlT5IsRuItLQ1Bww142h6fl2zqqo0nT1EpO/s320/IMG_2001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The lighthouse formation seems to be the signature landmark of the park. It's not very large, but it's very distinctive, so I can see how that would be a great landmark for getting your bearings. The lighthouse trail is the most boring for mountain biking, and I would just save that for hiking. It's meant to be a horseback riding trail (and hiking).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUfWpdLzh86uHJizRgBj0x_fmKqpldbV349XjVRaSopMDj8AcmJPvFWPsoSY2g3FfiVWwKNwEl4twWjRFqI25DXPICqLGtw60wOwXcnzqco7V7T2ErZUFPSrPSoexZ8UuMyUa8rnd9wm0/s1600/IMG_0593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUfWpdLzh86uHJizRgBj0x_fmKqpldbV349XjVRaSopMDj8AcmJPvFWPsoSY2g3FfiVWwKNwEl4twWjRFqI25DXPICqLGtw60wOwXcnzqco7V7T2ErZUFPSrPSoexZ8UuMyUa8rnd9wm0/s320/IMG_0593.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Now that I have my bearings, next time I will actually ride the route recommended on the website: The Givens, Spicer & Lowry running trail and the Capital peak trails.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-21395976202165614822011-05-15T16:32:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:32:12.624-07:00Bluff Creek Trail -- Oklahoma City, OKThis was sweet. We stopped here both ways. and yet, we forgot to take pictures both times. In both cases, it was at the end of a long day. The first time it was very windy. The second time it was threatening rain. But I rode anyway and both rides were very fun. The thick woods made the winds and rain non-events. I found this in trails.com and we picked our hotel to be nearby so it was very convenient. It's only 3.8 miles long, but fun single-track. It's the kind of trail that will turn a beginner into an addict. It was a good trail to start out on for my first mountain bike ride of the year, and because I'm still recovering from my broken elbow in January. I don't have my full strength back, but my bone is all healed. On the second ride, I gave a guy my spare inner tube. He really wanted to ride and didn't have time to go to the store. I totally understand. He gave me a seat bag in return, even though I didn't really want it. He said it was a hot brand. He's a sales rep. Like I care about that. But like I said, I can totally understand wanting to bike on a Friday evening.kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-80757345024042068702011-05-15T16:18:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:18:14.667-07:00Kaintuck Trail, Missouri<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">trails.com says "this is a good place for beginners, with its network of mostly easy-to-ride loop selections varying in length from 2-13 miles." Unfortunately, it was flooded, so I decided not to reck the terrain further with my bike. So I have no idea if this is a fun ride or not. It's only a few miles away from the interstate though so maybe I'll find out some day.</div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1my2bSfuHmXavav-1qkcymedCoLthy6knEtYE3Fn1b1obmN3-0cmMmiFtrDSMczeKbR3tQoxsuwzeo7AYdXsWG6CMHvgS7vsjxcLD5d-AEJmt4LHvvuNzYogOtX8cSDK3Jnch3cpk5kN/s1600/IMG_1637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1my2bSfuHmXavav-1qkcymedCoLthy6knEtYE3Fn1b1obmN3-0cmMmiFtrDSMczeKbR3tQoxsuwzeo7AYdXsWG6CMHvgS7vsjxcLD5d-AEJmt4LHvvuNzYogOtX8cSDK3Jnch3cpk5kN/s320/IMG_1637.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-61525437994015125192011-05-15T16:07:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:07:48.422-07:00Southwest tripI just did a road trip to the Grand Canyon and mountain biked at various locations along the way. It was so fun! I love taking my mountain bike on road trips. I did this a lot last summer too but I didn't post about it. I'm going to try to post about it this summer so I can compile for my own memory a list of great places to mountain bike, and road bike, on trips.<br />
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I'm still trying to figure out the best way to find out where to mountain bike when I visit a place. The resources I used on this trip were trails.com, singletracks.com and local bike shops. trails.com and singletracks.com are hit and miss. They didn't show this fantastic opportunity at Las Vegas that I was 2 minutes away from when we stopped at Red Rock canyon. I discovered that when I got back to the hotel and googled "mountain biking Las Vegas". I was bummed. Local bike shops paid off in Flagstaff and Albuquerque. There are so many trails that it helps to have a real person tell you what's the best one to try out for a 2 hour ride. but trails.com found some gems in Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri.<br />
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So, here goes...kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-76009700238364525402010-05-15T19:08:00.000-07:002011-05-15T19:16:08.187-07:00Biking updateI have 2 new biking obsessions this spring/summer: road biking and mountain biking. I still commute by bike too, just haven't been blogging--don't have time anymore for the daily updates. I joined a couple of mountain biking clubs (one for <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.org/">everyone</a>, the other for <a href="http://www.madforcs.org/index.htm">women</a>). Well, the women's group is serious! They do a Tuesday eve road ride to train for strength and endurance I guess, and a Thursday eve. mountain bike ride, and they race all summer long. I don't think I'll race this year because I've got so many trips and other things planned, and it seems I've got plenty to keep myself busy building strength and learning technique. <br />
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</div><div>On the Tuesday eve road rides, I can barely keep up with everyone else. This prompted me to try to improve my "road bike", which isn't a racer. Eight days ago, I went into the bike shop looking at getting skinnier tires, which led to a discussion of new wheels, or perhaps a new bike. Well, 2 hours later I walked out with a new bike!!!! We've had crappy weather since then but I still got in several 25 mile bike rides in horrible winds.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Today was finally a nice day and I spent it at a yoga workshop and then mountain biking at <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.org/?page_id=11">CamRock</a>. That was my first time there. Here I am starting out with my shiny new shoes and jacket (bought more than a bike at the bike shop):</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471690916784981410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6R5TFRlQHg-LItQatIlIFSRB8GdkHKrk2_PbV7WYXJp2YX_deoQWJG_H5ZDKCAIJWBqogKveivR6uBb0P1pV_PH1ynNFFs_WTmPr5z7BbYb2fS_SB78SapfUESp_-qaybq_6ll49kdZpf/s400/IMG_0547.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 315px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 350px;" /><br />
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</div><div>A short ways down the trail, it goes down a steep gully. It was not quite dried out from the rains this week so was a bit slippery. I later talked to a guy who did an end-over going down this gully. That's when you flip over the front of your bike--he fell flat on his back and somehow didn't hurt himself. Okay, I really didn't like hearing this story! I do not want to pursue a dangerous sport! I want to live a long healthy life with no injuries! So, that gives me pause. I will try this out and try to be careful but if I decide it's too dangerous I will have to quit. On the positive side, I had a lot of fun doing the trails. I fell once while trying to go over a log--my pedal got caught on it. The second time I had more speed and coasted over it with the pedals sideways, and that worked perfectly. There were lots of fun downhills and difficult but fun uphills, and gorgeous scenery (river, trees, fields, flowers everywhere). </div><div><br />
</div><div>The other places I've gone mountain biking so far are <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.org/?page_id=12">Quarry Ridge</a> and <a href="http://www.blackhawkskiclub.org/bikes/">Blackhawk ski area</a>. These are both fun and have some good technical climbs and drops with rocks and branches to practice on. I look forward to trying out <a href="http://www.madcitydirt.org/?page_id=5">Blue Mound</a> and <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/ORG/land/parks/specific/kms/trails.html">Kettle moraine</a>, and many other parts of the state.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Tomorrow I hope I have time for a road ride in the late afternoon (busy all morning and early afternoon), and I hope weather is okay. It's funny, I haven't done road biking in years, and all of a sudden I am totally excited by it. Funny how you can turn on a switch for something. I'm really quite lousy at it (slow!). But that's part of the fun--I'm hoping I'll improve at it.</div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-58328036957742834122010-03-14T19:24:00.000-07:002010-03-14T19:39:04.164-07:00Mar 14, 2010I just got back from vacation in Florida. I brought my bike down and I'll post my bike rides from there over the next few days. It was fun. This morning I was back to biking here in Wisconsin. It was nice to get out in the sunshine. I was already feeling I needed to get out after riding in the car for our trip home and being indoors all yesterday. Fortunately, the sun was shining and the birds were teeming (compared to a few weeks ago). The red-winged black birds are back, and I saw a robin too. The cardinals and chickadees were singing, and a bunch of other birds whose songs I don't recognize. Here's the start of the bike path this morning at 8 am:<div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQODLL9YLOHWFYK-TFU40TVdmMadxybT3qKo-yKtnPDL8BKrG25Liddq0JJVhaRQuerRTlposP48cpxJEnK3e_bjqjqKgUOsbCDvcldZopNcmt3giX-N0Pd6dtzFJdSOMAfn9Ej3ZqPcYw/s400/IMG_0751.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448683468213986658" /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The temperature was 40 F, winds 13 mph from the north. By habit I dressed too warm. Tomorrow I'll change out my coat for a lighter one.</div></div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-2523922661171213942010-02-22T20:09:00.001-08:002010-02-22T20:15:10.954-08:00Feb. 22, 2010Okay, here's yer pictures. The start of the bike path, right around sunrise on a darkish day, but at least the 1" of snow brightened it up a bit:<div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3SnsPfg6PgQ9Y8x3ORit_OebWQZVew3UXuxp7vRfrn3dWmq1fPZ6cUral0cC5TTF0mgwsiFFA1Zx3BtE3f2FWNpD3nzfm3HYtRyyj0HPo4rRYhkFxwoQhPH-Uq1uUFblQLf5Lfh5aYDD/s400/IMG_0408.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441286498636514386" /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Starkweather creek:</div><div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkOWejMPwefhvqvut8ERkNvhgymc3UM8MzwuUrPbmUMIQVs6y4IKJPcDK7MNaXnHzMntNJpzNCD39IPhOwtNdOkFaZID-Us2q2YpEn03p7mRUm9LqabvGiaVnH9MDlhODrYABGdIXctET/s400/IMG_0410.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441286392789455698" /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /> <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It was around 30 F, with winds from the north. The path was plowed, as always. I am so grateful for this! At first, I was feeling dreary, like the weather but the bike ride cheered me up, like it usually does. The birds were noisy. I saw a hawk-like bird with a white underbelly flying overhead. I wanted it to be a snowy owl but I think it was a hawk. </div></div>kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762833479791839294.post-24727158371409477312010-02-19T20:55:00.000-08:002010-02-19T21:03:05.854-08:00Feb. 15-19This was a really nice week for biking. My rides started at 6:50 am, sunrise was about the same time, the winds were calm or light from the north. It was cloudy the first few days, then clear the last 3 days. It was cold on the clear nights, down to 7 F on Thursday morning, but it didn't feel that cold. It was bright, now that the sun is rising early. It was even brighter on the way home. The sun felt warm even if the temperature wasn't. I actually got hot on occasion, but I enjoyed it. The bird songs are getting more numerous and it's great to hear. We had some snow on Monday-Tuesday. I decided I need to lubricate and clean the chain everytime I ride in the snow. Otherwise it gets rusty and frozen. But on Wed., things were cleared up enough that I used my fast bike. What a lovely week it was!kneecaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03974416387290525978noreply@blogger.com2