Monday, June 24, 2013

El Dorado Trail

Yesterday we found ourselves with an empty house: one kid was working and the other was at a friend's basketball tournament. We decided to head out for a ride on the El Dorado Trail.

We started at Missouri Flat Road and headed east towards Camino Heights. Jen's geared bike is in Tahoe, so we took the single speeds.

With 1500 feet of climbing, this was definitely the toughest ride Jen has done on a single speed thus far, and she did great. The nice thing about the trail is the grade is fairly constant due to it being an old railroad grade. You can see the profile here.



The trail consists of paved sections, some dirt, a trip through old Placerville, another paved section and then a couple miles of dirt to the end.



It was tough climbing towards the top with the loose gravel, but she was still smiling.



We turned around at the top and enjoyed over seven miles of mostly uninterrupted downhill back through Placerville. After a few more miles with a couple climbs we were back at the truck.

Jen was a bit apprehensive about taking the single speed, but I think the ride showed her what she is capable of on a bike. She is much stronger than she thinks, especially when the road tilts up.

Later.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Back At It

After 13 days off the bike, I went out for a short ride on Saturday. The shoulder held up fairly well. I rode the Fargo, which currently has a set of Jones Loop H-Bars on it. They allowed me to be upright and comfortable for the entire ride. More on the bike another day.

Yesterday we went out for a family ride on the bike trail. I rode the Jamis Dragon 29er for some reason, and I was far less comfortable in the more traditional mountain bike position. My shoulder is pretty sore today.

Anyway, other than experiencing a little pain it was a good ride.



We knocked out 25 miles and had the benefit of a stiff tailwind the whole way back.



We followed up the ride with lunch and a dip in the pool. All and all a great day. It's good to be back on the bike, even if it hurts a little.

Later.

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Knowing When to Shut Up

In my last post a week ago I said, "I will be happy when this month is over." A couple hours later, my wish came true. The month was indeed over, at least as far as riding a bicycle was concerned.

We had gone to the local baseball park in Incline Village to work on some fielding. I was showing the boy how to properly field a ground ball. My technique was pretty smooth and fundamentally sound for the first 15 grounders or so. The last grounder was thrown far to my right, and I ran hard in an effort to make the backhand stab. Unfortunately I was so focused on the ball that I tripped over the pitching mound and separated my shoulder.

I missed the last five days of May and ended up with 611 miles, well short of my 700-mile goal. I also fell out of the top five at work. Neither goal met.


Click to enlarge.


I think my friend Miki pulled up short because he was only a handful of miles behind me last Sunday. If so, a noble "rider down" gesture for sure.

My boss Jim (James) beat me fair and square because there was no way I was going to top his 846, healthy shoulder or no. Next year.

Later.