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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 17, 2021 21:35:53 GMT -5
It got pretty chilly tonight but after work I went and did my typical ride I do over the summer, the ground was solid enough. It got dark right after I started riding, was pitch black pretty soon only light was my lights. Pretty creepy being in the woods by yourself. Took two hours to do the full ride. Way easier to ride on my new bike.
I should really take a day off but wanna go tomorrow because it is supposed to be warm.
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Post by Coolverine on Dec 18, 2021 12:18:27 GMT -5
I work a later shift so I have enough time to go in the morning for a ride, but I've been sleeping in too much before work. I've only been out maybe 2 or 3 times since I got the new bike, need to go back out there again soon.
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Post by Coolverine on Dec 18, 2021 13:59:32 GMT -5
Also its funny you might think a ski area in Alaska is far from civilization but nope that is like a 5 minute drive from the grocery story and a 10 minute drive from the biggest mall in the state. Yeah I remember Alaska, you can walk a short distance and there's a mountain right there. Awesome place, planning on going back. I bet the trails there are amazing. I know someone who lives there, serving in the Air Force. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 18, 2021 14:33:14 GMT -5
Oh yeah the trails are absolutely amazing and didn't even need to drive to get to them. Tons of videos on YouTube, this is very close to that ski area
The biking here is fun but it just doesn't compare.
Today I went to REI and got a really nice Patagonia shirt and pair of biking pants. I had an awesome pair of biking pants that were very warm but somehow they turned up missing.
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Post by Coolverine on Dec 19, 2021 16:22:37 GMT -5
That's awesome. This is one of the most expert level trails in Dallas, it's perhaps even the most expert-level one: Haven't been to this one yet because I want to make sure I'm good enough before trying it out. It's at the highest elevation point in Dallas, I think a church owns the property it's on. It has a lot of descent. www.trailforks.com/region/big-cedar-wilderness-trails/ |
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 29, 2021 15:44:48 GMT -5
I haven't been since Friday. Its really warm tonight but it has been raining nonstop for days so the trails are all soup right now. I am not a fan of road biking but its my only option if I wanna go tonight after work.
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Post by Coolverine on Dec 31, 2021 15:50:49 GMT -5
Haven't been able to go biking lately, but I had my mountain biking shoes on the floor and I actually stubbed one of my toes on one of them. They make these things very solid, it's been 2 days and it still hurts.
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Post by Coolverine on Jan 15, 2022 17:04:06 GMT -5
Finally went for a few rides today and yesterday. Haven't been feeling well lately, just zero energy and I think I've been depressed too. Got over it and finally felt some of my energy come back, still took it easy. I feel more confident jumping and hopping on my new bike, also with the 29" wheels (my old bike has 27.5" wheels) I'm not striking my pedals anymore. The difference is noticeable, definitely feels like I'm higher up on it when the seat is all the way up, just glad it has that dropper post, because having the seat out of the way lets you control your balance much better. It's also faster than my old bike.
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Post by ForRealTho on Jan 15, 2022 18:27:29 GMT -5
I haven't been in a couple weeks. Either been raining or snowing. Today it got down to 15 degrees. That is way too cold for me to enjoy biking.
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Post by Coolverine on Jan 15, 2022 18:59:03 GMT -5
It was around 32 degrees when I went today, also very windy. Once I got out of the trees and into this open area, the wind hit me and chilled me to the bone. I only went maybe 2 miles.
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Post by ForRealTho on Jan 15, 2022 19:17:35 GMT -5
In Alaska people will get studded bike tires, wear full face masks and the same googles you use to ski or snowboard then bike when it is like -10. I tried biking once when it was like 10 degrees outside really bundled up. Once I started to sweat it got really uncomfortable. Never tried again.
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Post by Coolverine on Jan 15, 2022 20:58:42 GMT -5
There was an unprecedented snowstorm here around Feb 2021, it knocked out power, people's homes froze and lots of pipes busted. Anyway it dumped a good amount of snow on us, I really wanted to go riding at the local trails while it was there, especially cause my other bike has plus size tires which are good for snow. I ended up not going but I kinda wish I had, was a once in a decade kind of event. It was all melted and gone after just a few days.
I wore a cloth face shield when I went riding today but I ended up having to take it off, because it was getting hard to breathe. It's very breathable fabric too, but what happened was my nose started running and it saturated it, kinda started feeling like being waterboarded.
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Post by ForRealTho on Feb 11, 2022 13:19:10 GMT -5
Out of nowhere its 54 degrees here today. I kinda wanna go but all the trails are shit right now because all the snow is melting so they are just soup. So road biking is the only thing available but with all the melting snow don't think that is a good idea either. Bleh. I hate the winter. Its why I don't live in Alaska anymore. I should really move to the south.
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Post by Coolverine on Feb 11, 2022 16:07:59 GMT -5
1 trail near me finally opened up, but then I started drinking so I'm gonna try to go tomorrow.
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Post by Coolverine on Feb 16, 2022 18:01:43 GMT -5
Finally got a decent ride in. I was really out of practice, just getting exhausted really quickly. When I was in my prime last year, I could do 10-12 miles like it was nothing but now I can barely manage half of that. Had to do a lot of light riding day by day to get back in shape for it.
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Post by Coolverine on Apr 8, 2022 7:39:49 GMT -5
Last Saturday I went on this expert section at a local trail I've heard a lot about, but was always afraid to try. Really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, has a lot of chunky climbs and descents that are challenging but nothing too steep. Still probably pretty dangerous for inexperienced riders though. A lot of the chunk in there is broken slabs and pieces of concrete from when they tore up and re-did a nearby road years ago, I think they put all of it back there in the woods and the trail builders decided to use it.
Not only were my legs sore for days but my arms too. Was a lot of fun, probably will do it again soon.
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Post by ForRealTho on Apr 8, 2022 7:48:51 GMT -5
Nice the weather here has been nuts. It was raining for like a week straight then got up to 75 not a cloud in the sky, the trails would be godawful after a week of rain so I didn't waste my time going and getting all muddy.
I don't recall when it was but in March we got some crazy warm weather one day so I went to my favorite trails, as I was going to the trail I stopped a guy coming the other way and he was like "dude the trails are absolutely AWFUL" Bleh, so I just took a detour and road mainly on pavement. Getting closer but still not there yet.
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Post by Coolverine on Apr 8, 2022 7:59:47 GMT -5
Yeah the weather here has been up and down, on Monday it rained heavily late at night for hours and it flooded that particular trail (and others) out, there was even mud going across the parking lot. It probably won't open again until some time next week, probably will have to go somewhere further away to ride.
Actually thinking about volunteering to do trail work some time.
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Post by ForRealTho on May 20, 2022 7:52:10 GMT -5
I've been going biking a lot the last few weeks. Was thinking of getting clipless petals finally and some biking shoes. I am kinda paranoid about being clipped to my bike tho. About a week ago I hit this uphill at an odd angle and there was a ton of mud and my bike like slipped out from under me and I had to hop off. If my feet were attached I am afraid I would have fallen over.
Never got clipless even tho I mean too every summer.
Its like so I can climb better but potentially break my spine in the process lol
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Post by Coolverine on May 20, 2022 11:19:53 GMT -5
Been riding somewhat regularly, had gotten kinda lazy and started getting fat but lost 3lbs over the last week or 2 since I've been riding again. I thought about getting clipless pedals, I think those are more for road and XC bikes but that's just my opinion. There's no reason they wouldn't work on trail and enduro bikes, I have tried them and they do make pedaling a lot more efficient but they kinda feel like cheating. I'm also afraid of being clipped in and not being able to bail, I almost fell off a creek edge that was 20 feet down and if I'd been clipped onto my bike, I would've probably fallen all the way off. Also I kinda like how you can move your feet around on flat pedals if you need to, with clipless you're just kinda locked in position on the pedals. I have Shimano GR-500's on my old bike, Raceface Chesters on my new one (they are both flats) but I actually liked the Shimano's better. They're concave shaped and have a few extra studs in the middle. When I'm climbing, the bottom of my shoes kinda conforms into it and those extra pins in the middle give extra grip when scooping my foot back. I feel like I could climb better with those compared to the Chester's, so I might swap them.  I paid $60 for them a while back, but they're quite a bit more expensive now. |
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Post by ForRealTho on May 21, 2022 23:15:41 GMT -5
Another reason I don't have clipless. I was riding this today:
I'm trying to find the exact part in this video but I can't. At one point tonight I hit this one piece of mud right up against a cliff at a very weird angle and had to bail. Managed to grab my bike and not get hurt. If I was clipped in not sure how that would have gone down
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Post by ForRealTho on May 25, 2022 19:51:25 GMT -5
Good ride today  |
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Post by Coolverine on May 26, 2022 6:07:20 GMT -5
Cool, I see you got the red one. I got the blue one.
Been thinking about getting a gravel bike for days when the trails are rained out, I don't mind riding my trail bike on pavement but I just don't want to wear the tires down too quickly. Those Bontrager XR5 tires are actually pretty good in wet weather, the tread is soft. Grips really good in tight turns too, I've gotten a lot faster at cornering thanks to this bike giving me more confidence.
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Post by ForRealTho on May 26, 2022 8:20:47 GMT -5
Cool, I see you got the red one. I got the blue one. Been thinking about getting a gravel bike for days when the trails are rained out, I don't mind riding my trail bike on pavement but I just don't want to wear the tires down too quickly. A few weeks ago a guy parked next to me and knew exactly what kind of bike I had, he has FOUR bikes. I've always been a one bike guy. I can't imagine juggling that many bikes. |
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Post by Coolverine on May 26, 2022 8:38:38 GMT -5
Cool, I see you got the red one. I got the blue one. Been thinking about getting a gravel bike for days when the trails are rained out, I don't mind riding my trail bike on pavement but I just don't want to wear the tires down too quickly. A few weeks ago a guy parked next to me and knew exactly what kind of bike I had, he has FOUR bikes. I've always been a one bike guy. I can't imagine juggling that many bikes. I have 2, both are trail bikes though. I made a deal with my nephew that if he learns how to ride my old bike, he can have it. |
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Post by ForRealTho on May 26, 2022 21:44:00 GMT -5
Good times!  |
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Post by Coolverine on May 27, 2022 8:01:29 GMT -5
Pedal pin? I got some of those on the back of my leg a few weeks ago, they're still scabbed over and healing.
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Post by ForRealTho on May 27, 2022 14:38:21 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on May 28, 2022 9:53:04 GMT -5
Taking the day off biking to rest then going here tomorrow, I hope its not too crowded with the 3 day weekend. Last time I went was on a Tuesday I took PTO so I literally only saw 2 other bikers in this massive sprawling park. Was pretty awesome.
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Post by Coolverine on May 29, 2022 7:34:04 GMT -5
^that looks like a nice place. You have to drive quite a ways to get to places with more elevation changes here in Texas, but there are some surprisingly nice places hidden out there.
I got poison ivy on my hand really bad the last time I went riding, I think I made it worse by scratching it and it's taking a long time to heal. Finally starting to look better though.
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