That is okay, you can just drop me when you need to head back and actually get a nice work out on the way home.

Edited January 19, 201313 yr by VPI

Nice job Vicki! Gail wants to know your secret.

Up nice and early for my training ride

Have a good ride!

Had a shorter ride with Chris this weekend but it seemed like a much greater workout.  I would have thought the 830ft elevation gain over 15.5 miles was more than double that based on the climbing.  Great workout that I think is really paying off as the hills I thought were tough not too long ago seem like nothing now.  This was my first ride with my bars dropped another 20ish mm so I had to get used to that.  It was really a great day for a ride, even if I thought that last big hill coming home was going to kill me.

^  Nice.  So that last hill shouldn't seem so tough in a few weeks

 

Due to standing for eight hours yesterday, my ankle is puffed up like a loaf of bread, so I'm back in the boot for a bit, and no riding today, though it was a perfect day for it.  Sunny, no wind to speak of......hopefully, next weekend.

You are doing great Jeff! Those hills will get a bit easier after more riding. Compact crankset and wider range cassette will help too.

Edited January 20, 201313 yr by Dreadhead

Well, after a a 16 year absence from the cycling world I finally got the courage yesterday to go out for a ride. It was not meant to be … the sole from my 25 year old shoe totally separated from the uppers so now I will be looking for a new set of MTB cycling shoes. Started the search and it appears the cleats are way different from the old Performance pedals (circa 1990) I have so I may need to get new shoes, new cleats, and new pedals! I will be contacting Performance to see about this new (small) setback. On another front lost another couple of pounds bringing me down to 233 lbs, a total loss so far of 65 lbs but a lot more to go.

Just ordered a pair of shoes and shorts which should be here next week.

Bugger all... I had a big, long post, and I lost it.

Went for a ride today, first in a while in the dirt, my fork was still locked out from riding with my son last time, didn't realize til the last half mile.  It beat me up, I'm laying in bed about to take a nap, had a great time, gonna do it again soon, I hope.

 

Oh, just realized my ankle didn't give me troubles.  First mtn biking trip it hasn't!  That's promising.

 

**BRENT**

OK, just went for another ride with Xavier in tow this time.  We rode to a little park, and it was my first experience riding on the road with him.  Scared me to death.  It's also really cold (it was nice and mid-50s with no wind earlier, but 40s and windy now.  Sadly, I dressed the same.)

 

It was nice to get some miles in, and going to be just as nice to get a rest in as well.

 

**BRENT**

Yay, Miguel! Congrats on the big weight loss and getting back into riding, even if you have a small delay.

Nice @ Brent.

I finally got the new bike built up last night.  I took it for a quick spin around the neighborhood to see how it feels.  I'm going to have to make some adjustments to get everything dialed in like I want but all in all it is going to be a much nicer ride than what I had.  I did order the wrong shoes, size and cleat style so i am using the platform pedals that I had on the old bike for now. 

 

I'll also chime in on losing weight.  I'm down about 7lbs since Jan 1.  That is with relatively no exercise and just changing eating habits.  Adding in the riding should move things along nicely. 

Big thanks to Nate for finding me a ridiculous deal on a suitable replacement for my mountain bike. I've committed to buying an '09 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Elite.

While I still have plenty if skiing to do, and I haven't even figured out when I'm going to be able to pick the bike up, I'm pretty psyched!

 

I took a chunk of today off from work, drove the 2 1/2 hours to CT and picked up the Stumpjumper today.  Darrell from the Paceline forum was great to deal with.  The bike was as advertised... Very solid, well sorted and should be a great platform for me for years to come.  Such a huge upgrade from the Gary Fisher!

Congrat Ian!

That was an amazing deal! I saw that and was super tempted. Nice score! Can't wait to see pics and vids from you guys.

**BRENT**

The Everglades ride begins:

Glad you have dual suspension to tackle that.  Looks rough!

 

**BRENT**

Nice Mike. I'm jealous, today is the warmest it's been all week at 15F.

Nice Mike!

It's just below freezing here with tins of salt on the road so I doubt I will be riding outside.

Great time but 27 miles is a long time to be on a trail, especially with a 10 pound pack on my back. Definitely need a different seat and a shorter stem for these longer rides

Nice, Mike.

Have you thought about dropping a spacer or two and flipping the stem?  That may help out a little.

 

**BRENT**

I may just flip the stem. I'm a little too stretched out for such a long time on the bike. For the more technical trails, it's fine.

Mike I was under the impression that mtb people prefer short stems for twisty trails because they steer faster. I guess you just mean that the technical stuff doesn't involve as much endurance.

Got word that my dropper seat post is at the store. Very interested to try it out sometime when it gets warmer. I also got word that to get a remote lockout installed on my fork would cost like $450 which is probably not a sensible investment considering how little I ride mountain.

Chris, you are right, it's the longer time on the bike that is the problem.

Look forward to hearing how the post works out, I was considering one.