Finally!

I got in a good 14 (or so) mile ride last night. I hadn't ridden in nearly 2 weeks... or any workout really... and I have been feeling a little sluggish for the last couple of days.

I headed over to Cannonsburg State Game Area for a lap or two and to see how I stack up to my previous conditioning. If you pop over to cyclecentric, you can look up my best times on some area trails. Unfortunately, I have lost a step or two... actually about 30 seconds per mile. Doesn't sound like much, but that adds up fast. First lap was 34:30 with a second lap of 35:15. These are times for a little bit over 7 miles per lap. But the interesting thing was that at the mid-point of the second lap, I was over 2 minutes behind my first lap. I could tell I felt a lot better and more comfy for the last segment of the ride and pretty much flew through the climbs and pines, erasing over a minute of lag in the first half of the lap. To be honest with myself, I did try to keep the second lap at a "cruise" pace, but that eroded as my fave section (the last) was coming after going strong on the climbing segment.

Did that make any sense?

Doesn't matter, I got in a good, hard ride.

I did get a little discouraged by one thing though. Over the entire Spring/Summer seasons, I've been watching little short-cuts and by-pass trails emerging. The biggest concern is the entrance to the second section where you have to ride through some roots on a short, kind of steep climb. There are now by-passes on both sides. Personal beef, but if you can't get enough speed from the road and pick up your front wheel to roll over the roots, dance up them like a trials rider, pick the line that has you only having to deal with ONE root or try it and walk it up... what are you doing there?

The rest of the trail is in fairly good shape except a sand drop in that that could grab your front wheel if you have too much weight on the wheel.